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Texas Native Skies

In the volcanic boulders of the Davis Mountains of West Texas, prehistoric Indians marked the changing seasons by painting pictures that captured the light of the setting Sun. In the rich river bottoms of East Texas, the Caddo may have used both Sun and stars to lay out large villages. And in the canyons of the Panhandle, farming and trading tribes may have laid out their own villages to capture the light of the rising Sun on the equinoxes.

Thanks to countless movies and TV shows, Texas is known as a vast land where cowboys and Indians fought for control.

Long before any of those battles, though -- long before any European walked on Texas soil, in fact -- native cultures built complex societies across much of the state. They fished and farmed along the Rio Grande, hunted buffalo on the Plains, built pueblos in the desert west.

And as researchers are finding, they often followed the rhythms of the heavens. They followed the Sun to help them know when to plant or harvest crops and stage important ceremonies. And some of them recorded the heavens on the rocks in western parts of the state.

Finding the exact relationship between the heavens and these native Texan cultures isn't easy, though. The people and villages are long gone, and there are no written records other than the rock art.

By using a combination of science and history, though, researchers are rediscovering the link. We'll talk about one example tomorrow.



Script by Damond Benningfield, Copyright 2004

Air Date: September 20, 2004