Thousands of Ancient Petroglyphs, ‘Dramatic’ Solar Calendar Reported in N. Arizona

Thousands of Ancient Petroglyphs, ‘Dramatic’ Solar Calendar Reported in N. Arizona
(westerndigs.org)

Archaeologists exploring the remote mesas of northern Arizona have uncovered a trove of previously undocumented rock art, including more than 1,500 petroglyphs, and confirmed the presence a prehistoric solar calendar, which has been marking the seasons for more than 700 years with a striking “shadow dagger” that travels across its sandstone face.

Researchers made these finds in the backcountry of Wupatki National Monument northeast of Flagstaff, which includes the ruins of dozens of sites built by Ancestral Puebloans known as the Kayenta and the Sinagua.

Image:The day after the equinox, a bar of light appears to isolate the circles, before moving right to graze the spiral’s edge. By contrast, on the day before the equinox, this light bar does not touch the panel at all. (Photo: D. Purcell/NPS. May not be used without permission.)

Some of the rock art dates back as much as 4,000 years, while most dates to the 'ancestral Pueblos,' dating to around 1000-1300 AD.

I'm amazed at the description of how well the solar calendar works, pinpointing high noon with precision.

On both equinox days, the calendar begins totally immersed in shadow, until exactly 12 noon local time, when sunlight first falls on the panel, striking the projection of rock above the spiral, and forming the triangular shadow.

As the hours progress, the dagger — the only shadow that appears on the spiral that day — narrows and moves upward, its leading edge running through the precise center of the spiral.

a reply to: Blackmarketeer

It's nice to see things being discovered like this.Is it a particularly remote area?

Coming from a miniscule country like England,it's difficult to imagine a place so vast that parts haven't been explored recently.😃

a reply to: Ericthedoubter

Remote but it's part of a park system; Wupatki National Monument, there are a number of pueblos there open to visitors.

a reply to: Blackmarketeer

I'm amazed at the description of how well the solar calendar works, pinpointing high noon with precision.

A stick in the ground does that. A rock face is more permanent though.

a reply to: Ericthedoubter

Coming from a minuscule country like England,it's difficult to imagine a place so vast that parts haven't been explored recently.

Yah the midwest is vast, lots of canyons, and difficult access. My biggest wow moment one time was a road sign in Utah that read, 'next gas a hundred miles'.

link

Wow!!

I love the light and shadow technology that they were using for the calendar! That suggests that other panels need to be reexamined (not only in that area but elsewhere).

S&F!

originally posted by: Byrd
Wow!!

I love the light and shadow technology that they were using for the calendar! That suggests that other panels need to be reexamined (not only in that area but elsewhere).

S&F!

I couldn't agree more. Starting right here in Chaco Canyon.

i wish i could see more pictures! i guess we'll have to wait.

a reply to: Blackmarketeer

That is a fantastic find! It's very similar to the the astronomy discovered at Knowth, Ireland:


When the sun hits the passage ways at the equinoxes, certain carvings are illuminated, almost exactly the same as your ones above.
Martin Brennan did some fantastic work there, and below is a drawing he made showing the very similar spiral carvings.



It's fascinating how the same ideas have developed - any ideas why the're dating your calendar so recently, when there is much older artwork there too?

originally posted by: intrptr
a reply to: Ericthedoubter

Coming from a minuscule country like England,it's difficult to imagine a place so vast that parts haven't been explored recently.

Yah the midwest is vast, lots of canyons, and difficult access. My biggest wow moment one time was a road sign in Utah that read, 'next gas a hundred miles'.

link

as you drive out of Marfa, going in the direction of El Paso, there is a sign that says, "No Emergency Services For The Next 75 Miles".

There is nothing. if you wreck, you have to wait for someone passing by to drive to a phone to call for help. If they choose to do so.

I think Verizon has service in the area, but that is it. If i go to Marfa, im cut off from the world.



Seasonal markers....point to agriculture usually. No?

That is interesting. Now i am going to spend some time reading up on the history of the area a littl e more.

originally posted by: bigfatfurrytexan

originally posted by: intrptr
a reply to: Ericthedoubter

Coming from a minuscule country like England,it's difficult to imagine a place so vast that parts haven't been explored recently.

Yah the midwest is vast, lots of canyons, and difficult access. My biggest wow moment one time was a road sign in Utah that read, 'next gas a hundred miles'.

link

as you drive out of Marfa, going in the direction of El Paso, there is a sign that says, "No Emergency Services For The Next 75 Miles".

There is nothing. if you wreck, you have to wait for someone passing by to drive to a phone to call for help. If they choose to do so.

I think Verizon has service in the area, but that is it. If i go to Marfa, im cut off from the world.

 

Seasonal markers....point to agriculture usually. No?

