Harmonious Geomoetries of Defensive Walls

Comparing the layout of a few ruins in the Cave Creek area shows a remarkable similarity between them.

The first image is a schemata of the Citadel at the edge of Carefree (more about it below).

The following are Google Earth views of ruins just west of Skull Mesa, located a few miles north of the above ruin.
    


The ruin on the right is perched on the side of a cliff, which falls off to the right –so a defensive wall couldn't be built and wouldn't be needed there.

Note that they not only follow the same shape as the Carefree ruin, they also align in exactly the same way in relation to North-South.

The defensive wall around the 'Squaw Creek' ruin on Perry Mesa follows the same geometry, and it too is 'cropped' by a cliff edge; I've overlaid the same lines on this image as on the above images.

The forts associates with the 'Perry Mesa Culture' on the Agua Fria plateau show a similar attention to geometric detail. All of them, with the exception of Pueblo La Plata, the northernmost ruin, align identically in relation to North-south, as I pointed out here.

Blue Mountain Ruins

THE SOUTH FORT

The southern fort from above, covering this part of the plateau that overlooks Cave Creek.
(You can click on this to see a larger view, as with the others).

A view of the plateau on which this fort was built -note the cliffs and how flat the area of the fort itself is.

I was surprised to discover from the drone photos that what I thought was a collection of separate ruins on this part of Blue Mountain was actually a very large super-secure walled fort.

On the photo below, the north tip of the fort, on the lower left, and upper east side, are clearly walled off, and it looks like most of the perimeter was as well.

It's also clear from observing on the ground, and partly from the drone photos, that the area along the most vulnerable wall, on the east side, is protected by a narrow walkway between the buildings and the exterior wall. In that respect it's similar to the west side walls, the most vulnerable side, of the Henrie fort up on the Agua Fria plateau.

The photo at top shows fairly clearly the long wall along the fort's east side, as well as some of the walls of the rooms within that run parallel to it. If you look closely you can see the outlines of many of the rooms. 

I assume that the rooms nearest the wall were entered from the roof, since they lack doorways. A few seem detached from the main fort as well, and the west side of the plateau, where the cliffs are steepest, appears clear of walls or buildings.

Here's my drone video of the south fort (that's me under the hoodie so I can see the screen better). Something you should notice in all these videos is how much greener the areas that were inhabited are than the other parts of the mountain -even parts that are as flat, like the area to the right of this fort, which contains a few small ruins and some sherds. If this is the result of human intervention, since the areas look rather clearly to have been terraced, I do not know.

Below are some photos from the south fort; first, examples of pottery shards, which are scattered fairly thickly, not just within the fort area itself but shards can be found all over that area of the mountain.

Note in the photo below is one 'plainware' sherd, very thick and coarse, and another sherd, thinner than any I've ever seen, with a polished surface –which leads me to conclude that this wasn't just a lookout, it was a residence as well, and one that could afford what may have been the ancient equivalent of fine china.
(Note also how blue the rock with the sherds is -the entire north face of the mountain is this amazing blue color.)

East of this fort, on the steep hillside, are quite a few sherds like those below as well, in what may be assumed is a 'midden', or trash area.

Examples of the room construction also show that these were not just rough forts –the walls are carefully flat (allowing for smooth plastering once the rocks were filled with dried mud) and built with carefully squared corners.

Another example of the careful construction of the rooms in this fort -note the flat walls and square corners.

THE MIDDLE FORT

North of the southern fort is another, smaller ruin. The flat plateau on which is it built seems to have been terraced and its soil is surprisingly loamy and rockless, especially compared to the rest of the mountain –as if it were meant to be farmed.

It appears to be a row of rooms with an enclosed 'plaza'.

A higher, larger view below.

There also appear to be rooms just above the drainage that goes down the cliff at the upper right of the photo, which is one of the two spots where it's possible to climb to the ruins from below –logically to guard that potential entrance.

The only other possible entrance spot from the cliff side is guarded by the south fort.




The middle fort has plenty of sherds as well, indicating it was well lived-in, like this 'redware' with a black interior, which is very common on the sites throughout this area.

On the photo below, one can see not only the carefully constructed flat, parallel walls in the main part of this fort, it's also clear how thick they were –perhaps to support a second floor. It also appears to have rounded corners at the room's end, something that appears more than once on the fort at the top of the mountain.

Both the lower and the upper forts have rooms with walls this thick as well, located near the center of each fort.

THE TOP FORT


Above it all is a surprisingly elaborate construction with multiple rooms, a few independent 'houses' with external doors (something I suspect is reserved for the elite), an enclosing wall shaped something like a boat, and what looks like extensive terracing all around it, leveling off the hilltop.

A high view from the drone below. North is to the right.
It's easy to see the walled edges of this fort.

Here's a closer view, including the 'two-room suite' with it's oddly rounded corners –perhaps the victim of recent reconstruction.

Here's my drone video of the fort at the top of Blue Mountain:

The pottery shards are not as thick at the top fort as they were below, but perhaps there were more in a midden somewhere that I didn't find -particularly the steep west side.

Another example of a carefully made, flat interior wall, this time on the top fort, and note how thick this wall is.

The top fort has unusually curved corners in more than one of its buildings. Note again the carefully flat construction of the interior walls in the photo below. Note also the blue rocks that give the mountain its name.

Here's a look at that same structure from above. One can see as well how flat the original wall surfaces are.

Another fascinating feature of the top fort is its terracing, which it not only has in common with the southern fort but with the Sears Kay fort and many others in the area, including the St Clair Mountain fort.

These may have included walls as well, though it's impossible to tell at this point.

Finally, below is a view from the south that takes in the entire area of the forts above.
Notice how the peak, where the 'top fort' is located, is leveled off. You can also see the steep cliffs surrounding the 'lower' fort, though the cliffs below the north and west sides of the top fort are much steeper.

The security these people sought is still as present as it was 600 years ago –visiting these sites requires over a thousand feet of steep climbing as well as carefully wending one's way through forests of vicious Cholla.