Archaeoastronomy and Ancient Technologies 2021, 9(2), 1-31
DOI: 10.24412/2310-2144-2021-9-2-1-31
A prehistoric Native American pictograph that signals the summer solstice
John McHugh1, John K. Lundwall2, Tom Howells3
1Archaeologist, Utah Cultural Astronomy Project, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; jjmchugh72164@comcast.net
2Archaeoastronomer, Utah Cultural Astronomy Project, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; knightjl7@msn.com
3Field Researcher, Utah Rock Art Research Association, Vernal, Utah, USA; tomfh2@gmail.com
Abstract
The current article examines a 90 cm. tall, prehistoric Native American pictograph painted in red ochre which depicts a red Anthropomorph wearing a “V”-shaped headdress. For a seven-day period at the summer solstice the face and headdress of the red Anthropomorph are illuminated with sunlight. The authors proffer photographic, archaeological, and iconographic evidence confirming that the pictograph was made by the prehistoric, agriculturally-reliant Fremont culture of Utah (USA) circa AD 1100 – 1300, and that it was indeed a summer solstice indicator. Because genetic and cultural data verify that some Fremont people were ancestors to the Native Americans that occupy the modern pueblos in Arizona and New Mexico, we gather late-nineteenth and early-twentieth century ethnography from the latter pueblos to show that the summer solstice marked a major shift in agrarian practices—from field preparation and sowing to rain-making and crop fruition. Additional rock art iconography associates the red “Anthropomorph-with-V-shaped-headdress” motif with headhunting, a practice that, according to Pueblo Indian ethnography, was necessary for rain-making and abundant harvests. We then trace this historic Pueblo Indian conception to prehistoric head-taking pictographs aligned with the summer solstice and the seasonal shift it signaled towards rain-making through ritualized headhunting.
Keywords: archaeoastronomy, Fremont culture, solar, calendar, rock art, pictograph, headhunting
Full Text: Download pdf (English)
References
Adams E.C. "The Katsina Cult: A Western Pueblo Perspective", in: Kachinas in the Pueblo World, pp. 35-46 (The University of Utah Press: Salt Lake City, Utah, USA, 2000).
Allison, J. "The Fremont, Ancient Farmers of the Far Northern Southwest", A Tea and Archaeology Presentation sponsored by Archaeology Southwest (13 Nov 2016); accessed 1 July 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_m5aWGNjwo
Benedict R. Zuñi Mythology, vols. I-II (AMS Press: New York, New York, USA, 1969).
Bourke, J.G. The Snake Dance of the Moquis of Arizona (Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, and Rivington: London, United Kingdom).
Bunzel, R. "Introduction to Zuñi Ceremonialism, Zuñi Origin Myths, Zuñi Ritual Poetry, Zuñi Kachinas: an Analytical Study", Forty-Seventh Annual Report of American Ethnology, 1929-30, pp. 467-1086 (United States Government Printing Office: Washington, DC, USA).
Carlson, J.B., Judge, W.J. eds. Astronomy and Ceremony in the Prehistoric Southwest; Papers of the Maxwell Museum of Anthropology, No. 2 (University of New Mexico: Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA).
Carlyle S.W., Parr, R.L., Hayes, M.G., O’Rourke, D.H. "Context of Maternal Lineages in the Greater Southwest", American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 2000, 113(1), pp. 85-101.
Castleton, K.B. Petroglyphs and Pictographs of Utah, Vol. 1: The East and Northeast (Utah Museum of Natural History: Salt Lake City, Utah, USA, 1984, 2nd enlarged edition).
Cole, S.J. Legacy on Stone; Rock Art of the Colorado Plateau and Four Corners Region (Johnson Books: Boulder, Colorado, USA).
Cordell, L.S., McBrinn, M.E. Archaeology of the Southwest (Left Coast Press: Walnut Creek, California, USA).
Cushing, F.H. Zuñi (University of Nebraska Press: Lincoln, Nebraska, USA & London, England).
Eggan F. "The Hopi Indians, with Special Reference to Their Cosmology or World-view", in Kachinas in the Pueblo World (The University of Utah Press: Salt Lake City, Utah, USA), pp. 7-16.
Ellis, F.H. "A Thousand Years of the Pueblo Sun-Moon-Star Calendar", in Archaeoastronomy in Pre-Columbian America ed., A.F. Aveni (University of Texas Press: Austin, Texas, USA & London, England), pp. 59-87.
Farmer, J.D. "Iconographic Evidence of Basketmaker Warfare and Human Sacrifice: A Contextual Approach to Early Anasazi Art", Kiva, 1997, 62(4), pp. 391-420.
Harrington, J.P. "Picuris Children’s Stories, with Texts and Songs", Forty-third Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology 1925-1926 (United States Government Printing Office: Washington DC, USA).
Hill, W.W. An Ethnography of Santa Clara Pueblo New Mexico ed., C.H. Lange (University of New Mexico Press: Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA).
