Gordon Lee Houston.Pdf
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
D , F A , D D A D H (A ) : C - : , 2019 i Statement ofOriginality I,GordonL.Houston, do herebycertifythatthe submitted dissertationisaresult ofmy ownindependentresearchand does notcontainanyplagiarismstothe best ofmy knowledge. _____________________________ GordonL.Houston ii COPYRIGHT ThisdissertationhasbeensubmittedinpartialfulfillmentoftherequirementsforDoctor ofPhilosophyatIliaStateUniversity,Georgia.ItwillbeplacedintheUniversity Librarythesisrepository.Astheauthorofthisdissertation,limiteduseisextendedtoIlia StateUniversitywithoutspecialpermission,whentheuseisforscholasticpurposes.Use ofindividualfigures,photographs,andtablesmusthaveexpresswrittenpermission.For use beyondthat stated here, permissionmust be obtainedfromtheauthor. SignedGordonL.Houston iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Iwould beremissifI did notfirstacknowledgemywifeSharon,whohashadto dealwiththetrialandtribulationsthattheeducationalprocessrequires.Shesupported allmyefforts,evenwhenfieldtrips occurredonherbirthday.Shehasbeenthesounding boardforallthechallengesthatareencounteredinthe process. IextendspecialgratitudeandacknowledgmenttoKayandFredCampbellfor allowingmetopursuemyresearchattheirranch.Theyalwayswelcomedmewithopen armsandtreatedmeaspartofthefamily.Theircontinuedpersonalstewardshipofthe pictographsistobecommended.ForthewholeCampbellfamily,thankyouforyour imputeandassistance,Bill,Scott,andgrandsonAuggieCampbell.Ihavetrulyenjoyed each visitwiththem outontheranch.Ithankyouforallthehospitalityandthegreatfun andmealsatLowake. IwanttothankBillYeatesandBillAndersonfortheircontributionsand conversationsaboutthepictographs.Theyeachhavespentmanydaysatthepictographs and provideda differentperspective. IwanttothankthefolksatCaddoMounds,AnthonySoutherandRachaelGalan, fortheirassistanceandinput. Tonywentaboveandbeyond,photographingaWinter SolsticeSunrise,and on two different occasionstheSummerSolsticeSunrise. iv IwanttoacknowledgethetimespentwiththefolksatSurveyingEquipment Specialists,Inc. Theykeptmyequipmentcalibratedandansweredamultitudeof questionsaboutsurveyingandoperations.ThisincludesTerrySwann,President/General Manager,RudyMeneses,VPofSales&Marketing,andTruocNguyen,Master Technician. Iwanttoacknowledgemysupervisors.First,toDr.IrakliSimoniawhodeveloped theArchaeoastronomyandCulturalAstronomyprogramatIliaStateUniversity. Togetherwehavestuckthroughthisnine-yearprocess,withalltheupsanddowns. Thanksforallyouhavedone.Dr.NikolozTushabramishviliwhohassteppedinasmy supervisorupontransferringmydissertationdefensetotheSchoolofArtsandSciences. Ithankyoufortaking onthetask. DEDICATION Tomyfamily, parents,grandparentsandin-laws. Finally,IwanttodedicatethisresearchtoJuliaLeeHouston,mysister,ScottCampbell, andhisfather,FredCampbell.Itiswithaheavyheartthatduringmyresearch,Scott CampbellpassedawayMarch2013prematurely. Mr.FredCampbellpassedawayin September2017.MysisterJuliapassedawayprematurelyJanuary25th,2020.Theywill bemissedandalwaysremembered. v ABSTRACT ThePaintRockPictographsiteisthelargestpictographsiteintheStateofTexas,USA. Theranchownerdiscoveredactivesolarmarkersin1994byaccident.AstronomerR. RobertRobbinsoftheMcDonaldObservatorystudiedthesitefortwoyearsand discoveredaSummerSolsticesolarmarker.Hesuggestedmoresolarmarkersmightbe identified.Subsequently,fivemoresolarmarkerswereidentified,makingatotalof eight. The horizonappears so flatina 360°circlethat heconcludedtheredid not seemto beanyinterestwatchingthesun'smovementalongthehorizonbytheNativeAmericans. Hisconclusionandthenumberofactivesolarmarkerssetthechallengetostudythesites potentialhorizonastronomy.Thehorizonhastohavesometopographicalreliefto measurethesun'smovementthroughthetropicalyear. Asignificant"notch"was discoveredinthehorizon.Accuratehorizonwatchingofthesun'smovementrequiresa fixedplaceofobservation.Thesearchfortheplaceofobservationledtotheconnection ofthematerialculturetothehorizonastronomy. Thesolarmarkers,whichwere previouslyidentifiedpriortotheresearch,wereexamined.Hoursofobservationand photographyduringallhoursofthedayledtothediscoveryofsixadditionalsolar markers. Twopanelswereexaminedwithcalendricalinteractions. Complete interactionswereidentifiedonawintersolarmarker,andaninteractionatadifferent solarpointofawintersolsticemarkerwasidentified,whichmaybetheprimarysolar interaction.Hence,theremaybeasmanyas14activesolarmarkersatPaintRock, makingitthemostactivesolarmarkersiteinTexas.Consideringthecloseproximityof thesolarmarkers,itmaybethesinglemostactivesolarmarkersitereportedtodate vi worldwide. Theiconographiesofsomeglyphswereexamined forpossible representationsofsupernova.Theoriginalclaimwasfalsified.Asecondglyphwas examinedthatmeetsthecriteriaestablishingitasaprobablerepresentationofTycho's supernovaSN1572.Asaculturalcrossroads,thesiteissurroundedbycompletely