History Main / SundialWaypoint

* In the first ''WesternAnimation/TheLandBeforeTime'' movie, this is how Littlefoot's mother knew the way to the Great Valley.

* On ''Series/{{Bones}}'', Brennan confirms a suspected crime scene is where a victim's body was left hidden for years by matching some faded spots on the victim's skull to narrow beams of light passing through a trio of holes in a wall.

* On ''Series/{{Bones}}'', Brennan confirms a suspected crime scene is where a victim's body was left hidden for years by matching three faded spots on the victim's skull to three beams of light passing through a trio of holes in a wall.

* ''Art/MediciChapels'': The most important clue about the identities of the sculptures flanking Lorenzo de'Medici's tomb is the hour of the day when they receive sunlight. "Dawn" when the sun rises and "Dusk" when it sets.

* ''WebVideo/SMPEarth'': The first clue to the Octangula ARG is at the Southwest Octangula, where a giant sundial-like structure is located, which the players explored to find clues.

* ''Series/OneHundredThingsToDoBeforeHighSchool'': In "Become a Millionaire and Give It All Away Thing!", CJ, Fenwixk, Crispo and Mr. Roberts take the crystal from Pooty's shield and place it on the Pooty the Bear bear statue. At 2:55, the sun hits the crystal, which shines a ray of light onto the ground. The four begin digging in the spot and find Alfred's million Pootabucks.

[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/TitanAE'' uses this around 1/3 through the film.
* In the first ''WesternAnimation/TheLandBeforeTime'' movie, this is how Littlefoot's mother knew the way to the Great Valley.

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]

* One clue in ''Film/NationalTreasure'' requires observing the shadow of a particular landmark at the right time of day. The filmmakers naturally forgot that the sun's exact position would also depend on the day of the year. Technically, the shadow would point to the right ''wall'' around that time of day regardless of the time of year. The fact that it was pointing at the exact ''brick'' is artistic license.
* Done with a very small statue set in the right place on a specific map in the 2013 film ''Film/TheHunters2013''. It's unclear if this is really a valid way of locating a site or just the statue's owner making a ''Raiders of the Lost Ark'' reference to amuse her associates.
* In ''Film/DrPhibesRisesAgain'', the mechanical tomb in which Phibes sealed himself at the end of the previous film re-opens. Both the narration and Phibes's own mental monologue state that this event was triggered by moonlight falling on a specific location, indicating that a celestial conjunction Phibes has anticipated is imminent.

* In the Literature/SherlockHolmes story "The Musgrave Ritual", the eponymous character finds the old crown jewels by the shadow of a tree. He manages to do this even though ''the tree is no longer standing''. Even more impressively, he was able to do this when the directions were ''two hundred years old'', meaning that the tree would have been considerably shorter when the directions were written down then it was at the time he followed them (although the story doesn't actually mention that point).
* In ''Literature/JerichoMoon'', two groups of Canaanite treasure-hunters follow maps to the ruins of the destroyed city, seeking the place where two shadows cross in the moonlight. They wind up fighting each other to the death, not getting the chance to dig for the hidden wealth the maps promise. [[spoiler: Both groups were following fake maps distributed by [[LastOfHisKind a surviving Jerichite merchant]], who's been setting up such fatal collisions for years to pay back other Canaanites for not rescuing his city when the Hebrews attacked it.]]
* In E.F. Bensen's short story "Gavon's Eve", an occult ritual can only be performed on the one night each year when moonlight shines straight through a ''very'' narrow crack in a specific standing stone. The position where the slender moonbeam lands marks where the ritual needs to take place.

* In the miniseries ''Treasure Island In Outer Space'', the location of the treasure is indicated by the shadow of a particular spire of rock at a particular time of day.

* In the Made For TV Movie ''The Trial of Series/{{The Incredible Hulk|1977}}'', Matt Murdock has a clerk use a map of the city, a ruler (representing a specific building), and a table lamp to figure out the location of David's flophouse. David had mentioned the Fisk Building blocking the sun.
* They tested this on ''Series/MythBusters'' and found that it works for a few minutes at most (see the RealLife examples).
* The Anasazi calendar (mentioned below) makes an appearance in an episode of Creator/CarlSagan's ''Series/CosmosAPersonalVoyage''.

* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer''. Spoofed when the Nerd Trio uses this technique to find a location on a map, only to have the map [[SolarPoweredMagnifyingGlass burst into flame from the concentrated sunlight]].
* ''Series/{{Benson}}''. "Fool's Gold". Benson discovers an old letter suggesting hidden treasure somewhere in the governor's mansion. They track it to an old room where the sunlight through the window (now bricked over) would show them the location.
--->''Krause:'' So all we have to do is knock a hole in the window and let the sun in!
--->''Benson:'' Why don't you knock a hole in your head and let some brains in? It's the middle of the night!
** They use a flashlight beam to simulate the sun.

