The land and skyof the American Southwest,past and present.The land and sky of the American Southwest, past and present.
The purpose of the Society for Cultural Astronomy in the American Southwest (SCAAS) is to advance the study and practice of cultural astronomy in the American Southwest.
Four ways to take part
- DonateYour donations support our mission, our programs and our ability to raise additional funding through grants and other fundraising campaigns.
- Join UsAnnual membership is an easy way to show your support.
- VolunteerThe Board cannot run the Society alone and needs the support and help of the Society members.
- AttendThe public is welcome to attend the meetings.
SCAAS Awarded Colorado State Historical Fund Grant
We are honored to announce that the Society was awarded a $14,951.00 Archaeological Assessment Grant by the Colorado State Historical Fund (CSHF) for our Cultural Landscapes Survey Project in Canyons of the Ancients National Monument. No cash match was required as it was determined that Society is an organization that benefits Indigenous communities. We would like to thank CSHF and Vince MacMillan of Canyons of the Ancients National Monument for their assistance in making this grant and project a reality.
This site is a larger sensitive archaeological site located in the backcountry of Canyons of the Ancients National Monument. We worked on this proposal throughout 2024 and the grant was awarded in January 2025. We are conducting drone and terrestrial photogrammetry, architectural documentation, Horizon Feature Profiles, Calibrated Horizon Profiles, recording one new site and updating the site forms. Mary Weahkee is the Project Archaeologist and Greg Munson is the Field and CSHF Project Director. The project has a focus on training our Native American crew members, Mary Weahkee and Bertram Tsavadawa, in the technical operations required for photogrammetry and calibrated horizon profiles as well as gaining their cultural interpretations and consultation on what we learn in the field.
“Envisioning a Cultural Landscape”
By SCAAS Cultural Astronomy Researcher Greg Munson
Greg Munson (Society for Cultural Astronomy in the American Southwest) discussed new ways to record, document, and visualize the cultural landscape of the Greater American Southwest. The program emphasized the SCAAS Cultural Landscapes Survey Program, which has tribal consultation as a key component. At the center of the program is expanding the concept of the archaeological site boundary to include resources from the local environment, relationships to nearby villages, how the architecture relates to the more distant landscape, and a building’s alignment to horizon features such as mountain peaks. SCAAS studies the connection of a site to astronomical cycles and features in the day and night sky and explores new technologies for the visualization of buildings and the landscape like the use of dynamic panoramas, 3D modeling, and infographics. Its goals include establishing a common method of documenting and visualizing links between ancestral peoples and the land and sky that surrounded them so that we can better understand that we live in a unified cultural landscape, inseparable from its parts.
The program was recorded and is now posted to the Old Pueblo Archaeology Center's YouTube Channel.
“…so that we can better understand that we live in a unified cultural landscape, inseparable from its parts.”
Your support and donations make it all happen!
The Society needs your help. Your donations support our mission, our programs and our ability to raise additional funding through grants and other fundraising campaigns.
Our programs like the Cultural Landscapes Survey Program and Journal Club are dependent on our ability to raise donated and grant funds for these efforts. We have teamed up with the Colorado Gives Campaign to help you help us.
SCAAS launches Journal Club!
The Society launched its Journal Club in July 2021. The Journal Club is a member's resource and a forum to discuss two papers or articles of interest, normally one from a SCAAS member and one from a qualified researcher on related topics. The event is held via Zoom and the sessions are being recorded for later posting on our You Tube Channel - SCAAS.Connects2U. You must be a member to access downloadable copies of the papers and articles to be discussed at the Journal Club meetings. The public is welcome to attend the meetings.
Journal ClubConferences and workshops since 2009
The American Southwest was one of the early and fruitful areas of cultural astronomy study, and remains so to this day.
