|
| | | |
| |
|
| Hiking | 8.10 Miles |
1,668 AEG |
| | Hiking | 8.10 Miles | | | |
| 1,668 ft AEG | | | | |
|
|
| |
| Linked |
|
none
[ show ]
| no linked trail guides |
| Partners |
|
none
[ show ]
| no partners | | Long, grueling hike to the top of New River Mesa today. I had explored the Mesa many times prior, but it's a very big space, and today we looked in on a different area. There are ruins, rock art, and lots of metates on top, suggesting the area was once farmed heavily (corn fields), undoubtedly in order to feed a large Hohokam population in several areas immediately below the Mesa.
There is an interesting mystery found here, in the form of a substantial number of prominent rock walls on top, some as long as two miles. Walls may have been built by prehistoric Hohokam for reasons unknown (agriculture? game chutes?), or by historic ranchers. I might lean toward the latter, but for two reasons. First, I have found rock art associated with a long wall in the Robber’s Roost area, and second, the staggering amount of manual labor required to construct these walls in such a remote area is mind boggling. They would have needed an army up there, for many long months, possibly years. I know there was some ranching going on, but IMHO not on a scale to make construction of these walls especially feasible. It strikes me as far more likely that Hohokam, living on and around the Mesa, constructed these walls over a period of years, perhaps decades. |
| _____________________
| | |
|
|
|
Route Editor
Route Scout
