At Vista Park, the Hopi Tribe (ca 1200-1500AD) found a way to tell when the Summer Solstace and the Winter Solstace happened. It was their calendar!
Petroglyphs are rocks with carved pictures, not to be confused with pictographs which are paintings on rocks. The Hopi carved the petroglyphs by stiking the "picture" stone with a smaller stone that was much harder, in most cases volcanic and sedimentary rocks struck by granite.
From this small, un-named mesa, when the sun sets in the notch of Granite Mountain (about 10 miles from the mesa) it is June 21st. When the sun sets at the base of Thumb Butte (about 5 miles from the mesa) it is December 22nd. So, 6 months from one to the other, and 6 months back; a year! We can only imagine how they used the information, perhaps when to plant crops, perhaps there was spiritual meaning.
There are mostly sun symbols, but there are also charts (celestial?), and also human and animal figures.
No two petroglyphs are alike. Over time, there may have been changes in the meaning of the images and in how they were made. The true meaning of of this unique art from may never be known, but the thrill of seeing it is chilling.
Thumb Butte: little bump 1/6 of the way from left
The notch in Granite Mountain, center
Depiction by the site discoverers
The one in the depiction
This was 3 symbols on 1 rock that had broken
When I adjusted the color, I noticed another
image in the lower right
Scorpion, With antennae! How cool is that!
Celestial image. A constellation?
Human. Dancing?
Sun sign
Maybe a child made it?
Vista Park
