Methods of timekeeping are as old as the hills, which were often employed as solar calendars marking the passage of the year with the Solstices and Equinoxes. Just outside Sedona, Arizona, on a long vertical rock face with over a thousand petrolgyphs, Ken Zoll decoded an ancient solar calendar. It was left by the Sinagua, ancestors to the Hopi, who too charted the sun’s annual trek across the sky with a calendar marking when to celebrate, when to plant, when to harvest. They symbolically tied this sacred ceremonial site to their sacred mountains, by knapping a vertical rock edge to cast a shadow in its outline.
Ken takes us on his personal journey of gathering the clues to identify and document the story of the Sun Watchers of a thousand years ago. His books include Heart of the Sky: Ancient Skywatchers of Central Arizona, Understanding the Rock Art of Sedona, and Sinagua Sunwatchers: An Archaeoastronomy Survey of the V Bar V Heritage Site and the Sacred Mountain Basin
Ken Zoll has long held leadership roles in researching, preserving, and protecting Verde Valleys ancient heritage, with the Verde Valley Archaeology Center in Camp Verde, the Arizona State Historic Preservation Office, conducting studies within the Coconino National Forest as a certified instructor in ancient astronomical practices with the Arizona Archaeological Society.
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Conversation for Exploration, The Laura Lee Show