LCAS and the Tenabo Site

This page has been designed as a slideshow/travelog of the LCAS visit to the Tenabo site in New Mexico. Each image on this page is about 1/4th size and acts as a link to the full size image.

(All pictures on this page are Copyright by their authors and may not be used without their permission.)

As described in the report, we were invited by the National Park Service to assess the possible astronomical significance of this site.

To paraphrase: The journey of a thousand miles is guaranteed to go through New Mexico.

This is the surveyor's transit we used to survey the site. Grant Barlow borrowed the equipment, learned to use it, and taught other LCAS members.

The National Park Service had commisioned an earlier mapping of the site.

This is the view from the North feature looking south. You can see the Central stone circle on the left and the West feature on the right.

This is a closeup of the Central feature looking toward the South feature. You can see that the land drops off at that point. The "deep South" feature is back down there.

The transit was set up in the middle of the Central stone circle. In this picture, the team is obtaining the azimuth for the North feature.

Another view of the Tenabo site with the Manzano mountain range in the background.

Near Tenabo are several spots containing rock carvings (petroglyphs) and rock paintings (pictographs). This pictograph represents kachina dancers. (The triangular dark area was caused by a failing camera shutter.)

This set of petroglyphs contains several symbols, including: a mountain range, wild animals, a face, hands, and a human figure.

This set of petroglyphs contains: a foot, snakes, and stars. The image of the star has a face within it and claws protruding below. This is believed to be a symbol of the morning star cult, which had a history of violence, including human sacrifice among certain tribes. This exact petroglyph is shown in Ray Williamson's book "Living the Sky". To quote from Williamson: "The claws on the star symbolize Morning Star's warlike nature. He is thought of as the war captain by some pueblo groups." Therefore, it's unlikely that this particular glyph would be meant to represent a celestial-type star.

As described in the report there is a petroglyph of a crescent moon with a large star next to it. This might represent the supernova of 1054 AD. Also see the petroglyph at Chaco Canyon

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This page last updated on July 18, 1998