Howard, J., Janetski, J.C. "Human Scalps from Eastern Utah", Utah Archaeology, 1992, 5(1), pp. 125-132.
Hurst, W.B., Turner, C.G. "Rediscovering the ‘Great Discovery’: Wetherill’s First Cave 7 and Its Record of Basketmaker Violence", Anasazi Basketmaker; Papers from the 1990 Wetherill-Grand Gulch Symposium, 1993, 24, Bureau of Land Management Cultural Resource Series, eds. V.M. Atkins (United States Department of Interior, Bureau of Land Management: Salt Lake City, USA), pp. 143-191.
Janetski, J.C. "The Enigmatic Fremont", in The Great Basin: People and Places in Ancient Times, eds. C.S. Fowler, D.D. Fowler (School for Advanced Research: Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA), pp. 105-115.
Kidder A.V., Guernsey S.J. "Archaeological Explorations in Northeastern Arizona", Bureau of American Ethnography, Bulletin 65, 1919, (Government Printing Office: Washington DC, USA).
Keyser, J.D., Minick, D.L. "Re-Imagining Fremont: A Color Palette for the Ages", American Indian Rock Art, 2020, 46, pp. 65-95.
Krupp E.C. Echoes of Ancient Skies (Oxford University Press, New York, USA & Oxford, England [first publication 1983]).
Lomatuway’ma, M., Lomatuway’ma, L., Namingha, S., narrators, Hopi Run Legends: Kiqötutuwutsi, ed. E. Malotki (University of Nebraska Press: Lincoln, Nebraska, USA; London, UK, for Northern Arizona University).
Lange, C.H. Cochiti: A New Mexico Pueblo Past and Present (University of Texas Press: Austin, Texas, USA).
Lipe, W.D. "The Depopulation of the Northern San Juan; Conditions in the Turbulent 1200s", Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 1995, 14, pp. 143-169.
Madsen, D.B., Simms, S.R. "The Fremont Complex: A Behavioral Perspective", Journal of World Prehistory, 1998, 12(3), pp. 255-336.
Malotki, E., Lomatuway’ma, M. Maasaw: Profile of a Hopi God (University of Nebraska Press: Lincoln, USA; London, United Kingdom).
Malville, J.M. "The Enigma of Fajada Butte", Astronomy and Ceremony in the Prehistoric Southwest: Revisited; Maxwell Museum of Anthropology, Anthropological Papers No. 9 (University of New Mexico: Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA).
Malville, J.M., Putnam, C. Prehistoric Astronomy in the Southwest (Johnson Books: Boulder, Colorado, USA [first published 1989]).
Marwitt, J.P. "Fremont Cultures", Handbook of North American Indians: Great Basin, 1986, 11, pp. 161-172.
McCluskey, S.C. "The Astronomy of the Hopi Indians", Journal of the History of Astronomy, 1977, viii, pp. 174-195.
McCluskey, S.C. "Transformation of the Hopi Calendar", in Archaeoastronomy in the Americas, ed. R.A. Williamson (Ballena Press/Center for Archaeoastronomy Cooperative Publication: Los Altos, California, USA; College Park, Maryland, USA), pp. 173-182.
McCluskey, S.C. "Historical Archaeoastronomy: The Hopi Example", in Archaeoastronomy in the New World, ed. A.F. Aveni (Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, London, England; New York, New Rochelle, USA; Melbourne, Sydney, Australia), pp. 31-57.
McHugh, J., Lundwall, J., Larson, A. “Using Puebloan Ethnology to Explain the Function and Meaning of a Solar-Lunar Petroglyph at Fremont Indian State Park”, American Indian Rock Art, 2021, 47, pp. 173-185.
McNitt, F. Richard Wetherill: Anasazi (University of New Mexico Press: Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA).
Morris, E.H. "Exploring in the Canyon of Death: Remains of a People Who Dwelt in Our Southwest at Least 4,000 Year Ago Are Revealed", National Geographic, 1925, 48(3), pp. 263-300.
Morris, E.H. "Archaeological Studies in the La Plata District", Carnegie Institution of Washington Publication No. 519 (Government Printing Office: Washington D. C., USA, 1939).
Munson, G.E., Bostwick, T.W., Hull, T. Astronomy and Ceremony in the Prehistoric Southwest: Revisited; Maxwell Museum of Anthropology, Anthropological Papers № 9 (University of New Mexico: Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA).
Parson, E.C. The Pueblo of Jemez (Yale University Press: New Haven, Connecticut, USA).
Parsons, E.C. "The Social Organization of the Tewa of New Mexico", American Anthropological Association Memoirs, 1929, XXXVI (American Anthropological Association: Menasha, Wisconsin, USA).
Parsons, E.C. "Isleta", Forty-seventh Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology 1929-1930 (United States Government Printing Office: Washington DC, USA).
Parsons, E.C. Pueblo Indian Religion, Vols. I-II (University of Chicago Press: Chicago, Illinois, USA, 1939).
Patterson, A. A Field Guide to Rock Art Symbols of the Greater Southwest (Johnson Books: Boulder, Colorado, USA).
