Mystery of Chaco Canyon

Thursday was the summer solstice, the longest day of the year, when the transition was made from spring into summer.

When I think of solstices I think of the trip I made to Chaco Canyon in 1982 when I camped out with my 2 daughters.  My husband wanted to go to India and I said I did not want to go.  We agreed that he would go to India and I would take our daughters camping.  I wanted to see the Native American spiritual centers in the Southwest.

I hitched a tent camper to my car and off we went for about 6 weeks.  Chaco Canyon was high on my list to visit.  I had read about how mysterious Chaco Canyon is.  About 850 AD a very sophisticated set of buildings, roadways and settlements were made and then suddenly abandoned.  In the early 1980's most people did not know about Chaco Canyon and the roads leading to the Canyon were sandy and difficult to manage towing a tent camper.  At one point my car stalled and from out of nowhere a group of native Americans pushed the car and trailer up the mountain.

We explored the entire area and were intrigued by the ruins.  One of the ruins was found to be important in determining when the solstices would take place.  I found the following on the internet.

High atop the imposing butte at the entrance of the canyon is the most famous of Chaco’s sites. There, a set of spiral petroglyphs pecked into a cliff face behind three giant slabs of rock functions as a solar marker. At summer solstice a vertical shaft of light pierces the main spiral exactly at its center. On the winter solstice, two shafts of light perfectly bracket the same spiral. Light shafts strike the center of a smaller spiral nearby on the spring and fall equinoxes.

This site, now known as the Sun Dagger, was discovered by Anna Sofaer in 1977. After extensive investigation, Sofaer and her colleagues published data that showed that the spirals may also track the 18.6-year lunar cycle.

Alas, it’s no longer possible to see the Sun Dagger in action. In 1989, the rock slabs shifted—possibly from increased erosion due to too many visitors—and the effect was spoiled. Today, the site is closed to visitors.

The world is full of mysteries from our past and I personally believe that the peoples of the past had far more knowledge, engineering, and life than we realize.  Just look at the engineering feat of pyramids around the world.  

Below is a photo of the sun dagger.