Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Ports of the Ruins.....pic heavy....

Last time the lake was way down 7 or 8 years ago, there was a huge mound (multi level ruin that makes a hill when it collapses over time) that was out of the water a few feet. While fishing the edges sometimes half an olla would be washed out, pot shards everywhere. Probably never been dug by pot hunters.

Some have estimated there were a hundred thousand folks living in Tonto Basin back then, It'd be a sight to see, all those roof tops and fire smokes.

Kent

Cool discussion, the reason the campfire survives is this type of discourse.

Going to be in Tucson in April, if you had time to see just one close to Tucson which ruin/park/settlement would you chose?

Thank you guys for sharing. Very interesting.

I love this stuff also.

Let me know when you get into town.

In terms of ruins, are you looking for out of the way places that one has to hike to gain access or easy access with large ruins that are kept by the park service etc?

if you want to see some interesting stuff, that i am drawn too, not just indian ruins, try this link:
Still got to get down to johnny ringo's gravesite.
http://www.ghosttowns.com/states/az/az.html

From what I know Ringo's gravesite is on private property. Last I heard it was closed off but that was a while back.

Thanks for the link, my dad used to take us to ghost towns when my brother and I were just boys...some great memories.

ETA: Looks like from the link, you can check-in with the owners and see the grave. I will have to do that sometime soon.

The straight man reads the title of this thread and wonders which the Indians ran to when the thunder and lightning came...

San Xavier is a spanish/mexican/indian church outside of town, built around the time of the American Revolution, and still going strong. Casa Grande is some adobe indian ruins about 50 miles away (guess).

Sycamore

I love this stuff! I think it would be great to spend a few weeks wandering around the 4 corners area. I found one undocumented site by accident while hunting, it really had a profound effect on me.

A couple of bird effigies an elk hunter showed me he found. He didn't really understand what he had... I said 'nice'... LOL

Black Obsidian is found in New Mexico.

I could never find it in the native state until I had a guide carry me to a spot I had been looking for and just kept missing by short distance.
The guide is the interesting part of this story.

On this trip, first one to meet my new in laws, it would have to be accessible so Park run would be best. Longer term I am definitely into hiking in the less traveled places.

I am NOT an expert - just an explorer - but seems not so easy in So AZ as it is further north. IMHO, the lifestyles of the Papago (they adopted a new name) did not lend so much to such ruins/artifacts, and the Yaquis (or whatever were those that came up from Mexico) seem similar. Out in SW AZ, roaming the Cocopah and Quechan areas also tended to give little - most of them still live along the S. Colorado in the same old traditional spots. Even up to the Salt River/Gila areas (Casa Grande) - seems like those were mostly agricultural/herding folks and did not leave much stuff behind.

From Tucson, if you go E/N to the traditional Apache areas - even over into the Chiricahuas - much more likely to find remaining evidences. Once again - no expertise on my part - just a lot of looking.

The Hohokam from Phoenix going south built with adobe, had huge settlements, made some of the irrigation systems we still use here in the valley, even ball fields similar to the Aztecs. But besides mounded dirt and broken pottery, not much can easily be seen. Burials were cremations covered by upside down pots, shallow, hard to find in large areas. Whole pots are worth mucho bucks, many found by backhoe diggers in foundations, septic tank holes,ect. Mesa is built on top of old civilizations. Digging a half basement on my dad's property close to the Salt river we hit shards but no pots.

Towards Florence and on the Gila is a mix of Salado/Hohokam culture. Rock wall pueblos and cremation burial. Locally these are called Gila ruins, possibly just pothunter slang to differentiate. Gila run right up to Superior and Queen creek with Salado mostly north of there.

Salado are probably decedents of Anasazi that stopped running south at Globe as the areas west and south were occupied by Hohokam, which they traded with some.

The trade route ridges I mentioned earlier run from the Verde at Fountain hills straight to Four Peaks and over to Tonto basin. Four peaks is covered with Salado ruins.

Now, I have found huge Hohokam shard fields from Florence Jt all the way to Oracle Jt. The one at Oracle Jt I was quail hunting and couldn't seem to ever find an end. Shards everywhere.

I found this little ruin right under the Mogollon rim next to a spring, pottery is always the giveaway...

A two roomer with a view...

Lots of stuff south of tucson. Just gottaget out a bit....

Was out looking for Russian Feral's this evening and found this in the middle of nowwhere.



This wall was close to 8' high. There was a room here.
Walls had fallen down.




This is what is interesting. While busting through thick brush on this ruin I came on this. The rock on top was broken and beneath that rock were these (out of place)small rocks, flint type. I found them as you see them.
One had been chipped or worked on to make into a sharp instrument of some kind.

Anyone tell me what the holes were for, or how they were made. I've seen holes in rocks like this before on Verde River ruins.




Indian ruin rifle porn.......:)

Are the holes like horizontal post holes?

Hard to say, don't think it would be for that purpose.

Found another ruin today. This one had at least 30 rooms and plenty of pottery on the ground.