ABOUT THE SOLSTICE PROJECT

The Solstice Project is an interdisciplinary team of archaeologists, archaeoastronomers, geodesists, and remote sensing experts that studies the rich heritage of the ancient Chaco culture in the American Southwest. It was founded in 1978 by Anna Sofaer, following her rediscovery of the Sun Dagger site on Fajada Butte in Chaco Canyon, New Mexico.  Our non-profit organization continues to research, publish, and present our findings on the  achievements of the Chaco people; how they envisioned an order of cosmology through monumental buildings, non-utilitarian roads, and rigorous geometries, in a vast expanse of a remote and inhospitable desert.

Our trilogy of films, The Sun Dagger, The Mystery of Chaco Canyon (frequently aired on PBS), and Written on the Landscape document how the Chaco culture developed a complex astronomy and aligned their ceremonial architecture with the cycles of the sun and moon. Written on the Landscape expands our understanding of Chaco culture by showing how its ritual architecture linked cosmology, environment, and identity.

We have created a 3-D interactive model of the stunning Sun Dagger site, demonstrating in real time how three rock slabs cast light patterns that mark the solar and lunar cycles on spiral rock carvings. The model shows what the eye cannot readily see:  how the Chaco people intricately united these phenomena at one site.

In 2025, we’ve embarked on our fourth documentary, From the Mind’s Eye: Another Way of Knowing, bringing a fresh perspective to our filmmaking. This project explores how sacred sites around the world embody the deep astronomical knowledge and spiritual vision of both ancient and contemporary cultures—and why that wisdom is vital today. From Serpent Mound in Ohio to Stonehenge in England, Palenque in Mexico, and beyond, we trace the moon’s central role in these traditions, revealing the connections between sacred architecture, celestial rhythms, and the enduring resilience of both the moon and women’s wisdom.