Chaco Culture - Fajada Butte

Fajada Butte is a striking landmark in the Chaco Valley region and must have had sacred significance to the ancient people that lived in or passed through the valley. Petroglyph carving and rock arrangements on the top of the butte have been interpreted as having use as an astronomical calendar (Sinclair and others, 1978). This view is from the Fajada Butte Overlook. Chaco Wash is hidden in the thick brush beyond the grass-covered area in the left foreground. The name Fajada means "striped, belted, or banded" in Spanish and perhaps describes a "black seam of lignite" (or sub-bituminous coal) that runs across the middle of the butte in this view (NPS, 2004). That coal seam is part of the Menefee Formation (NPS, 2004b).