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Science 19 October 1979:
Vol. 206. no. 4416, pp. 283 - 291
DOI: 10.1126/science.206.4416.283
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Articles

A Unique Solar Marking Construct

Anna Sofaer 1, Volker Zinser 2, and Rolf M. Sinclair 3

1 Artist at 3411 Rodman Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 20008
2 Associate in the architectural firm of Arthur Cotton Moore Associates, 1214 28th Street, NW. Washington, D.C. 20007
3 Program director in the Physics Division, National Science Foundation, Washington, D.C. 20550

An assembly of stone slabs on an isolated butte in New Mexico collimates sunlight onto spiral petroglyphs carved on a cliff face. The light illuminates the spirals in a changing pattern throughout the year and marks the solstices and equinoxes with particular images. The assembly can also be used to observe lunar phenomena. It is unique in archeoastronomy in utilizing the changing height of the midday sun throughout the year rather than its rising and setting points. The construct appears to be the result of deliberate work of the Anasazi Indians, the builders of the great pueblos in the area.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
The Fajada Butte Solar Marker: A Reevaluation.
M. ZEILIK (1985)
Science 228, 1311-1313
   Abstract »    PDF »
Anasazi Solar Marker: The Use of a Natural Rockfall.
E. B. NEWMAN, R. K. MARK, and R. G. VIVIAN (1982)
Science 217, 1036-1038
   Abstract »    PDF »
An Anasazi Solar Marker?.
J. E. REYMAN (1980)
Science 209, 858-860
   PDF »


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