At the time of the solstice, if you stand on the trail just inside the pueblos south wall just before the afternoon Sun drops below the top of the western wall, your shadow points directly down the wall toward the canyon's eastern wall.
But there's more than just a shadow pointing down the wall. Not visible in the photo above is this petroglyph near the top of the eastern wall:
Here's a little wider angle view of the Sun petroglyph that may help with finding its location in the top photo (as well as in some of the other photos below):
Here's another wide angle view that includes the pueblo wall but without my shadow:
Look what happens when you draw a line along the inside edge of the wall to the Sun petroglyph:
Note that the line also partially covers a cavate (an area dug out of the rock - Bandelier has hundreds of them that were used as living areas and for storage by the Ancestral Pueblo People that lived in Frijoles Canyon):
Note the patch of light in the photo above that is shining on the back wall of the cavate in this close-up view. And notice what happens when a line is drawn from the notch in the top to the dimple on the bottom:
As the Sun begins making its way north as we move through the year, these alignments will no longer be there. But, as Earth makes its way around the Sun, it will be interesting to learn if there are other alignments that mark the June solstice as well as the March and September equinoxes.
