By Teresa Herriman, The Courier-Herald

An important archeological artifact sits smack dab in the middle of a Bonney Lake subdivision, unknown to most residents. While backhoes dig foundations on either side, the ancient relic, known as a Skystone, is nearly obscured by wild raspberry bushes within a chain link fence in the Naches Terrace housing development. Scientists and local Native Americans believe the Skystone is an ancient observatory.

Dennis Regan, an archaeoastronomer who lives in Kent, has seen many complex astrological sites, but this one, he said, beats all of them. "This is the new world Stonehenge," he said. "It's that important."

Regan calls it a record of a society that no longer exists. The Skystone, he says, was a scientific tool used by extraordinarily knowledgeable ancient astronomers. As such, it deserves to be studied and preserved. Robert Whitlam, with the Washington State Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation, confirmed that the stone has been listed as an official archaeological site and is protected by the state.

The ancient people used a stone known to geologists as an "erratic," volcanic-produced andesite rocks deposited by glaciers. This particular stone was probably left behind when the glaciers of the last Ice Age melted. When Regan first examined the site, there were two other erratics in the area. Both have since been destroyed to make room for the housing development. Unlike the other erratics, the Skystone's level top is punctuated by numerous human-made holes; the major one is ten inches deep. Regan speculates that the pits were drilled by pounding one rock on another.

Regan, who studies the astronomy of ancient civilizations, was called upon by Gerald Hedlund, a well-known archaeologist and fellow instructor at Green River Community College, seven years ago to collaborate on the study of the stone. Hedlund had been given information from a researcher who found mention of it in a 1920s Bureau of Land Management report. Together they followed an overgrown trail to the stone. They also noted an abandoned homestead near the site has since been destroyed.

The Skystone measures 4.5 feet high and 12 feet across and features carved stone steps to the top. "It looks crude, but it appears to be shaped," Regan pointed out during a recent visit to the stone. The pits, or holes on the top and side, are definitely not natural. When Regan and Hedlund filled each pit with a ping-pong ball, they made a remarkable discovery. The pits were in perfect alignment. Using global positioning satellites, the team was able to determine that the alignments form a near perfect parallelogram, indicating the summer and winter solstice sunrise and sunset to within a less than 1 percent error. A solstice occurs when the sun is the farthest north or south of the equator and marks the start of summer or winter. There doesn't appear to be any alignments on the Skystone that point to other planets. Other pits point directly to Mount Rainier, Mount St. Helens and Mount Adams.

Another set indicates the major and minor lunar standstills - the point when the moon reaches its apex and nadar during an 18.6 year cycle. Lunar standstills were important events in the ancient world and were studied by other cultures, including the Greeks, Mayans and monolythic societies such as the one that created Stonehenge. "Predicting the major and minor lunar standstills implies an awful lot of knowledge," Regan said.

Regan marveled at the incredible accuracy given the tools of the time. "People were knocking holes in a rock and using rawhide strips," he said. More than likely the pits held sticks, pegs or small rocks to sight astrological events and geological locations. Further, the parallelogram resembles the oldest part of Stonehenge, marked by four postholes exactly the same as the ones found on the Skystone. The markings on the Bonney Lake Skystone are so precise, Regan said, they could be used today with extreme accuracy.

The area where the stone sits used to be a prairie. From that vantage point, Regan said, the view of Mount Rainier would have been breathtaking at winter solstice. If the weather was clear, the American Indians would be able to watch the sun climb up the side of the mountain to crest at the peak.

Unfortunately, records of how the stone was used and who created it are lost. Hedlund has spoken to local American Indian groups with mixed results. Other megalithic societies used similar stones to establish their religious and political authority. Accurately predicting when an astrological event is to occur was important to ancient people. Knowing the time of seasonal rains, for example, could mean the difference between life and death for the community. Regan believes that the discovery of the Skystone confirms other studies indicating a profound knowledge of astronomy among the American Indians in this area. "We definitely know that this rock is older than modern settlement," he said. "It is not an artifact of European settlers but, in fact, belongs to the native cultures." Further, the pits are big enough to infer that natural weathering process did not cause them.

Regan believes the steps leading to the top of the stone indicate that whoever it was, needed to be on top of the stone to use it. Although, given the height of the stone, it could also have been used at eye level. However, he is careful to point out that the fact there are alignments doesn't offer a clue to why the pits were so carefully drilled into the stone. "My expectation is that it's tied to their religion somehow," Regan said.

Using calculations based on the shifting position of the solstice over time, Regan is able to pinpoint the date of the current patterns of alignment on the Skystone. The stone was last used to establish winter and summer solstice 600 years ago. Other markings indicate that the stone could have been used prior to that date. The alignments pointing to the area mountain peaks could have been used as baselines. Regan said that the stone could have been used by more than one culture or for more than one use. "But it is a matter of considerable conjecture," he cautions. What Regan does know is that the Skystone had been in use for a very long time.

Teresa Herriman can be reached at therriman@courierherald.com