53
although occasionally “the people” criticized the observations of these leaders,
insisting “they must watch the sun very closely” (Crow Wing, 1925: 101–102). The
markers used to determine ceremonial days have only been described in a few rare
cases (Zeilik, 1985: S89–S92; McCluskey, 1990: S2–S3, S7–S9).
The four solstitial directions are indicated by cosmological markers, are the
named directions for the Hopi and, with the above and the below, have long been
recognized as providing a basic organizing framework to the Hopi cosmos (Geertz,
2003; McCluskey, 2015). This cosmological framework is known to all initiated
Hopi (McCluskey, 2010: 16–17) and has now become common knowledge among
students of the Hopi. The Hopi recognize two kinds of cosmological markers: one
is a series of four ritually important natural places which symbolically mark the four
directions; the other are direction markers, which accurately mark the places and
times of solstitial sunrise or sunset, either on the exact date of the solstice or as an
anticipatory marker a few days in advance of the solstices (Zeilik,
1987; McCluskey, 1990).
Observations of the Sun at these agricultural, ceremonial, and cosmological
markers provide the detailed structure of the Hopi solar calendar.
3 The Ethnographic Evidence
The identification of the geographic position of horizon markers, the determination
of their use, and the consideration of their precision for astronomical observations
depends on several different kinds of ethnographic evidence.
3.1 Lists of a Sequence of Markers
The markers on First Mesa’s eastern horizon have frequently been described by
ethnographers between the 1890s and the 1930s. Alexander Stephen (1893b) wrote
a detailed description of these markers in a letter to J. W. Fewkes; his list was incorporated with modifications in Fewkes (1897: 258–259) and in Stephen (1936).
Parsons (1920) collected a list of nine plantings which “they follow on rocks, by
markers;” she subsequently published (1933: 59–60) their names and general characteristics based on her field work in the 1920s and that of a local Tewa consultant
whom she called Crow Wing. All nine of Parsons’s markers were identified with the
ordered sequence of plantings. Seven of the thirteen horizon markers listed by
Stephen and Fewkes can be associated with planting observations.
These lists (Table 1) were collected in different research contexts. In the late
1890s Fewkes and Stephen were investigating the Hopi calendar and its place in
edge) and Ferguson et al. (2015: 258).
The Hopi Calendar and Some Archaeological Correlates of Horizon Markers
although occasionally “the people” criticized the observations of these leaders,
insisting “they must watch the sun very closely” (Crow Wing, 1925: 101–102). The
markers used to determine ceremonial days have only been described in a few rare
cases (Zeilik, 1985: S89–S92; McCluskey, 1990: S2–S3, S7–S9).
The four solstitial directions are indicated by cosmological markers, are the
named directions for the Hopi and, with the above and the below, have long been
recognized as providing a basic organizing framework to the Hopi cosmos (Geertz,
2003; McCluskey, 2015). This cosmological framework is known to all initiated
Hopi (McCluskey, 2010: 16–17) and has now become common knowledge among
students of the Hopi. The Hopi recognize two kinds of cosmological markers: one
is a series of four ritually important natural places which symbolically mark the four
directions; the other are direction markers, which accurately mark the places and
times of solstitial sunrise or sunset, either on the exact date of the solstice or as an
anticipatory marker a few days in advance of the solstices (Zeilik,
1987; McCluskey, 1990).
Observations of the Sun at these agricultural, ceremonial, and cosmological
markers provide the detailed structure of the Hopi solar calendar.
3 The Ethnographic Evidence
The identification of the geographic position of horizon markers, the determination
of their use, and the consideration of their precision for astronomical observations
depends on several different kinds of ethnographic evidence.
3.1 Lists of a Sequence of Markers
The markers on First Mesa’s eastern horizon have frequently been described by
ethnographers between the 1890s and the 1930s. Alexander Stephen (1893b) wrote
a detailed description of these markers in a letter to J. W. Fewkes; his list was incorporated with modifications in Fewkes (1897: 258–259) and in Stephen (1936).
Parsons (1920) collected a list of nine plantings which “they follow on rocks, by
markers;” she subsequently published (1933: 59–60) their names and general characteristics based on her field work in the 1920s and that of a local Tewa consultant
whom she called Crow Wing. All nine of Parsons’s markers were identified with the
ordered sequence of plantings. Seven of the thirteen horizon markers listed by
Stephen and Fewkes can be associated with planting observations.
These lists (Table 1) were collected in different research contexts. In the late
1890s Fewkes and Stephen were investigating the Hopi calendar and its place in
edge) and Ferguson et al. (2015: 258).
The Hopi Calendar and Some Archaeological Correlates of Horizon Markers