“The time when the moon stands still,” is when the moon is at its most northern or southern point and appears to have stopped moving.  These celestial events are recorded on the spiral marking Fajada Butte. 

“Fajada Butte is a prominent landscape feature and a sacred place for the Pueblo, Hopi, and Navajo peoples.  It figures prominently in the people’s oral histories, migration stories, and ongoing traditions.  The Sundagger site, atop the butte, is one of many that commemorates the passage of the sun in the Chacoan world.  Photo courtesy of NPS.”

Fajada Butte: Also known as Singing Rock, Fajada Butte is home to a unique and compelling celestial marker.  Three large rock slabs on a ledge facing east-southeast have been arranged to channel the noon-time sun.  A concentric circle about the size of a dinner plate has been carved into the cliff face behind the rock slabs.  At midday on the summer solstice, sunlight is channeled through the space between the rock slabs, creating a dagger-shaped shaft of light that descends vertically through the center of the spiral.  On the winter solstice, two light daggers bracket the engraved spiral.  This marker is unusual in that it tracks the sun during midday instead of at sunrise and sunset as most astronomical markers.  The movement of the light daggers adds an additional sense of drama to an impressive astronomical event.

The concentric circle carved into Fajada Butte can also be used to mark the spring and fall equinoxes.  On both spring and fall equinoxes, a light dagger is projected onto the spiral between the edge and center of the spiral.  The spring equinox and fall equinoxes occur when the sun is midway between the solstice points.

Lunar Markers: The moon follows a complex 18.6 year cycle.  The rising and setting position of the moon moves from north to south.  This change in position can be extreme—as much as 37 degrees. This is almost half the length of the horizon. The full moon occurring during midwinter rises and sets farthest north in the year.  For 9 and a quarter years, it sets farther and farther north, reaching the maximum extreme or major standstill.  Then the moon reverses course and begins to set farther south for 9 and a quarter years to reach the minimum extreme or minimum standstill.

Put another way, the North Pole is +90 degrees above the celestial equator and the South Pole is -90 degrees, or 90 degrees below the celestial equator.  The minor standstill occurs when the moon is 18.4 degrees above the celestial equator, the farthest south it appears in the sky.  Over a period of 18.6 years, the moon will slowly appear in a more northern position in the nighttime sky until it reaches the major standstill, a position 28.7 degrees above the celestial equator.

The spiral is completely in shadow when the moon is at the equinox or mid position of its north-south cycle.  Only half of the spiral is in shadow when the minor standstill of the moon occurs, and the entire spiral is illuminated when the major standstill of the moon occurs.

Atop Fajada Butte, the maximum extreme moon casts a shadow on the outer edge of the spiral, then during each year toward the minimum extreme the shadow moves one turn of the spiral inward.  The number of turns of the spiral corresponds to the number of years it takes the moon to move from maximum to minimum, until the minimum moon casts its shadow on the inner ring of the spiral.  The shadows cast on the spiral during the maximum extreme moon and the minimum events are further emphasized by a straight groove that has been pecked into the marker, appearing to mark these celestial events.

7 Great Houses are aligned with the lunar extreme moons, the same moons marked on the spiral.  The long back walls, inner walls, or the perpendiculars (right angles) to Pueblo Bonito of Una Vida, Penasco Blanco, Pueblo del Arroyo, Kin Kletso, Chetro Ketl, Salmon Pueblo, and Pueblo Pintado appear to mark the moon=s journey from maximum to minimum extremes. 

The minimum mid-summer full moon sets in line with the back wall of Chetro Ketl.  This same line extends directly to Kin Bineola, 12 miles away.  Lending credence to the Great Houses being constructed according to the lunar cycle, is an alignment of Kin Kletso and Pueblo del Arroyo to the rising of the minimum moon.  A line from these two houses extends 15 miles directly to Pueblo Pintado.  Pueblo Pintado and Kin Bineola exhibit a connection with this same lunar sight line.  A line paralleling the maximum moon rise also connects Una Vida and Penasco Blanco.

Piedra del Sol: (Sun Stone) A spiral on the northeast face may have been used to predict the summer solstice.  Standing at this site and facing east, the sun will appear above a rock in the shape of a pyramid on June 3rd.  15 to 16 days later, at the time of the solstice, the sun will have moved to the notch between the pyramidal rock and a notch in the outcropping.  A petroglyph on the south face of Piedra del Sol is reminiscent of the sun’s corona, observable during a solar eclipse.  This petroglyph may have recorded a total solar eclipse occurring in A.D. 1097 and visible in Chaco Canyon.

Although the evidence is circumstantial, it is considerable.  There remains a unique spiritual, scientific, and mystical connection between the earth, the heavens, and the people of Chaco Canyon.

Winter Solstice: The winter solstice marks the day when the sun is at its lowest arc in the sky, giving us the longest night and the least amount of daylight.

Summer Solstice: The summer solstice marks the day when the sun is at its highest arc in the sky, giving us the shortest night and the largest amount of daylight.

Equinox: The time when the sun appears directly overhead at the equator, a time when day and night are of equal length.

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