More than 1,500 Petroglyphs, including a Solar Calendar, Found in Northern Arizona

Archaeologists who explored the remote mesas of Northern Arizona have identified a previously undocumented group of petroglyphs, one of which confirms the presence of a prehistoric solar calendar.

According to Western Digs, the solar calendar has been marking the seasons for more than 700 years with a shadow dagger that travels across the sandstone face. This feature is made by a natural outcropping of rock above a panel of petroglyphs. Western Digs reports that the “shadow dagger” bisects a spiral carved onto the cliff wall, while another shadow interacts with a set of eight circles pecked into the panel’s left side.”

The researchers discovered the petroglyphs in the back country of the Wupatki National Monument site northeast of Flagstaff, in Arizona, USA. The area includes the ruins of dozens of sites built by Ancestral Puebloans, also known as the Kayenta or the Sinagua.

A panorama of the Wupatki ruins. (CC BY SA 2.5)