Some Native American cultures built large rock circles yesteryear laying stones inwards a item designing on the ground. They are known every bit “medicine wheels” —the term refers to the mutual believe that these rock circles served every bit places where 1 meditated for spiritual healing of the soul. However , the actual role of these structures rest unknown.
Medicine wheels are works life all over northern USA too southern Canada , only the near famous medicine bicycle is located at the summit of Medicine Mountain inwards Bighorn National Forest , inwards the U.S. solid soil of Wyoming. The Bighorn Medicine Wheel was the showtime such construction to hold out associated amongst the term “medicine wheel”.
Photo credit: Frank Richards/Panoramio
The Bighorn Medicine Wheel measures lxxx feet inwards diameter too consists 28 spoke-like lines radiating from the centre where lies a doughnut-shaped pile of stones. Around the wheel’s perimeter are half dozen smaller rock enclosures. These rock enclosures are oriented inwards a such a agency that they towards dissimilar astronomical objects such every bit the administration of summertime solstice sunrise too sunset , the rising of stars Sirius , Aldebaran , too Rigel. The rising positions of stars alter real slow over the centuries , too astronomers convey calculated that these alignments worked best betwixt 1050 AD too 1450 AD , suggesting that the Bighorn Medicine Wheel powerfulness convey been constructed betwixt that fourth dimension period.
Other medicine wheels convey existed for a long , long time. Some of the oldest medicine wheels are iv ,500 years old. There are evidences that these wheels were built upwards yesteryear successive generations who would add together novel features to them. This has atomic number 82 archeologists to suspect that the business office too important of the medicine bicycle had changed over fourth dimension , too it is doubtful that nosotros volition e'er know what the master copy role was.
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Photo credit: Nicholas Brown/Flickr
Photo credit: Give Nielissen/Panoramio
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Sources: solar-center.stanford.edu / www.medicinewheel.com / Wikipedia / Sacred Destination