Guide to Prehistoric Astronomy in the Southwest

by McKim Malville

Since the last edition of "Guide to Prehistoric Astronomy in the Southwest" in 1993, there has been a steady growth in the knowledge of astronomy practiced by the Ancestral Pueblo. Predictions that had been made in the last edition have been verified in the many annual returns of the solstice sun and, after 18.6 years, the return of the major standstill moon. New work in archaeology has been published on Chimney Rock, Chaco Canyon, Mesa Verde, Yellow Jacket, and Hovenweep, which reveals even more clearly how culture and astronomy were integrated.Astronomy can now be understood as an essential aspect of the whole culture of the Ancestral Pueblo. The approach of this book is a synthesis of astronomy, people, and culture. After an introduction to basic astronomy and archaeology, the book identifies specific places where one can view evidence for astronomical practices, as well as observing essentially the same sunrises that were observed by the Ancestral Pueblo a thousand years ago. Astronomy did not arrive in the area fully born, and the book shows how astronomy evolved with the practical and ceremonial needs of the people. Living quarters and ceremonial spaces started out in parallel to the heavens, probably due to ancient memories of migrations from the north.Astronomical calendars were needed to organize periodic festivals and integrate the vast spaces of the Chaco regional system. Cycles of the sun and moon were used for ceremonies involving sacred time. We have located calendrical stations in Chaco Canyon that would have provided the dates for winter and summer solstice festivals in the canyon. We now understand how Chimney Rock could have functioned as a Pueblo version of the Greenwich Observatory, by providing calendrical dates through a long distance signaling network. New interpretations are presented for the famous Sun Dagger and supernova pictographs in Chaco Canyon. During the last few decades of the 13th century, especially when the Great Drought set in, life in the Southwest became difficult and precarious, and we can see how astronomy changed just before abandonment of the area.

Genres: Science, Archaeology, Nonfiction, History

176 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2008

Reviews

[Socraticgadfly]

Good basic overview of what the Anasazi likely knew in terms of detailed paleoastronomy and how they constructed specific sites for that purpose. Does not, as best as I can tell, make overclaims.

Bonus: This book has a good, simple, illustrated explanation of what the moon's major and minor stand-stills are.

[Dennis Robbins]

The Ancestral Puebloans of the four corners area of the American southwest built structures documenting the movements of the Sun, Moon, and stars. From 700 C.E. to 1300 C.E., until a period of drying climate change of the Little Ice Age, native people lived in communities the made precise observations of the sky. The book is a guide to the physical locations where this “archaeoastronomy” occurred. The book has chapters on Chaco Canyon, Mesa Verde, Hoovenweep, and Chimney Rock which are open to the public and protected for posterity.

[Chris]

Very informative. I had no idea how extensively settled the Four Corners region had been.

[Ryley Dumas]

3.5

[Diane]

This is an excellent book for the layperson to learn about prehistoric astronomy in the 4 corners area of the Southwest. It definitely stretches the mind of a newcomer to the field, but understandable and clearly written. It has helpful maps and diagrams. If anyone plans a visit to Chaco Canyon or other prehistoric sites, this is the book to take along. Interesting point: At the Museum of in Flagstaff, Arizona, the new award-winning collections center, "The Easton Center", is oriented to the winter-summer solstice, and to the fall and spring equinox. Come visit! It is amazing. Diane Miller

[Mckinley]

Very interesting.