Solar Hierophanies in the Utah Desert - John McHugh

ARARA presents...

The presentation highlights how the prehistoric Fremont people of Utah utilized sunlight-shadow effects on a pictograph to signal the summer solstice, and marked the Sun-god's crucial turning point on a petroglyph at the winter solstice. The presentation is based on the 2021 Archaeostraonomy and Ancient Technologies article, "A Prehistoric Native American Pictograph that Signals the Summer Solstice," ane the AIRAR vol. 47 article, "Using Puebloan Ethnography to Explain the Function and Meaning of a Solar-Lunar Petroglyph at Fremont Indian State Park."

Utah archaeologist John McHugh possesses expertise in Native American rock art, archaeoastronomy, and has reading knowledge of several, ancient Near Eastern languages. He presently serves as a staff archaeologist and Chairperson of Education for the Utah Rock Art Research Association and is the lead archaeologist for the Utah Cultural Astronomy Project. He possesses a Utah teaching license and leads youth groups to steward, document, and protect Native American rock art sites. His “Shovel Bums” archaeology club won the 2020 ARARA Education Award for their role in documenting fifty-seven panels at the Smith Archaeological Preserve near Salt Lake City. His book, The Celestial Code of Scripture: The Astral Cipher Underlying the Miracle Stories of the Bible and Qur’an (Monkfish Publishing) was released in 2021.