Edge of the Cedars State Park Museum

Collections

The Edge of the Cedars museum contains one of the largest collections of Ancestral Puebloan (Anasazi) pottery and artifacts in the southwest. The following exhibits represent a small fraction of what we offer.

Visible Storage Exhibit

Enter this interactive cyber exhibit and learn about the different pottery types and styles produced by the Ancestral Puebloans. Learn about the different pottery types and styles produced by the Ancestral Puebloans. See how the pottery changed through time and how it may be used by archaeologists as time markers in archaeological sites, and to learn about the lifeways of the ancient people. The pottery dates from the late Basketmaker III Period to the Pueblo III Period and all of it originates in southeast Utah.

Edge of the Cedars Museum cares for one of the largest collections of Ancestral Puebloan (Anasazi) pottery and artifacts in the southwest. Visitors to the museum will delight in viewing one-of-a-kind objects such as the Macaw Feather Sash and rare collections such as the Horse Rock Ruin basket collection, and rare turkey feather blankets.

The Visible Storage Exhibit is one of our most popular exhibits. It is a combination of laboratory space and exhibit. It has glass walls that allow visitors to observe the curator at work and to see an extensive collection of pottery – over 400 pots alone in this room!

The Perfect Kiva Ladder from Perfect Kiva Ruin is also on display in the Visible Storage Exhibit.

Every object tells a story that brings us closer to understanding the ancient people. Understanding the past brings us closer to knowing ourselves, and our own place in history.

Sun Marker Sculpture

Click to view a slideshow of the 2006 Summer Solstice event. This slide show features an annual occurrence: A slender beam of sunlight passes through an opening and bisects the center of the spiral on the exact day of the Summer Solstice.

The Sun Marker Sculpture is a solar calendar marking the movement of light and shadow at Summer and Winter Solstice and at Vernal and Autumnal Equinox as seen at actual archaeo-astronomy sites used by Ancestral Puebloan Peoples throughout the Four Corners Region. A replica of the famous Sun Dagger site at Chaco Canyon, New Mexico is incorporated into the sculpture and shown here.

Archaeo-astronomy sites are found throughout the world. They tell us that ancient people were aware of the movement of celestial bodies across the sky. Petroglyphs (pecked) and pictographs (painted) symbols were placed on stone to mark and observe the movement of the sun and stars and the phases of the moon.

These symbols were used to mark the longest day (Summer Solstice around July 20-21), the longest night (Winter Solstice around December 20-21) and the midpoints or Equinoxes (Vernal Equinox around March 21 and Autumnal Equinox around September 21), as well as the waxing and waning of the moon. Knowing these times was important to the people in knowing when to plant, when to expect certain wild plants to ripen, and knowing when to gather from far away for ceremonies and special public activities.

Today descendents of the Ancestral Puebloans, such as the Hopi, Zuni, Acoma, Taos, and other Puebloan tribes in the Rio Grande Valley, still mark the movement of the heavens. For example, the Hopi use a horizon calendar that marks locations of the rising and setting of the sun and moon. With this calendar they determine the time of the annual ceremonial cycle and the time to plant and harvest.