The Mystery of Chaco Canyon

Jan 1, 1999

0h 57m

★ 8.0

Unveils the Astronomical Brilliance of an Ancient Culture in the American Southwest

Overview

Chaco Canyon, located in northwest New Mexico, is perhaps the only site in the world constructed in an elaborate pattern that mirrors the yearly cycle of the sun and the 19-year cycle of the moon. How did an ancient civilization, with no known written language, arrange its buildings into a virtual celestial calendar, spanning an area roughly the size of Ireland?

Genres

Documentary

History

Production Companies

Bullfrog Films

The Solstice Project

The Mystery of Chaco Canyon Trailers

Cast

Narrator (voice)

Robert Redford

Self - Council Member, Laguna Pueblo

Paul Pino

Self - Archaeologist

John Stein

Self - Archaeologist

Mike Marshall

Self - Geologist

Rich Friedman

Self - Archaeoastronomer

Anna Sofaer

Self - Geodesist, Hopi Tribe

Phil Tuwaletstiwa

Self - Archaeologist, Zuni

Edmund J. Ladd

Self - Ethnohistorian, Santa Clara Pueblo

Dave Warren

Self - Historian, Acoma Pueblo

Petuuche Gilbert

In a leafy forest, a Galician sovereign who longs to attain wisdom meets a sorcerer, who tells him: “Go back to your country and study the Earth and the Stars in the sky; anywhere in the world reflects an image of it. You will ride on this arrow, which you must keep for a hundred years and a day. After this time, stick it in the widest valley of all those you possess, with the tip facing the sky. Then the Moon will come and, just as it exerts its action on the waters of the sea, it will act on the arrow, turning it into a holy mountain." - Legend about the Pico Sacro Inspired by Hokusai's views of Mount Fuji and Cézanne's paintings of Mont Sainte-Victoire, "Pico Sacro [The Holy Mountain]" aims to reveal the mystery and the magic that underlie reality.

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No Image Available

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