High elevation rectangular sites with core veneer rubble filled walls are defensible, but their primary purpose does not appear to be defense. There is a consistency to these sites which are scattered across Central and Northern Arizona. They may be ritual, ceremonial, or community sites. The unique features are probably related to the area's specific beliefs.
Dating sites like this is difficult because they're a wall. The ones without rooms have little to no artifacts. When rooms abut the wall, there is no way to know how much later they were built. Standalone rooms could have been built before or after the wall.
A general overview of Hilltop Enclosures is presented in this video.
Links to other kinds of hilltop sites:
This rectangular site had 2 monoliths. The monoliths went all the way to the ground inside the wall. They were not added at a later date.
This rectangular site wall was capped with red sandstone at a low height It had a wingwall that pointed to another site.
This is a large rectangular site with a double white band on one side and a single white band on another. The single band side is on the edge of a cliff. The rest of the structure faces open areas on top of a butte. Up until now our definition of prehistoric fort had been blocked access either by cliff or core veneer rubble filled wall. The sites often had skewed entryways and loopholes. It's shape was usually determined by the promontory or peak it was on.
This site appears to use quartz as a building material instead of for decoration.
This rectangular site was missing its fourth wall. There was no sign that a wall had ever been there.
This rectangular structure had core veneer rubble filled expansion wall running along the edge of the cliff. There is more about expansion areas below.
This site could not be droned. It has some interesting symmetry. A central rectangular enclosure with 2 skewed entryways - one on the E & one on the W and 2 rooms inside. Both N and S sides have terraced areas just outside the enclosure. Several rooms are located outside the enclosure scattered down the slope to the South. A sparse to moderate artifact scatter found inside the enclosure.
The wall facings were beautiful, but the blocks were not staggered to make the wall strong. This site was defensible, but not defensive. It's location on a broad ridgetop is similar to the other rectangular sites.
This L-Shaped site has large jagged boulders for the rest of the enclosure.
This L-Shaped site has cliff faces for the rest of the enclosure.
Copyright © 2020 www.golio.net - All Rights Reserved.