More Comparative Petroglyph Musings
01/03/2020
There are many multiple-exposure photographs existing throughout cyberspace that illustrate the solar analemma. Each week, a dedicated photographer photographs the sun from the same position during the course of a full year. The result is a photograph of 48 to 52 images of the sun in the shape of what most people recognize as a figure-eight, i.e., the "infinity" symbol. If photographed from the Northern Hemisphere the highest point of the analemma is the sun's position at the summer solstice and the lowest point is the position of the winter solstice. The path of the moon follows a similar analemma shape. Here on the right is one sample of a solar analemma via weatherscapes.com:
For comparison, here is a stock photo of an analemma petroglyph at Cañon de Chelly. It has been accepted that certain petroglyphs appear to track certain specific celestial events, including solstices and equinoxes. So is it too far-fetched to suggest that figure-eight petroglyph images reflect someone's tracking of the path of the sun and/or moon during the course of an entire year?
Happy 2020 to all!
/s/ webmaster
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