Pratt, A. G., Pratt, K. Rock Art of the Uintah Basin, 2nd Edition (Self Publication).
Reagan A.B. "The Jemez Indians", El Palacio, 1917, IV(2), pp. 25-72.
Roberts, F.H.H. "The Ruins of Kiatuthlanna, Eastern Arizona", Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin, 1931, 100 (Washington, D. C., USA).
Schaafsma, P. Indian Rock Art of the Southwest (School of American Research, Santa Fe, New Mexico USA; University of New Mexico Press: Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA [fourth printing 1990]).
Schaafsma, P. "The Prehistoric Kachina Cult and Its Origins as Suggested by Southwestern Rock Art", in Kachinas in the Pueblo World (The University of Utah Press: Salt Lake City, Utah, USA), pp. 63-79.
Schaafsma, P. Warrior, Shield, and Star; Imagery and Ideology of Pueblo Warfare (Western Edge Press: Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA).
Schaafsma, P. "Head Trophies and Scalping: Images in Southwest Rock Art", in The Taking and Displaying of Human Body Parts as Trophies by Amerindians, eds. R.J. Chacon and D.H. Dye (Springer: New York, New York, USA), pp. 90-123.
Seager, T.R. Oral History of Uintah County, Utah, Tape 305, File Folder No. 183, Interviewed by K. Irving, 26 September 2001; Transcribed by M. Hunting, December 2001 (Uintah County Library Regional Room).
Sekaquaptewa E., Washburn D. "They Go Along Singing: Reconstructing the Hopi Past from Ritual Metaphors in Song and Image", American Antiquity, 2004, 69(3), pp. 457-486.
Simms, S.R., Gohier, F. Traces of the Fremont; Society and Rock Art in Ancient Utah (The University of Utah Press & College of Eastern Utah prehistoric Museum: Salt Lake City, Price, Utah, USA).
Simms, S. Ancient Peoples of the Great Basin & Colorado Plateau (Routledge: London, England, & New York, USA [first published 2008, Left Coast Press, Inc.]).
Sofaer, A., Zinser, V., Sinclair, R.M. "A Unique Solar Marking Construct", Science 1979, 206, pp. 283-291. Reprinted in: Sofaer, A. Chaco Astronomy: An Ancient American Cosmology (Ocean Tree Books: Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA), pp. 23-37.
Stephen, A.M. Hopi Journal of Alexander M. Stephen, 2 parts, ed. E.C. Parsons (Columbia University Press: New York, New York, USA, 1936).
Stevenson, M.C. "The Zuñi Indians; Their Mythology, Esoteric Fraternities, and Ceremonies", Twenty-third Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution 1901-1902 (Government Printing Office: Washington, D.C., USA).
Titiev, M. Old Oraibi: A Study of the Hopi Indians of Third Mesa; Papers of the Peabody Museum of American Archaeology and Ethnology, 1944, XXII(1) (Harvard University Press: Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA).
Voth, H.R. "The Traditions of the Hopi", Field Columbian Museum Publication 96, Anthropological Series, 1905, VIII, (Chicago, USA).
Waters, F. The Book of Hopi (Penguin Books: New York, USA, [first printed: Viking Press, 1963]).
White, L.A. "The Pueblo of Santa Ana, New Mexico", Memoirs of the American Anthropological Association, 1942, XLIII (American Anthropological Association: Menasha, Wisconsin, USA).
Widdison, J.G. ed. The Anasazi; Why Did They Leave? Where Did They Go? (Southwest Natural and Cultural Heritage Association: Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA, 1991); A panel discussion at the Anasazi Heritage Center, Dolores, Colorado, sponsored by the Bureau of Land Management as part of the "Four Corners Tribute", 19 June 1990.
Wilcox, D.R., Haas, J. "The Scream of the Butterfly; Competition and Conflict in the Prehistoric Southwest", in Themes in Southwest Prehistory, ed. G.J. Gumerman (School of American Research Press: Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA), pp. 211-238.
Williamson, R.A. Living the Sky; The Cosmos of the American Indian (University of Oklahoma Press: Norman, Oklahoma, USA & London, England).
Whitman, W. "The San Ildefonso of New Mexico", in Acculturation in Seven American Indian Tribes, ed. R. Linton (D. Appleton-Century Company: New York, USA) pp. 390-460.
Zeilik, M. "The Ethnoastronomy of the Historic Pueblos, I: Calendrical Sun Watching", Archaeoastronomy, 1985, 8, pp. 86-96.
Zeilik, M. "Sun Shrines and Sun Symbols in the U.S. Southwest", Archaeoastronomy, 1985, 9, pp. 1-24.
Zeilik, M. "The Ethnoastronomy of the Historic Pueblos, II: Moon Watching", Archaeoastronomy, 1986, 10, pp. 1-22.
Zeilik, M. "Historic Lunar Calendars in the Pueblo Southwest: Examples from Zuñi and Hopi", The Astronomy Quarterly, 1991, 9, pp. 89-107.
