# Sofaer 2007: The Primary Architecture of the Chacoan Culture: A Cosmological Expression

> Anna Sofaer, 2007. 7 records on Mysteries Department cite it. The source of the building azimuths and inter-building bearings drawn on the Chaco map.

Source: https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D9KTAZ60AS8/the-primary-architecture-of-the-chacoan-culture-a  
Publisher: Mysteries Department  
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (credit Mysteries Department and link the page)  

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[Sources](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources)[Great houses of Chaco Canyon](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/chaco-canyon)Sofaer 2007

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# The Primary Architecture of the Chacoan Culture: A Cosmological Expression

Anna Sofaer, 2007. _The Architecture of Chaco Canyon, New Mexico, ed. Stephen H. Lekson, University of Utah Press: 225-254_.

Synthesises the Solstice Project's 1984 to 1997 surveys of fourteen major Chacoan buildings. Table 9.1 gives each building's surveyed wall azimuths (Pueblo Bonito's principal wall 0.21° ± 0.14° and its perpendicular -89.79°), Table 9.2 groups them by the cardinal directions, solstice and lunar minor and major standstill azimuths, and Table 9.3 gives bearings between buildings. Twelve of the fourteen are read as oriented to the sun or the moon.

**Great houses of Chaco Canyon** ChapterChecked against the original0

## What it's used for here

The source of the building azimuths and inter-building bearings drawn on the Chaco map.

## Cited by on this site 7 records

[Twelve of the fourteen major buildings were oriented to the cardinal directions, the solstice, or the moon's…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/chaco-canyon/answers/ANS0D9KVQ587JDN/twelve-of-the-fourteen-major-buildings-were-oriented-to-the)

Answer

ANS

[Surveyed orientations of fourteen major Chacoan buildings and bearings between them (Sofaer, Tables 9.1 to 9.3)](https://mysteriesdept.com/datasets/DAT0D9KVYFM6YZ1/surveyed-orientations-of-fourteen-major-chacoan-buildings)

Dataset

DAT

[Eleven of the fourteen buildings fall within 0.2° to 2.8° of a solar or lunar azimuth on the sensible…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/chaco-canyon/evidence/EVD0D9KVQMW0FXJ/eleven-of-the-fourteen-buildings-fall-within-0-2-to-2-8-of-a)

Evidence

EVD

[Pueblo Alto and Tsin Kletsin lie 3.7 km apart on a bearing of 0.6°, and Una Vida and Peñasco Blanco 9.8 km…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/chaco-canyon/evidence/EVD0D9KVQWP1YG4/pueblo-alto-and-tsin-kletsin-lie-3-7-km-apart-on-a-bearing)

Evidence

EVD

[Pueblo Bonito's principal interior wall is at 0.21° ± 0.14° and its perpendicular at -89.79°, within a…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/chaco-canyon/evidence/EVD0D9KVQD275XK/pueblo-bonitos-principal-interior-wall-is-at-0-21-0-14-and)

Evidence

EVD

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

The mystery article

MYS

[Are the great houses aligned to solar and lunar directions, or do their orientations follow building tradition and topography?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/chaco-canyon/questions/QST0D9KV4VA5QRF/are-the-great-houses-aligned-to-solar-and-lunar-directions)

Question

QST

## Cite it

```
Sofaer, A. (2007). The Primary Architecture of the Chacoan Culture: A Cosmological Expression. The Architecture of Chaco Canyon, New Mexico, ed. Stephen H. Lekson, University of Utah Press: 225-254. https://solsticeproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/24-Lekson_Chapter_92028200729.pdf
```

[Read it free at solsticeproject.org](https://solsticeproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/24-Lekson_Chapter_92028200729.pdf)

Key

**SRC** 0D9KTAZ60AS8

Kind

Book chapter

Rights

The publisher's

Kept

27 Oct 2026, for editors

Checked

Against the published original

Added by

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

The record

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