* ''VideoGame/{{Scratches}}'':
** The tip of the tower's shadow indicates the location of [[spoiler: Mrs. Blackwood's grave]], although it doesn't show up clearly enough for you to use this clue until the weather clears up.
** Also, to reveal a clue, you must clear a pathway for a beam of sunlight to fall upon a written message, which can't be made out otherwise.
* In ''VideoGame/NaziZombies'', a ray of light points to the location of the Mystery Box, although it's not actually from the sun since it's visible in night-time maps.
* In an artificial-light variant, to find one exit in ''VideoGame/UruAgesBeyondMyst'' requires turning off lights until a specific shape of shadow forms on the floor, that indicates the route to the doorway.
* Subverted in ''Videogame/KingdomOfLoathing'', in which you are sent on a (very long) quest to build a staff with a gem which will focus light onto a map of the kingdom showing where "The Holy MacGuffin" is buried. When you do it, it instead acts as a SolarPoweredMagnifyingGlass, setting fire to the map, and revealing a trap door underneath.
* One of the puzzles in ''[[VideoGame/LegacyOfKain Soul Reaver]]'' relies on this. In a twist, it requires you to do a typical mirror puzzle to get the beam where you need, then obscure it - which allows you to walk the shadow across a chasm.

* In ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure'''s "Lost World" stage, set in old ruins, Sonic comes across a pitch-dark room except for the entrance, which is bathed in sunlight. He needs to find mirrors and point them towards one another at the right angles; the path the sunlight takes as it reflects from mirror to mirror is the path Sonic needs to follow to get to the other side of the room.

* In ''[[VideoGame/LastHalfOfDarkness Tomb of Zojir]]'', you must place a gem-topped staff in position so a beam of moonlight lands on the right spot. While this doesn't directly reveal a location, it does reveal the code necessary to open another chamber's door.
* Most of the puzzles inside ''El Caracol'' in ''VideoGame/TombsAndTreasure'' are of this variety, involving metallic globes and a set of panpipes to trigger them.
* In ''VideoGame/QuestForGloryII'', a prophecy is quite clear that at a specific time, the moon will be caught between two constellations, and the door will open. The problem is that the moon won't pass between those constellations until the next night. The solution is to use your mirror to reflect the moonlight onto the door, which has the images of the two constellations on it.
* In the online multi-player expansion of ''VideoGame/{{Uru}}'', the wedges for the Pod Ages can only be acquired by jumping through a portal that appears for a few seconds at a time on a set daily schedule. In one of the Ages, beams of light from cracks in the Pod roof will fall directly on four marked spots on the floor when the time is right for the portal's appearance.

* ''VideoGame/{{Drawn}}'':
** In ''Drawn: The Painted Tower'', you must assemble pieces of glass to block most of the light shining through a window, leaving an arrow-shaped part unblocked so sunbeams will point out a spot to dig.
** And in ''Drawn: Dark Flight'', you must reassemble a bird-shaped kite so that, when flown, it can cast a shadow into exactly the right spot to trigger the activation of the Library's door guardians.
* In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'', song lyrics recounted by various Rito provide clues about how specific shadows (or, in one case, a ''gap'' in a shadow) can lead Link to shrines or treasure.

* Used in ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooCampScare'', to find a 1920s gangster's hidden loot.

* ''WesternAnimation/AlfredJKwak'': In the Egypt episodes, the secret entry point to the Pharaoh's throne room in the pyramid is only visible at high noon when a mirror reflects the light.

* In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'', a tall rock offshore indicates the location of a submerged treasure chest. A song lyric from an NPC provides the clue to what time of day its shadow will point out the right spot.

* In the Literature/SherlockHolmes story "The Musgrave Ritual", the eponymous character finds the old crown jewels by the shadow of a tree. He manages to do this even though ''the tree is no longer standing''. Even more impressively, he was able to do this when the directions were ''two hundred years old'', meaning that the tree would have been considerably shorter when the directions were written down then it was at the time he followed them.

* In the ''Series/{{CSINY}}'' episode "Manhattanhenge," the search for the Compass Killer's lair and his next target is guided by the suspect's obsession with angles of sunlight over the city. Subverted in that Sheldon calculates in advance where the sunlight will fall, rather than waiting to observe it.

* ''Series/Benson''. "Fool's Gold". Benson discovers an old letter suggesting hidden treasure somewhere in the governor's mansion. They track it to an old room where the sunlight through the window (now bricked over) would show them the location.

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Epic}}'' the cast has to get the pod to the pool in the Leafmen base, where light from the moon at its highest point over a century will shine on it and it will bloom and pass on the life of the forest to Queen Tara's successor. [[spoiler:If the pod blooms in darkness, it will bloom into Mandrake's heir.]]

* In ''Literature/TheHobbit'', the keyhole of Lonely Mountain's hidden entrance is visible only at the right time on Durin's Day, a dwarven holiday.

* In the Literature/SherlockHolmes story "The Musgrave Ritual", the eponymous character finds the old crown jewels by the shadow of a tree. He manages to do this even though ''the tree is no longer standing''.

* The clues in the book ''Literature/KitWilliamsMasquerade'' led to RealLife [[TreasureMap buried treasure]] (a gold hare), which could be found at the tip of a shadow of a particular cross at midday of the equinox.

* Most of the puzzles inside ''El Caracol'' in ''[[VideoGame/AstekaIITemploDelSol Tombs & Treasure]]'' are of this variety, involving metallic globes and a set of panpipes to trigger them.