Customer Reviews

The Parowan Gap

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Having wandered around observing the petroglyphs at Parowan Gap several times I was very interested in learning more about what they might actually mean. The theories presented seem to make sense, but the details behind the conclusions and any cohesive analysis to substaniate the conclusions are lacking. This may be more important to me than a lot of readers, because I have been in a couple PHD programs, one in Electrical engineering, took some graduate courses in astronomy and astrophyics, and have worked as an engineer and scientist. In general I found the interpretations presented to be extremely interesting, but was frustrated by the lack of written details presented to specify and substantiate the theories and conclusions. Several times I found myself wishing the author had written more details to explain more clearly what he was trying to communicate.

After having to read several of the sentences over and over again and viewing the related figures I frequently found myself wondering what the author was trying to communicate. It would have helped to have more figures depicting what the text was trying to convey. One example is on page 28 where the author is explaining what many call the "Zipper Glyph" and writes, " Notice how two rays of the sun at the head of the serpent trail flank an arm tic that is an extension of the horizon map between the two V-gap arms. The so called "ladder" below climbs through the narrows on 6 steps and is a ladder only in the sense that it records the sun "climbing" the calender clock ladder through its 6-month solar transit from winter solstice to Summer solstice at the top." I have read these sentences a dozen times while looking at the figure and am still not sure I understand what the author was actually stating. Why are we told to notice the two rays? It took me a few minutes of looking at the figure to comprehend what the author was referring to. It would have been nice to have a graphic depicting what is being referred to. Plus the author never even tells us what we are suppose to observe or learn from these two rays. The ladder being referred to is actually the tick marks on the right side of the zipper glyph and the author never describes how the 6-month solar transit is shown as a function of months on these tick marks. It would have been nice to have included some figures showing how the sun's rays looked on the tick marks at various times so the reader could visualize what happens and what the ancients observed. But the above quote is all that is said about this interpretation the author has presented it without any justification. The whole book is comprised of the author giving his interpretation without any analysis or detailed descriptions presented for the reader to understand how he arrived at the interpretations and conclusions presented.

PROS:
The theories about the rock art at Parowan Gap are very interesting. It would have been nice if they were correlated more closely with other sites.

The tour guide section of where the rock art panels are located is very good. I think I have observed them all, but will check it out more closely this year.

CONS:
The text is very sparsely written and not concise enough to make the material presented clearly understood. It is written like a scientist to other scientists that already know the information and only need a reminder of what they already know. More text and figures to explain the text would have greatly improved the book.

The author does not present detailed explanations of how specific interpretations were determined and only provides sketchy information to explain the interpretations.

No analysis is presented and there is no interaction with any other interpretations of Parowan Gap rock art, no correlation with other works like that done at Chaco Canyon or why the interpretations presented should be accepted as correct.


Overall I am glad I bought the book and will use it when looking at the petroglyphs at Parowan Gap again in a couple of months. But, I can only give it three stars because it is tersely written without support for the interpretations presented. I got the feeling that the author is so familiar with the background material used to derive the theories that it all seems to be so obvious to him that he shortcuts the information needed for a general audience to understand what he knows so well. The book reminds me of the papers used to document research projects where just enough information is presented to show that work was done so they can move on to the next set of tasks they want to accomplish. With more figures depicting what the theories are suggesting and more detailed text to describe more clearly what the author has learned it would have been a 5 star book.

Archaeologist Garth Norman has crafted a truly brilliant treatise on what is emerging as perhaps the most phenomenal wilderness temple-center and calendar observatory in the Americas. Functioning with utter precision for over 4000 years, this magnificent 260-day and 105-day "calendar clock" allowed tribal shamans to remain synchronously attuned to the rhythms of nature's seasonal periods of conception, gestation, birth, and development. Illustrated by art historian C. Lance Harding, this work carefully documents the nearly 100 petroglyph panels, numerous figures, strategically positioned sunrise and sunset observation cairns, and the remains of a prehistoric cave excavated by Norman. Written with the precision and detail of a master archaeologist, The Parowan Gap: Nature's Perfect Observatory, serves as a self-guided tour for anyone who wants to visit what is presently one of North America's best kept secrets. Rivalling in significance the likes of Machu Picchu, Avebury and Stonehenge, and with some of the most stunning petroglyphs found anywhere on the planet, it is an archaeo-astronomical wonderland. Thank heavens Garth Norman has devoted much of his life's work to a meticulous study and documentation of its significance and sublimity. What a wonderful book. I give it my highest recommendation. Scott A. Olsen The Golden Section: Nature's Greatest Secret (Wooden Books)

very informative about a favorite rock art site that I have visited many times.. new insights about the astronomy research that has been done at the site. Clear drawings and explanations.

In antiquity, a Temple was a special place where heaven and earth came together symbolically to help mere mortals make sense of their place in the cosmos. When Parley P. Pratt led his exploring expedition to southern Utah in 1849-50, Native Americans in the area told him that the Parowan Gap was "God's House". In this fascinating book, Archaeologist, Epigrapher, Art Historian and Archaeo-astronomer V. Garth Norman shows us why this natural observatory became an important pilgrimage and ritual site for generations of Native Americans. He identifies the calendrical significance of the highly detailed petroglyphs that plot lunar and solar astral events, as well as sight alignments linked to the Venus cycle. Norman maps the cairns strategically placed throughout the broad plain facing the gap and shows how they orient on important astronomical dates such as equinoxes, solstices and zenith passages. He then shares blockbuster data showing that the calendar system at work in the Parowan Gap is directly linked with the sacred 260 day calendar system famous from Mesoamerica. This book is significant for many reasons. It shows Native American astronomical sophistication. It explains an ancient Temple set in a striking natural context where shafts of light and shadows highlight various features on certain days of the year. It also provides powerful rationale for protecting this important Native American sacred site in Iron County, Utah.

Parowan Gap by V. Garth Norman tells about Nature's Perfect Observatory . This book describes an earth shaking discovery in Utah where ancient petroglyphs have told revealed the brilliance of ancient Native American tribes for centuries. There are over 90 panels drawn on the rocks and over 1500 figures. In 1993 Norman, a renowned archeologist, began the project to decipher these drawings. Ultimately it was realized that Fremont tribes and others from as far away as MesoAmerica traveled through here and communicated with intricate and accurate calendars at this place where rocks form a natural calendar to calculate what to do in each season. Fascinating!