Saga America, A discussion
No part of The Equinox Project would or could exist without the enlightened contributions made by the late Dr. H. B. "Barry" Fell. Working with material provided by the noted archaeologist, Dr. Robert Heizer, Dr. Fell made some outstanding recognitions. Unfortunately, Dr. Heizers reference material contained some errors that carried through to the Saga America presentation. The overall concept was certainly correct, but some of the details were cause for serious argument.
To compensate for a lack of photographs of the original petroglyphs, Dr. Fell created replicas of what he believed the sketches provided by Dr. Heizer looked like. To make matters more complex, neither man knew who created the sketches in the first place. The credit, as shown above, is given to Julian Steward. Later it was found that they were actually created by Clifford P. Baldwin and the alleged zodiac did not exist as a single panel, but a collection of details arranged on Baldwin's page as a matter of convenience.
This panel was source for some of Baldwin's presentation and consists of Zodiac related signs, but not as well organized as Dr. Fell represented. However the position of the sun symbol (the open circle) and the ram is consistant with Dr. Fell's reading and validates his original assessment. For a response to an unjustified published criticism of this issue, see Clifford Baldwin and the Inyo Zodiac.
Saga America was also source for Dr. Fell's recognition of the Christian elements of the Inyo location. Again, no photographs were available and again the wrong person was given credit for the creation of the original record. This, too, came from the forgotten work of Mr. Baldwin.
Dr. Fell was correct in his assessment that the staff and circle were related to the Christian beliefs, but his reading of the Kufic is probably in error. Below is a rendition of the panel in question and it is obvious that his replica, based on a poor sketch, does not have the necessary ingredients to justify his reading. In defence of all involved, Portions of the panel were reworked, highlighting some areas and not others.
What Dr. Fell was totally unaware of when he made these assessments was the fact that a solar notation device that keyed upon the evening of the equinox was present directly adjacent the large display of the staff that bisects a circle. This critical notation justifies Dr. Fell's suggestion that the staff and circle have a meaning related to the celebration of Easter. It could be that the split between Easter and the Celtic Oestre was less defined both in practice and timing. For a more detailed Analysis, see Pilgrims.
