Archaeoastronomy

Archaeoastronomy, or Cultural Astronomy in the U. S. Southwest

Michael Zeilik
UNM Physics & Astronomy
800 Yale Blvd. NE, 87131
Phone: 505-277-4442 Fax: 505-277-1520

Seminar Description

Astronomy flourishes in New Mexico today, from the computer simulations at Los Alamos National Laboratory to the solar telescopes at Sunspot. Astronomy also has deep roots, revealed in the traditions of the Pueblo people. They perceive a cosmos in which nature functions with the active cooperation of humankind, who must perform the proper ceremony at the proper time to assure the continuity of the cosmos. The proper times were guided by astronomical observations that were the responsibility of religious officials, who kept the Pueblo sky watch for calendric purposes. We can use these practices as lenses on the past to, reconstruct the use of astronomy the prehistoric Pueblo wold. This seminar will focus on the astronomy of the historic and ancient Pueblos to learn how the flow of ceremonies connects to the cycles of the sky. These practices involve a ritual sequence that unites myriad aspects of Pueblo life and touches diverse points of Pueblo culture

Content Sequence

Session 1: Why? What? How? Crossing Cultures
Session 2: Naked-Eye Astronomy: Sun
Session 3: Naked-Eye Astronomy: Moon
Session 4: Naked-Eye Astronomy: Planets
Session 5: Naked-Eye Astronomy: Stars
Session 6: Southwestern Ethnoastronomy
Session 7: Southwestern Cosmovision
Session 8: Southwestern Prehistory
Session 9: Practical Aspects of Fieldwork
Session 10: Intersecting Disciplines
Session 11: Beyond the Southwest
Session 12: Speculations

Field Trips

We will at least go to Coronado State Monument and Petroglyph Park National Monument. Other sites (Chaco, for instance) subject to discussion.

Observations
Every Fellow will be expected to complete one observational project during the Institute. These activities may be carried out individually or in small teams. A project may embody fieldwork at a prehistoric site.

Readings
You will be given a diverse set of articles that will form the core of the seminar content.

Bibliography

Carlson, John W. and W. James Judge, eds. Astronomy and Ceremony in the Prehistoric Southwest (Papers of the Maxwell Museum of Anthropology, Number 2). Albuquerque: Maxwell Museum of Anthropology, University of New Mexico, 1993

Clark, Ann N. Sun Journey: A Story of Zuni Pueblo. Ancient City Press, 1988.

Farrer, Claire R. Living Life's Circle. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1991

Griffin-Pierce, Trudy. Earth Is My Mother, Sky Is My Father: Space, Time and Astronomy in Navajo Sandpainting. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1992.

Malville, J. McKim and Claudia Putnam. Prehistoric Astronomy in the Southwest (revised edition). Johnson Books, 1993.

Williamson, Ray A. Living the Sky: The Cosmos of the American Indian. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1984.

Williamson, Ray A. and Claire R. Fairer, eds. Earth and Sky: Visions of the Cosmos in Native American Folklore. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1992.

Williamson, Ray A. Archaeoastronomy in the Americas. Ballena Press, 1981