# Zeilik 1985: The Fajada Butte Solar Marker: A Reevaluation

> Michael Zeilik, 1985. 13 records on Mysteries Department cite it. The main published critique of the Sun Dagger's calendrical and lunar readings.

Source: https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D9KT6JJ6MNC/the-fajada-butte-solar-marker-a-reevaluation  
Publisher: Mysteries Department  
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (credit Mysteries Department and link the page)  

---

[Sources](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources)[Great houses of Chaco Canyon](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/chaco-canyon)Zeilik 1985

**0**

# The Fajada Butte Solar Marker: A Reevaluation

Michael Zeilik, 1985. _Science 228(4705): 1311-1313_.

Argues from Pueblo ethnography and the marker's precision that the site is not an accurate solar calendar and was more likely a sun shrine, and that neither ethnography nor the site's behaviour supports its use to mark or anticipate the 18.6-year lunar standstill.

**Great houses of Chaco Canyon** Articledoi: **[10.1126/science.228.4705.1311](https://doi.org/10.1126/science.228.4705.1311)** Checked against the original0

## What it's used for here

The main published critique of the Sun Dagger's calendrical and lunar readings.

## Cited by on this site 13 records

[The Fajada solar markings are deliberate but the site was a sun shrine, not a precise calendar, and the lunar…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/chaco-canyon/answers/ANS0D9KV4BP4PT6/the-fajada-solar-markings-are-deliberate-but-the-site-was-a)

Answer

ANS

[The lunar shadow positions are by-products of the slabs' shape; the site was not used to follow the…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/chaco-canyon/answers/ANS0D9KVP601RTM/the-lunar-shadow-positions-are-by-products-of-the-slabs)

Answer

ANS

[The site was a sun shrine where the solstices and equinoxes were watched and honoured, not a calendar for…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/chaco-canyon/answers/ANS0D9KVK0E0E6Z/the-site-was-a-sun-shrine-where-the-solstices-and-equinoxes)

Answer

ANS

[Historic Pueblo practice records sun-watching but not tracking of the lunar standstills.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/chaco-canyon/evidence/EVD0D9KVPDT2Y86/historic-pueblo-practice-records-sun-watching-but-not)

Evidence

EVD

[In Pueblo practice the marker would not have worked well to regulate the solar calendar.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/chaco-canyon/evidence/EVD0D9KVHSC5ZGY/in-pueblo-practice-the-marker-would-not-have-worked-well-to)

Evidence

EVD

[The marker would not have worked well to regulate the calendar, though it may have been a sun shrine.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/chaco-canyon/evidence/EVD0D9KVK881W3A/the-marker-would-not-have-worked-well-to-regulate-the)

Evidence

EVD

[There is no ethnographic evidence that historic Pueblos attended to the lunar standstill cycle.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/chaco-canyon/evidence/EVD0D9KVNPC5WM5/there-is-no-ethnographic-evidence-that-historic-pueblos)

Evidence

EVD

[Zeilik finds no ethnographic or functional support for lunar standstill use of the site.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/chaco-canyon/evidence/EVD0D9KV43W1K5B/zeilik-finds-no-ethnographic-or-functional-support-for-lunar)

Evidence

EVD

[Zeilik judged the marker unable to give accurate anticipatory solar dates in the Puebloan context.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/chaco-canyon/evidence/EVD0D9KV4KG7W5J/zeilik-judged-the-marker-unable-to-give-accurate)

Evidence

EVD

[Michael Zeilik](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/chaco-canyon/people/FIG0D9KTF404EPH/michael-zeilik)

FIG

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

The mystery article

MYS

[Do the buildings and markers at Chaco encode astronomy?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/chaco-canyon/questions/QST0D9KTT3J4BBQ/do-the-buildings-and-markers-at-chaco-encode-astronomy)

Question

QST

[Does the Sun Dagger also mark the 18.6-year lunar standstill cycle?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/chaco-canyon/questions/QST0D9KV4KG0K3Y/does-the-sun-dagger-also-mark-the-18-6-year-lunar-standstill)

Question

QST

## Cite it

```
Zeilik, M. (1985). The Fajada Butte Solar Marker: A Reevaluation. Science 228(4705): 1311-1313. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.228.4705.1311
```

[Find it at doi.org](https://doi.org/10.1126/science.228.4705.1311)

Key

**SRC** 0D9KT6JJ6MNC

Kind

Journal article

Rights

The publisher's

Checked

Against the published article

Added by

[apollo](https://mysteriesdept.com/u/apollo)

The record

Bibliographic records are CC0. Take this one as CSL-JSON, BibTeX or RIS.

[CSL-JSON](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D9KT6JJ6MNC/the-fajada-butte-solar-marker-a-reevaluation/csl.json)