Parallel roads, solstice and sacred geography at the Gasco Site

A Chacoan ritual landscape

Dados Bibliográficos

ID3310573
AutoresR S Weiner (0000-0001-5197-804X, Dartmouth College, autor correspondente), Richard A Friedman (0000-0002-5136-2998, San Juan College), John R Stein (Gallup Indian Medical Center)
Ano2025
Volume99
Fascículo404
Páginas500-516
Data de publicação2025-04-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoAntiquity (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0003-598X • E-ISSN: 1745-1744
EditoraAntiquity Publications (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.15184/aqy.2025.4
OpenAlexW4406808638
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas2
Referências citadas18

Monumental roads were constructed during the ninth to thirteenth centuries by the regional society centred on Chaco Canyon in the US Southwest. Here, the authors present new lidar and field documentation of parallel roads at the Gasco Site, which sits within a ritual landscape south of Chaco Canyon. Their findings reveal that the Gasco Road is substantially longer than previously believed and forms alignments between natural springs and towards the winter solstice sunrise over Mount Taylor, a mountain sacred among contemporary Indigenous peoples. These findings highlight the agency of landscapes and skyscapes in structuring ritual practices in ancient societies worldwide

Archaeology · Geodesy · Geography · Solstice · Amazonian Archaeology and Ethnohistory · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Environmental and Cultural Studies in Latin America and Beyond · History