That is interesting. Now i am going to spend some time reading up on the history of the area a littl e more.

When travelling from White Sands Missile Range base to El Paso the telephone poles had a little white triangular arrows on them. They pointed to the nearest emergency telephone so if you did break down you were never more than 1 mile away from a phone. What kinda amazed me was once you left the post a bit on the way to El Paso there was only one turn (a kiss your butt turn at that) in the whole highway.

I miss that place. Used to trek out into the desert pretty much anywhere and look at the ground for a bit and find broken bits of pottery everywhere and occasionally an arrowhead.

As for the OP... It seems like I remember a dagger/glyph combo on a show just like the OPs only the explanation was it was the local Indians way of knowing the world was still in balance. If the dagger shadow did not pierce the center of the glyph on the equinox the world was not in balance and trouble lay ahead. Made me wonder if the makers of the dagger/glyph combo experienced the world out of balance in a point in their history to set it up to watch for it in the future. The idea sounds sound but hard to tell what the ancients thought.

Sure wish I could step back in time sometimes...

a reply to: bigfatfurrytexan

as you drive out of Marfa, going in the direction of El Paso, there is a sign that says, "No Emergency Services For The Next 75 Miles".

There is nothing. if you wreck, you have to wait for someone passing by to drive to a phone to call for help. If they choose to do so.

Those places intrigue me. I wan to go to the middle of them and wander, looking at the ground. Remembering if theres no services, theres probably what little water you bring with you, too. And don't break a leg…

Visited Death Valley a couple of times. Everywhere there is remote. In the visitors center on the valley floor theres a wall with pictures of dead people that got stuck and died because they drank the radiator water from their car. I can't find the pic on line. Warning signs are everywhere. Love that place…

image

a reply to: Blackmarketeer

These glyphs that were used to track the sun and seasons reflect the peoples were agrarian, planting nd harvesting crops, which means they had fixed to the land. Probably for generations. So sad, many are lost to history because they were 'rubbed out' by the Eminent Domain of their time, Manifest Destiny.

I've been to places and seen many of these drawings… they are magical places, places people used to dwell and thrive enough to have the time to leave their 'print' on history.

Canyonlands, Utah

a reply to: intrptr

That is a bucket list place for me. I really need to go soon before I am unable to walk anymore.

I have always wondered how the air would feel in a spiritual sense in a place like your link.

I find any type of ancient glyph fascinating, sort of a-kin to their form of old-school texting (if I can be so liberal with that terminology).

Something I've found frequently associated with these (worldwide) is the circular glyph (sometimes a vortex with such). Just to the right of the Light-bar calendar is one of these infinity-like circles.. does anyone want to harbor a guess to it's meaning?

originally posted by: Terminal1
a reply to: intrptr

That is a bucket list place for me. I really need to go soon before I am unable to walk anymore.

I have always wondered how the air would feel in a spiritual sense in a place like your link.

You can drive right up to that wall, theres a dirt road that takes you through there. At least back when we visited that place. And you are right, there is a magical feel there only people that have sensitivity to it can discern. I can tell you are one of those by the way you asked about it… you want to 'experience' the place.

a reply to: intrptr

Thank you for that info. Is it cordoned off in any way? I would love to just put my hand on the rock even if I had to crawl lol.. Not directly on a glyph though.

I wouldn't claim to be a sensitive or psychic. I just think I appreciate ancient monuments and spirtual places enough that being there exhilarates me well beyond regular tourism.

Apologies for going a bit off topic...

originally posted by: Ericthedoubter
a reply to: Blackmarketeer

It's nice to see things being discovered like this.Is it a particularly remote area?

Coming from a miniscule country like England,it's difficult to imagine a place so vast that parts haven't been explored recently.😃

What about undiscovered caves that have been completely isolated since the earth's formation. They could have separate evolutionary paths and essentially contain unexplored alien universes right underneath or feet.

originally posted by: intrptr
a reply to: Ericthedoubter

Coming from a minuscule country like England,it's difficult to imagine a place so vast that parts haven't been explored recently.

Yah the midwest is vast, lots of canyons, and difficult access. My biggest wow moment one time was a road sign in Utah that read, 'next gas a hundred miles'.

link

a lot of potential for these kind of things to reasonably continue to be discovered still.uncharted frontiers underneath our nose.

originally posted by: Terminal1
a reply to: intrptr

Thank you for that info. Is it cordoned off in any way? I would love to just put my hand on the rock even if I had to crawl lol.. Not directly on a glyph though.

I wouldn't claim to be a sensitive or psychic. I just think I appreciate ancient monuments and spirtual places enough that being there exhilarates me well beyond regular tourism.

Apologies for going a bit off topic...

you can climb if you want but it's that kind of appreciation that gets you access to really get the full experience.