Each year around the summer solstice, visitors gather at Salmon Ruins for a unique opportunity to witness ancient sky watching in action. Hosted by the museum and its longtime community partners, the event offers a window into the astronomy-based traditions of the region’s early inhabitants.
Long before calendars and clocks, ancient peoples of the Four Corners used the sky to mark time. One of those markers still functions today in a quiet room at Salmon Ruins.
In Room 82, a beam of sunlight enters through a window each summer solstice and lands precisely on a designated spot, confirming the changing of the seasons. The alignment continues to fascinate archaeologists, educators, and visitors alike.
“Until the solstice marker at Fajada Butte was discovered in 1979, people all around the world did not know that Native Americans understood or were following and paying attention to things like the solstice and the equinoxes,” said Tori Myers, executive director of Salmon Ruins Museum. “That was a revolutionary discovery.”
Since then, similar discoveries across North America have revealed just how widespread ancient astronomical knowledge truly was.
“We’ve found many locations – not just in the Southwest but across North America – that show many different tribal groups were very interested in astronomy, and we’re paying attention to it just as people all around the world were doing,” Myers said.
For early agricultural societies, such observations were important. “The solstice is part of establishing a reliable and repeating yearly calendar,” she said. “Once people began farming and experimenting with plants to develop farming methods, the use of the calendar became essential for their success.”
Salmon Ruins has hosted public solstice events for at least a decade – some years drawing just a few curious early risers, other years closer to 20. The simplicity of the marker, Myers said, helps visitors connect ancient practices to the present.
“It's a very visible way to see what it looks like,” she said. “A lot of times people feel like they don't really understand what it would look like if a prehistoric culture was paying attention to these important dates. The way the room in our structure was set up to capture that moment of the solstice makes it very easy for people to relate to it and understand it.”
The museum’s solstice programming is supported through a collaboration with the San Juan County Historical Society, a relationship that dates back to when the county purchased the property. The society helped establish the museum’s nonprofit arm and has remained a partner in public outreach and education ever since.
The museum also welcomes volunteers and partners with local programs such as San Juan College’s high school-college initiative and the county’s summer intern program.
This year, the museum and historical society are expanding the celebration with a special evening program on Wednesday, June 18, focused on archaeoastronomy and cultural solstice observances.
The event begins at 4:30 p.m. with wine and snacks for sale, solstice-themed music by Charlie Stacey, and a series of short presentations at 6 p.m. exploring solar alignments at Chaco Canyon and sites like Salmon Ruins. A guided site tour will follow at 7 p.m., featuring a flashlight demonstration replicating the solstice alignment in Room 82.
Then, at 7 a.m. on Friday, June 20, the museum will host its annual Summer Solstice Experience, where attendees can witness the real solar alignment in action. There is no charge for the event, but donations and gift shop purchases are encouraged to support museum programming.
Both events are wheelchair accessible, with designated lower-ground parking available for ease of access. The evening program will be held in the amphitheater near the site.
“It’s a lot of fun and very interesting,” Myers said. “If you haven’t ever seen it and you’re curious, then the only way to solve that is to attend.”
For more information, visit https://www.salmonruins.com/home.html, or contact the museum at (505) 632-2013.
