Chaco Astronomy: An Ancient American Cosmology

Features

• Perfect Paperback: 176 pages
• Published by: Ocean Tree Books
• Edition: 1st Edition December 6, 2007
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 0943734460
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0943734460
• Book Dimensions: 10 x 8.1 x 0.6 inches
• Weighs: 1.1 pounds

Product Review
After rumors surfaced about the sun bisecting a petroglyph at Chaco Canyon, people never looked at the site the same again. The discovery proposed a cosmology at Chaco, and the book looks at the people who lived in the San Juan Basin from 850 AD to 1300, developing an elaborate culture around the cycles of the sun and moon.This book is exciting for anyone interested in the ancient times of (the Southwest). --Enchantment Magazine

Anna Sofaer's pioneering work on Chaco Canyon, a World Heritage Site, should be required reading for anyone interested in how the prehistoric people of the American Southwest conceptualized their universe and placed themselves within that universe. --Todd W. Bostwick, co-editor, Viewing the Sky Through Past and Present Cultures

Product Description
Anna Sofaer found the now-famous "Sun Dagger" petroglyph site on a desert butte high above Chaco Culture National Historical Park at Summer Solstice in 1977, leading to thirty years research into the meaning of ancient Chaco's astonomical expressions. Chaco Astronomy brings together all the major findings of Solstice Project's many researchers, changing forever the understanding of a place often called "America's Stonehenge"

Nine revealing chapters explore the sophisticated lunar and solar alignments of major buildings, implications of the Great North Road, a remarkable digital reconstruction of the Sun Dagger site, and more. Richly illustrated with photos, charts, maps, and diagrams.

Sofaer and the highly qualified science team of the Solstice Project struggled to overcome resistance to their findings by an entrenched archaeological establishment. As deeper investigations provided more and more substance to her findings, Sofar now stands tall as one of the great pioneers of American archaeoastronomy.

Reader Reviews
During the summer solstice in 1977, researcher Anna Sofaer was high on a butte in New Mexico's western deserts when she observed a single shaft of light perfectly bisecting a rock art spiral. The spiral was created by the ancestors of the Native Americans known as the Pueblo people. Sofaer recognized the significance of this 'Sun Dagger' and commenced a thirty-year investigation and research into the meaning of it and numerous other astronomical expressions found throughout the architecture and art of the ancient Chaco culture. The results of this three decade study are what comprise "Chaco Astronomy: An Ancient American Cosmology". The result of Sofaer's own researches are augmented by other contributors to The Solstice Project. The informed and informative text is enhanced with the inclusion of numerous black-and-white photographs, drawings, and sketches. "Chaco Astronomy" is a work of seminal scholarship that is enthusiastically recommended for personal, professional, and academic library collections in American Archeology, Native American History, and Paleo Astronomy reference collections and supplemental reading lists.