Solstice Petroglyphs

River, a few friends, and I, went up to a Solstice Panel at sunrise the morning after Solstice. We found out about the site last year but had not been able to find it. The petroglyph panel is in a remote part of Arches NP and seems to have figures that are aligned with both the Summer and Winter Solstices and both Equinoxes. Several large circles (suns?) align perfectly with the shadow cast by a nearby rock. As the shadow moves it highlights different portions of the panel. There are many such sites around the the Southwest (and World). Many, like the Great Houses and Kivas in Chaco Canyon, are very elaboratley aligned with numerous celestial occurrances. I love the fact that ancient peoples were in tune enough with their surroundings that they observed subtle changes and pattens in their environment and celebrated them. We need to be more in tune with what is going on around us. Turn your TV off and go outside and notice the stars, where they are and how they move in relation to where you live.


The first photo (above) shows one of the large circles as it sits perfectly in a small indentation in the shadow.



About an hour later the circle on the bottom lines up with the shadow.











At one point the two large bighorn are perfectly standing on the shadow line and appear to be walking up the shadow. Some of the other bighorn in the upper left corner of the photo line up with the shadow on the Summer Solstice. On the Spring Equinox a spot of light comes through a gap in the rocks and points right at several of the figures on the panel. Nobody will ever know what the panel means of how it was used but it appears to be more than coincidence that so much of it is coordinated with the Solstice and Equinox.