Anasazi

Using Reflective Surfaces to Communicate

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Farmington Daily Times – Reflecting the past: Rangers, archeologists test out ancient messaging system, By Lindsay Whitehurst The Daily Times

Park rangers and archeologists at 23 Anasazi ruins scattered over 86 miles tested the theory that the ancient people passed messages between population centers. Instead of mirrors, the people would likely have used flat, shiny abalone shells or signal fires. …

If the experiments work, it would show, “you had communication within the Chacoan system not just based on runners,” Baker said.

Part of the Anasazi civilization is thought to have centered around Chaco Canyon, flourishing between about 900 and 1100 A.D. in the modern San Juan County.

The experiment repeats and expands a National Science Fair project completed in 1995. It confirmed the theory that Anasazis in Pueblo Alto, Huerfano Mountain and Chimney Rock could have communicated by way of some kind of remote system, Baker said. Tuesday’s experiment expanded that idea, testing the possibilities for communication with Aztec Ruins, Salmon Ruins and other smaller population centers.

The reflections started at 10 a.m. with Pueblo Alto and Penasco Blanco and ended with Huerfano Mountain and Salmon Ruins at 2 p.m.

Results appear mixed. At Salmon Ruins, the staff couldn’t see reflections from Huerfano, Pueblo Alto or Chimney Rock.

“We could see the radio towers, but no mirror reflection,” Baker said.

That could be because the two communities didn’t talk, because they weren’t populated at the same time, or a result of environmental changes obscuring the staff’s vision.

Other sites had more success, like the Huerfano sighting at the Aztec Ruins. If the experiments work, it would support the idea that the communities talked, and possibly the idea that the Anasazi built houses in places they could use for communication, Nichols said.

“You’ve got an expansive view, it’s not near water, it’s up there,” she said. “I don’t think it’s just for signaling, but it’s an advantage.”

Lindsay Whitehurst:
lwhitehurst@daily-times.com

http://www.daily-times.com/news/ci_6017018

3 thoughts on “Using Reflective Surfaces to Communicate”

  1. I recently heard a leading southwestern archaeologist discussing this experiment, and he said that it’s plausible.

    However, I’ve never heard of any artifact that could be a mirror in any of the literature.

    Interesting stuff though.

  2. The idea that they would have used mirrors seems a little ridiculous. Has anyone thought that maybe they lit bonfires at night?This would necessarily restrict nuanced communication, but it would allow for a rudimentary “hey-we’re-still-here” kind of message. Or in keeping with the theory that Chimney Rock was used as a lunar observatory, a fire could say “tonight’s the big night” or whatever they used the lunar and solar calendars for.

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