differentcultures,allofwhomdemonstratevariousdegreesofastronomicalknowledge. AnunexpectedoutcomeoftheresearchwasthedevelopmentoftheMatrixof Intentionality.TheMatrixcanbeusedasaguidetoconfirmexistingreportedsolar markers,orhelpresearchersidentifynewsolarmarkers. Thehopeisthatitwill encourageidentificationofsolarmarkersworldwide.Rockartisubiquitousaroundthe world,yet,thereisapaucityofreportedsolarmarkersoutsideoftheAmerican Southwest.Asnewreportsofsolarmarkersaremade,thehopeisthatenoughdatawill enablestatisticalanalysisofsolarinteractions.Apositiveoutcomeforeachoftheseven research questionscan bereported. vii LISTOFFIGURES FIGURE 1. MonumenterectedbytheStateof Texas. ...........................................p. 1 FIGURE 2.Panoramicphotograph ofthePaintRockcliff....................................p. 2 FIGURE 3. MapoftheState of Texas Eco-regions.................................................. p. 2 FIGURE 4. Sitemap ofthePaintRock study site....................................................p. 4 FIGURE 5. Hardwatercrossing on theConchoRiver............................................p. 5 FIGURE 6. Map showingtheexpeditionroutes oftheSpanishexplorers.................p. 9 FIGURE 7.Looking southeast,the horizonis virtuallyflat......................................p. 12 FIGURE 8. NOAADeclinationcalculatorwith declinationforPaintRock............p. 39 FIGURE 9. ACMEtopographicmap ofthePaintRockarea....................................p. 40 FIGURE 10. Aerial view ofeast horizonfromGoogleEarth...................................p. 40 FIGURE 11. ThereticlefromtheNikonNE-103theodolite..................................p. 46 FIGURE 12.East horizon sketchwithinterestingpoints numbered.......................p. 49 FIGURE 13. Declinationcalculatorworksheet.........................................................p. 54 FIGURE 14. Photographthatfirst producedtherealization ofa notch....................p. 73 FIGURE 15. Oncerealized,this picture showsthefull notchinthe horizon............p. 74 FIGURE 16. East horizon survey,with sun sights,andcalculated declinations......p. 75 FIGURE 17. Eastern horizoncomposite picture, sun risinginthe notch.................p. 76 FIGURE 18. The sun risingintheeastern horizon"notch" on theWCQ day.......p. 77 FIGURE 19.Western horizoncliffcalibration........................................................p. 78 FIGURE 20.Suninthewestern notch summercross quarter day..........................p. 78 FIGURE 21.SummerSolstice setting sun intothewesterncliff"notch."..............p. 80 FIGURE 22. Locationofthe possible horizonrockcairneastern horizonline.......p. 81 FIGURE 23. GoogleEarthwiththerock cairnlocationidentified............................ p. 82 viii FIGURE 24. The potentialrockcairn on thefareastern horizon............................p. 83 FIGURE 25. Two different sets oftallymarksinthe place of observation.............p. 84 FIGURE 26.Potential place of observationtowardsthewestend ofthecliff........p. 88 FIGURE 27. The secondlocationasthe potentialplace of observation.................p. 89 FIGURE 28. Thechosen place of observation hasacontinuous slabroof.............p. 90 FIGURE 29.Selected place of observationwithrock slab seat.............................p. 91 FIGURE 30.Start oftheWinterSolstice(WS) sequenceat 12:27:40CST..........p. 94 FIGURE 31.Daggerintersectsthefocal pointatsolar noon, 12:38:05CST........p. 94 FIGURE 32. The sun daggertouchesthe outsideoftheturtleat 12:48:00CST..p. 95 FIGURE 33. Start oftheWSinteraction Eastround shieldat 10:12:49CST....... p. 96 FIGURE 34.Light shaftsplitstheround shieldat 10:20:12CST......................... p. 97 FIGURE 35. Shaftwidenstoframethe shieldtangentially 11:15:21CST........... p. 97 FIGURE 36. WSlight shaftalignsalong upperregisterlineat 10:36:33CST......p. 98 FIGURE 37. Shaftnarrows, pointertipalignedtoregistermarkat 10:42:23 .......p. 99 FIGURE 38. Thelightpointer hasrecededfromtheregisterlineat 10:44:24........p. 100 FIGURE 39. Pointer starts on adjacent panel nextto 4 HornBuffalo head............p. 101 FIGURE 40. Pointermoves downand becomesashaftacross 4HornBuffalo......p. 102 FIGURE 41. Shaftilluminatesthe'speech' bubbleand upperright horn.................p. 102 FIGURE 42. EastDoubleSunglyphwithcrookedline, no designalignment.......p. 104 FIGURE 43. AEQ solarmarkertheday beforetheequinox....................................p. 105 FIGURE 44. Sunlineisalignedequallyto bothfeet on the day oftheequinox.....p. 106 FIGUER 45. The sun lineis up on theankle oftherearfootthe dayafterAEQ....p. 107 FIGURE 46. Sun pointertouchingan ovalat 2:32:13CST......................................p. 108 FIGURE 47. The pointertouchestheinnerellipseat 3:42:13CST.........................p. 109 ix FIGURE 48.The pointer haslostits shapeat 3:53:33CST.....................................p. 109 FIGURE 49.