Fajada Butte, Chaco Culture National Historic Park

Fajada Butte is a butte in Chaco Culture National Historical Park, in northwest New Mexico.

Fajada Butte (Banded Butte) rises 135 meters above the canyon floor. Although there is no water source on the butte, there are ruins of small cliff dwellings in the higher regions of the butte. Analysis of fragments of pottery found on Fajada show that these structures were used between the 10th to 13th centuries. The remains of a 95-meter-high, 230-meter-long ramp are evident on the southwestern face of the butte. The magnitude of this building project, without an apparent utilitarian purpose, indicates that Fajada Butte may have had considerable ceremonial importance for the Chacoan people. The Sun Dagger Site: In 1977 the artist Anna Sofaer visited Chaco Canyon as a volunteer recording rock art. There she recorded petroglyphs on Fajada Butte at what is now called the Sun Dagger site, now perhaps the most famous site in Chaco Canyon, located at a southeastern facing cliff near the top of Fajada Butte. She noted three large stone slabs leaning against the cliff which channel light and shadow markings onto two spiral petroglyphs on the cliff wall. On her second visit she saw a "dagger of light" bisecting one of the spirals. At about 11:15 am. on the summer solstice a dagger-shaped light form pierces the larger of the two spirals. Similar sun daggers mark the winter solstice and equinoxes. At one extreme in the moon's eighteen- to nineteen-year cycle (the lunar minor standstill), a shadow bisects the larger spiral just as the moon rises; and at its other extreme, nine-and-a-half years later (the lunar major standstill), the shadow of the rising moon falls on the left edge of the larger spiral. In each case these shadows align with pecked grooves. Due to one of the slabs settling, the "dagger of light" no longer crosses through the center of the spiral during the summer solstice. Public access to the butte was curtailed when, in 1989, erosion from modern foot traffic was found to be responsible for one of the three screening slabs at the "Sun Dagger" site shifting out of its ancient position. Because of that shift, the assemblage of stones has lost some of its former spatial and temporal precision as a solar and lunar calendar. In 1990 the screens were stabilized and placed under observation, but the wayward slab was not moved back into its original orientation.

20190327chacoculturenationalhistoricalpark00422019Chaco Culture National Historical ParkFajada ButteFederalFederal GovernmentGovernmentHistoricLandscapeMarchNational ParkNational Park ServiceNational ParksNew MexicoNorth AmericaOldScenicSouthwestSouthwest U.S.Southwest United StatesSpringU.S. Department of the InteriorU.S. Dept of the InteriorU.S. Dept. of the InteriorU.S.A.USAUnited StatesUnited States Department of the InteriorUnited States Dept. of the InteriorUnited States of AmericaView