I recently took a day trip to Phoenix AZ to visit the Pueblo Grande Museum and Archeological Site. An archaeology geek, I was looking for a day trip destination and happened upon Pueblo Grande with its archaeological Platform Mound, so I booked flights and was off on a weekday adventure.

The surprise of the day was when I came upon the remains of a room that was purported to have been set up to track the seasons. What caught my attention was the plaque, titled “Star Gazing".” The room was located at the southeast corner of the platform mound, and had especially interesting architecture, compared to other rooms and buildings. Built on the remains of previous structures, it sits on one of the highest points on the mound. On its floor, is the imprint of a reed mat. But that was only the beginning.

According to their documentation, an uncharacteristic corner doorway was built into a wall of this room, facing northeast. A second doorway was located in the middle of the south wall. At sunrise on the summer solstice, and sunset on the winter solstice, a curious alignment occurs. During these two days, a shaft of light stretches from one doorway to the other, signaling the midpoints of the solar annual cycle. The corner doorway also lines up with the Hole-in-the-Rock, a natural formation in the Papago Buttes northeast of the mound site. This, some researchers say, may well have served as a prehistoric astronomical observatory.

Some researchers think the doorways of this room functioned as a calendar for the Hohokam people who dwelled there. They had dug a system of canals and farmed the land. To desert farmers, celestial events and seasonal changes would have been extremely important. They speculate that one person, perhaps an elder, might have tracked the shadows and then announced to the rest of the village the times of planting, harvest, and ritual activities.

Every indigenous culture has a history of tracking the seasons. This shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone. After all, the entire animal kingdom follows the seasonal cycles, from migrating birds and whales to hibernating bears, the seasons are what drives behavior and planning. Even plants have a natural cycle dependent on the seasons/weather. Human cultures have amassed abundant information about our environment over the eons through observation, interpretation, calculation, and notation. This is how the sciences have advanced and knowledge has evolved. This is also how Chinese Metaphysics (including Feng Shui, BaZi, Qi Men Dun Jia, etc.) evolved. It was based on observation of the physical world over time and how those cycles affected humans, then was translated into jargon that was understandable in terms of the local culture and language. The scientific study of the celestial and earth sciences has revealed the very same information that was gathered by early cultures from the beginning of observing and questioning humans. Scientists now use their studies and models based on their amassed information to predict weather, disease proliferation, and so much more. One really cannot dispute the validity of how all life is affected by the cycles of the natural environment. We are all energetic beings living in a field of energy, sharing strands of DNA and history. Inclusive, not exclusive on a very basic and cellular level.