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The Solstice Project is a non-profit organization dedicated to the study of the rich astronomical heritage of the ancient Chaco culture of the American Southwest. Founded in 1978 by Anna Sofaer, initial efforts of the Project focused on the study, documentation and preservation of the Sun Dagger site -- a remarkable celestial calendar of the ancestral Pueblo Indians. Subsequent Solstice Project research and films have revealed that the Chaco culture's ceremonial architecture was built to align with the cycles of the sun and moon, and that the elaborately engineered Chaco Great North Road was constructed to commemorate celestial north. The Solstice Project's research continues to enrich studies of archaeology, archaeoastronomy, anthropology and Native American cultures
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what's new
blankbullet You Can Now Stream
blankTHE MYSTERY OF CHACO CANYON
blankbullet April 20 Seminar at Commonweal
blankSun and Moon in Sacred Geometries
blankNew Insights into the Chaco and
blankMaya Cultures by Anna Sofaer
blankand Christopher Powell

 blankbullet Solstice News--2012 Annual Letter


Solstice Project News, Updates, and Events

Solstice Project book Chaco Astronomy offered as a gift for Arizona Public Media’s pledge drive  See pledge page...

The Solstice Project's LiDAR Study Reveals Chaco Canyon's Great North Road published in American Archeology   More info...

The National Trust for Historic Preservation and the Solstice Project announce inclusion of the Greater Chaco
Landscape in the 2011 List of America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places   More info...

The Solstice Project's film "The Mystery of Chaco Canyon," narrated by Robert Redford, is being broadcast across the country
in February and March of 2013 (see listings here). New Mexico's KNME will broadcast the film at 7 pm on Thursday May 3rd. We are honored that Chaco's timeless story--now in its twelfth year--is being highlighted yet again by such widespread PBS broadcasts

PRESERVATION ALERT: New Water Tank, an Eyesore, Installed in View of Chaco Park Visitor Center & Sites.
More info...

National Trust for Historic Preservation supports the Solstice Project's LiDAR documentation of Chaco's Great North Road
and related video productions.
More info and video...

Museum Installation of the Sun Dagger Explorer: The Solstice Project's interactive computer model of The Sun Dagger of Chaco Canyon openend May 15, 2009 at The New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science ,1801 Mountain Road NW Albuquerque, NM.
Read more...

The Sun Dagger Explorer model wins the MPMA 2009 Publication Design and Technology Competition multimedia category. Read more...

The Solstice Project's 2010 Annual Letter

Anna Sofaer and Rich Friedman discuss New Insights into Chaco Roads with New Technology May 15, 2011 at the Anasazi Heritage Center in Dolores, CO. Read more...

Talks at Southwest Seminars on January 3, 2011: Rich Friedman on "the Chacoan Great North "Road" LiDAR project" and Anna Sofaer on "Ancient Chacoan Roads:
New Aerial Technology provides new Insights": Read more...

The Great North Road Presentations: The Solstice Project organized a symposium on Chaco Roads, in Farmington, NM. on our new research in progress. Read more...

Join the effort to protect Chimney Rock, acclaimed Chacoan site of astronomy. Read more...

Learn about Protecting Chaco, a World Heritage Site. These organizations are valuable resources. Read more...

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