An Appraisal of Michael Zeilik's “A Reassessment of the Fajada Butte Solar Marker”

Revising the "Conjunctive Approach" in the American Southwest

“…The academic debate concerning the significance and meaning of Anasazi cosmological markers is a good case study for the modem conjunctive approach because it shows how successful iconographic pursuits can be when they are given enough attention. The case of Fajada Butte and other cosmological markers sparked considerable interest in the 1980s and through constant critiques and arguments a large corpus of new hypotheses and discussions were amassed concerning the Anasazi (Newman et al 1982;Sofaer & Sinclair 1986;Sofaer & Sinclair 1987;Young 1986;Zeilik 1985;Zeilik 1986). Only with the thorough examination of sites such as Fajada Butte can iconography gain any credence in archaeology.…”