<< Other Photo Pages >> Skull Mesa - Ancient Village or Settlement in United States in The Southwest
Submitted by bat400 on Wednesday, 07 May 2014 Page Views: 4923
Multi-periodSite Name: Skull MesaCountry: United States Region: The Southwest Type: Ancient Village or Settlement
Nearest Town: Phoenix, AZ Nearest Village: Cave Creek, AZ
Latitude: 33.949000N Longitude: 111.931W
Condition:
5 | Perfect |
4 | Almost Perfect |
3 | Reasonable but with some damage |
2 | Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site |
1 | Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks |
0 | No data. |
-1 | Completely destroyed |
5 | Superb |
4 | Good |
3 | Ordinary |
2 | Not Good |
1 | Awful |
0 | No data. |
5 | Can be driven to, probably with disabled access |
4 | Short walk on a footpath |
3 | Requiring a bit more of a walk |
2 | A long walk |
1 | In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find |
0 | No data. |
5 | co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates |
4 | co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map |
3 | co-ordinates scaled from a bad map |
2 | co-ordinates of the nearest village |
1 | co-ordinates of the nearest town |
0 | no data |
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External Links:
Ancient Village or Settlement in The Southwest.
A Verde Hohokam culture pueblo site, aprox 800 years old, located on a rugged spit off a 3900 foot high mesa. The low walls of 15 rooms are visible, along with a two foot thick wall located higher than the "village" on a summit. The "fort" wall is as tall as six feet in some areas. Although it may have been a defensive barrier, William Holliday felt that from siting of creek bottom villages, these "hill forts" were more likely to have served as lookouts for multiple farming villages.
The ruins are not stabilized and should examined without touching them.
Skull Mesa itself may be reached by one or a combination of Forest Service Hiking Trails (Trail 247 and 248,) but the both the pueblo site and a group of bolders with petroglyphs are reached by heading by dead reckoning north of the Skull Mesa Trail, once the mesa top is reached from the south. Skull Mesa itself is a 2000 foot elevation change from the trail access points, and the pueblo lies on a narrow, rocky saddle and spur off the north west corner of the mesa.
Hiking guides describe this 14 mile round trip as difficult and strenuous. Several hikers recommend camping on the mesa top the evening of the first day and visiting the pueblo and descending the second day. No one should attempt this hike without study of Forest Service Trail guides, appropriate hats and seasonal gear, and a minimum of a gallon of water per person, per day. The location supplied is general for the pueblo, but should be considered incomplete without consultation with the sources below.
Sources:
- Wilson, Hiking Ruins Seldom Seen, Globe Pequot, 2000.
- Hike Arizona Website, , 35 trip logs.
- USDA Forest Service, Tonto National Forest, Skull Mesa Trail 248 and Cottonwood Trail 247.
- Holliday, William G. 1974. Archaeological investigations in the Cave Creek drainage, Tonto National Forest, Arizona. Archaeological report no. 1. Albuquerque: USDA Forest Service, Southwestern Region.
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