Tag Archive: southwest

Colorful Historic Tucson Door Architecture – Arizona

Colorful Historic Tucson Door Architecture – Arizona

Colorful Historic Tucson Door Architecture - Arizona

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This house is found in one of a number of historic neighborhoods surrounding downtown Tucson, that have become collectively known as Barrio Viejo (the old district). Each area has its own name, but most share similar architectural styles, including; Sonoran, Transformed Sonoran, Transitional, Mission Revival, Pueblo Revival and Spanish Mission Revival.

Ages for the houses range as far back as the 1840’s for the Sonoran style, up through the 1950’s for the various revival styles. But, whether you prefer the truly historic houses, or the more recent revival styles, they all give Tucson (and a handful of other southwest locations like Santa Fe) a unique character, compared to the relatively bland and unvarying style of modern houses across America.

Tucson Government – A guide to Tucson’s historic neighborhoods

Balanced Rock and the Milky Way – Arches National Park

Balanced Rock and the Milky Way - Arches National Park - Moab - Utah

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Whenever one under takes light painting under the Milky Way, a variety of things must be taken under consideration. Timing is everything, and you have to wear a variety of hats, including those of a weather man and astronomer, and not just a photographer. The Milky Way migrates across the sky through out the year, and over the course of the evening. Then you have to worry about what the moon is doing, as it can ruin the entire shot if its high in the sky and near its brightest. You also have to keep in mind how the subject of the shot, in this case, Balanced Rock in Arches National Park, is oriented in relation to the Milky Way, and any man-made light pollution sources. In relation to the latter, Moab is still pretty small, so Arches is one of the best places to take shots like these, not withstanding the wonderful geologic landmarks it and southern Utah are world famous for.

National Park Service – Arches NP

Chaco Canyon National Monument – Ancient Wonder – New Mexico

Chaco - Pueblo Bonito

Chaco Canyon is a historic national park located in the northwest corner of New Mexico. Along with Mesa Verde to the north, it represents one of the crown jewels of what remains architecturally of the Anasazi culture of the American Southwest. Also known as the Ancestral Puebloans, the Anasazi, and their predecessors inhabited the greater four corners region from about 7500 B.C. until 1300 A.D. The tribes of the region started out as Pleistocene big game hunters, but over time their lifestyle morphed from that of the hunter-gatherer  to mostly sedentary farmers that relied on the planting of maize, squash and beans. Their development over the centuries has been defined in part by what they left behind. At first it was the implements they used to store food, from simple baskets in the beginning to elaborate clay pots in later centuries. In later eras it was their housing that changed significantly, from pit houses, to the elaborate multi-story, multi-roomed mud and stone buildings they are known for today.

Based on numerous studies, scientists speculate that Chaco might have been more of a spiritual or cultural gathering center, rather than a place of permanent habitation. The way many of its buildings seem to align with important solar events,  hints at a possible astronomical significance, that would have required scientific observation of the moon, sun and stars over many generations.

Between, 1100-1300 A.D. the Anasazi began to abandon much of region they inhabited, with Chaco seeing the last inhabitants about 1150. Many theories have been presented regarding their migration away from the region, but one thing is fairly clear, that the climate had become unreliable in later years, making their settled agricultural lifestyle harder and harder to maintain. In Chaco, evidence of a 50 year drought occurring during the period it was finally abandoned, is one of many example. Increasing strife and warfare is another possibility they faced.

While the Anasazi may have moved away, they did not really disappear. Their ancestors include the Hopi of Arizona and the Zuni of New Mexico.

Suggested Reading:

Archeoastronomy of the Chacoan Pueblo (PDF)
House of Rain: Tracking a Vanished Civilization Across the American Southwest – Craig Childs
The Lost World of the Old Ones: Discoveries in the Ancient Southwest – David Roberts
Non-Technical Canyon Hiking Guide to the Colorado Plateau – Mike Kelsey
Grand Gulch, Cedar Mesa Plateau Maps – National Geographic Trails Illustrated Maps

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