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San Diego Rock Art Association Virtual Meeting

Sunday, February 16, 2025, 4:00 p.m. Pacific Time

Archaeoastronomy at Paint Rock, Texas

A Major Sunwatching Station

A Presentation by Gordon Houston

The Paint Rock Pictograph site has been in use since the Archaic period in Texas. The site resides at a rock crossing on the Concho River. This has made it a central point for game, Native Americans, and military trails, and a cultural crossroads. There is evidence of multiple small campsites and several large middens at the site. On the north side of the river is a cliff measuring 1.6 kilometers which contains over 1500 pictographs, including with multiple solar markers. The first solar markers were identified in 1996 but only a few more were identified in the next few years. Many efforts were attempted to identify additional solar markers after the initial ones were discovered, without success. Beginning in March 2012, a two-year study of the site began. As a result, the horizon astronomy was discovered, including the place of observation which, in turn, confirmed the ability of the scribers to place very distinct and accurate solar markers. Multiple new solar markers were identified and will be presented in this program. Rock art and solar interactions comprise the third main area of archaeoastronomy, yet they are the least studied. The primary objection to the validity of solar markers is that the interactions are simply coincidental. As a result of this investigation, a matrix was developed to help confirm reported solar markers and act as a guide to identify new solar markers. The matrix will be referred to throughout the presentation.

Gordon Houston, Archaeoastronomer, has had a lifelong interest in all aspects of astronomy and cultural astronomy. He began to formalize this interest in securing a Masters of Science in astronomy, and earned a Ph.D in the first and only program in archaeoastronomy in the world. He was on the faculty at Blinn College for ten years, where he operated the Schaefer Observatory and was responsible for public outreach. He is a member in many astronomical and cultural astronomy organizations, including the International Society of Archaeoastronomy and Astronomy in Culture (ISAAC). He recently presented at the ISAAC Oxford XII conference in La Plata, Argentina. His detailed publication of the Houston Solar Marker Matrix from the conference proceedings can be accessed at:

https://revistas.unlp.edu.ar/cosmovisiones/article/view/14999/16701

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