Science: Graffiti with a Heavenly Message

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But the interaction between sunlight and petroglyph could have been accidental. If Indians were really skilled sun watchers, primitive solar observatories should have been present throughout the Southwest. Now, after 18 months of sleuthing, the Prestons have turned up 58 separate solar markers at 19 different sites in Arizona. An especially rich trove was discovered in a pile of large sandstone rocks apparently once used as shelter in the Petrified Forest. Because the petroglyphs include many fertility symbols, among them copulating figures, the hideaway is called the Cave of Life. On the critical days, the Prestons found the sun's rays brushing past spirals, bisecting circles and pointing finger-like at the center of a cross. The fact that the light show usually involved several figures at a time, mostly of the same type, seemed to defy chance. Similar events occurred 45 days, or an eighth of a year, before and after the winter solstice, suggesting that the petroglyphs were part of a calendar.

The Prestons also discovered that the ancient sun watchers had another form of observing: when an Anasazi pressed a cheek against a spiral and sighted along the rock face, he would see the sun rise precisely in a narrow crack between two rocks on the day of the equinox. The Prestons are obviously delighted by the ancient secrets they have deciphered. Says Ann: "We are being given a unique opportunity to learn how a long-lost culture tried to put order into its universe."