# The Sun Dagger (spiral petroglyphs and three slabs on Fajada Butte)

> Three sandstone slabs, each 2 to 3 m high and about a tonne, lean against a south-east-facing cliff near the top of the 135 m butte and cast light on a…

Source: https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/chaco-canyon/artifacts/ART0D9KVBXW0PTV/the-sun-dagger-spiral-petroglyphs-and-three-slabs-on-fajada  
Publisher: Mysteries Department  
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (credit Mysteries Department and link the page)  

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[Mysteries](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries)[Great houses of Chaco Canyon](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/chaco-canyon)[Artifacts](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/chaco-canyon#artifacts)The Sun Dagger (spiral petroglyphs and three slabs on Fajada Butte)

**ART** 0D9KVBXW0PTV·Artifact · object

# The Sun Dagger (spiral petroglyphs and three slabs on Fajada Butte)

Objectcopyright The Solstice ProjectLight pattern found by Anna Sofaer in 1977 and published in 1979

[Cite]

**Not kept here.** This copy isn't ours to show. [See it where it's published](https://solsticeproject.org/the-sun-dagger/).

Three sandstone slabs, each 2 to 3 m high and about a tonne, lean against a south-east-facing cliff near the top of the 135 m butte and cast light on a spiral of 9½ turns (34 by 41 cm) and a smaller one of 2½ turns above and to its left. The butte was closed to the public in the 1980s; after the 1989 discovery that the middle slab had pivoted, the Park Service limited visits further and refilled t

Karl Kernberger for the Solstice Project, 1977. copyright The Solstice Project

## Copies 3

**Photo** Karl Kernberger for the Solstice Project · solsticeproject.org · 1978 · copyright The Solstice Project1 step from the original

[Where it's published](https://solsticeproject.org/the-sun-dagger/)

**Photo** Nevada Weir and Rolf M. Sinclair for the Solstice Project · solsticeproject.org · 1980/1987 · copyright The Solstice Project1 step from the original

[Where it's published](https://solsticeproject.org/the-sun-dagger/)

**Model** The Solstice Project with Western Mapping Company (laser scan) and Alan Price (model) · solsticeproject.org · 2005/2006 · copyright The Solstice Project2 steps from the original

[Where it's published](https://solsticeproject.org/sun-dagger-explorer-model/)

## Where it was made

[Sun Dagger site (three-slab site)](https://mysteriesdept.com/records/PLC0D9KTHAA79D2/sun-dagger-site-three-slab-site) · Petroglyph and light-marking site

## Sources 2

- [A Unique Solar Marking Construct](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D9KT6AR0XPY/a-unique-solar-marking-construct)_SRC_
- [The Sun Dagger Interactive Computer Graphics Model: A Digital Restoration of a Chacoan Calendrical Site](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D9KTBET0V0D/the-sun-dagger-interactive-computer-graphics-model-a-digital)_SRC_

## Cite it

```
Mysteries Department. (2026). The Sun Dagger (spiral petroglyphs and three slabs on Fajada Butte) [Artifact ART0D9KVBXW0PTV]. https://mysteriesdept.com/r/ART0D9KVBXW0PTV
```

Key

**ART** 0D9KVBXW0PTV

Kind

Object

Held by

National Park Service, Chaco Culture National Historical Park (in situ; Fajada Butte closed to visitors)

Dated

light pattern found by Anna Sofaer in 1977 and published in 1979; lunar standstill markings reported 1982; major-standstill moonrise shadow photographed 8 November 1987; middle slab found pivoted 2 to 5 cm in 1989; by 2005 it had moved 15 cm on one axis

Licence

copyright The Solstice Project

Place

[Sun Dagger site (three-slab site)](https://mysteriesdept.com/records/PLC0D9KTHAA79D2/sun-dagger-site-three-slab-site)

Part of

[Great houses of Chaco Canyon](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/chaco-canyon)

The record

Every record is open data. Take this one as JSON, with its links and its history.

[JSON](https://mysteriesdept.com/api/v1/records/ART0D9KVBXW0PTV)