Three weeks in the West,part six (but not the last third)

The previous post featured images from Chetro Ketl, one of the larger ruins at Chaco Culture National Historical Park. The next series of images, except for the last two, were taken around Pueblo Bonito.

From the park's trail guides: "Chaco Canyon contains evidence of 10,000 years of human occupation. However, it is best known for the large-scale, multi-storied masonry buldings that were planned and constructed more than a thousand years ago by the ancestors of the Hopi and New Mexican Pueblo peoples. From AD 850 until AD 1150, Chaco was the center of a politcal, ceremonial and trade network that encompassed a vast area of the Southwest.

"The D-shaped geometry, symmetry and massive size of Pueblo Bonito are apparent from the overlook (atop the mesa behind the structure). The plaza area is divided in half by a room block aligned to true north. Other wall alignments suggest integration of the building with astronomical events such as solstices and lunar standstills."

From The Primary Architecture of the Chacoan Culture: A Cosmological Expression by Anna Sofaer: "Twelve of the 14 major Chacoan buildings are oriented to the midpoints and extremes of the solar and lunar cycles. The 11 rectangular major Chacoan buildings have internal geometry that corresponds with the relationship of the solar and lunar cycles. Most of the major buildings also appear to be organized in a solar-and-lunar regional pattern that is symmetrically ordered about Chaco Canyon's central complex of large ceremonial buildings. These findings suggest a cosmological purpose motivating and directing the construction and the orientation, internal geometry, and interrelationships of the primary Chacoan architecture."


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As I made my way around the pueblo, I noticed that the setting Sun was visible through a window that was above and behind me. As I tried to frame a shot with the Sun's light flaring through, I thought about the features for astronomical observation for which these ruins are renown. It was only in the last hour that I found out that the "windows" below were such features.


"...You will notice a southeast-facing corner doorway. Only seven are known in Pueblo Bonito, and all of them were built during later construction sequences in the eastern part of the pueblo. When the Sun rises on the morning of the winter solstice, rays of sunlight pass through the opening and strike the wall in the room behind it. Throughout the canyon, other architectural features, as well as modified landforms, correspond with astronomical events."


There was another set of intriguing portals that I noticed before I went back to the car. Three holes were set into a wall that faced the eastern horizon. The alignment reminded me of the solstice-equinox portals we'd seen at Mesa Verde.

Peering through, I could see a pair of holes in a second wall that were generally in line with the first set. Beyond the second set of holes, there was a third wall visible. As is clear from the photos, this wasn't the result of erosion or damage. Those stones were placed with intention.

The sight lines through each set of portals weren't visible head-on; one had to the side in order to see through all the way. There was no documentation about this specific room in the trail guide, but I'd say that this was another way for a calendar-keeper to mark specific solar or lunar transit.

I doubt that I was the first person to notice this feature, but just in case I was: I welcome a request from the National Park Service or The Solstice Project to have me come back to do more research :)


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Photos from earlier on day six are here, while photos from the beginning of day six are here.

This is the next and last post for day six.

And finally, these are the photos from day five .