I Found an Ancient Fortress in the American Southwest

I discovered this ancient fortress in the desert while hiking. The more I explored it, the more mysterious it became with different types of petroglyphs, structures and defensive towers. The allure of deciphering this enigma led me onto some dangerous cliff edges, and what I found astonished me

#ancientdiscoveries #exploration #ancienthistory #hiking #ancientarchitects #ancientartifacts

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[sonnysilversmith]

I’m a navajo born n raised in ganado, az, for years I helped with ranch work at my grandparents ranch summer/winter homes in the late 70s to mid 80s, located just north, about 4 miles north of Burnside (intersection/roundabout).
As I tended to the livestocks on horseback I came across so many areas with the same pottery designs, picked up many flints but left it and many broken arrowheads,
grandpa said it was ok and a blessing to pickup a full unbroken arrowhead, spearhead or tomahawk head….grandpa throughout his years on this Snakeflat had a full unbroken collection, do not know where it went after he passed in 2010.
But this was a prairie landscape that these people lived,
I’m pretty sure there is very little to see this present day, haven’t been back for about 20 yrs.

[barbarajohnson]

I'm a 76 year old woman, and i find your videos riveting! I no longer hike and i find every one of your episodes like a little mini vacation. I love the way you talk to me even sharing how you prepare your dinner. Thank you! Thank you!
Stay safe out there!!!

[petecartwright]

Well done.
Colorado, Az. and New Mexico are FILLED with those. Many are on private land, and many have been left pretty much untouched. They are everywhere, which shows how many people were throughout the landscape back then.
I was raised in Southern Colorado and went to school with a kid whose parents owned a huge ranch. There were 3 small cliff houses on their property, and we walked by them every year deer hunting. I was pretty young and didn't realize, or at the time, really cared about it and we walked on by. His dad said archeologists had been through them a long time ago but had just taken photos.
Those folks built huge stone condo complexes all over the place. Some were really small, (looked a family or two) but some were HUGE and must have accommodated dozens.
This guy is a good explorer. He's VERY careful to not disturb anything. Good job.

[IDOutback]

I had to watch your video twice - I couldn't shake the feeling that I had seen those three pictographs before. I got out my 35mm slide collection. Where you were standing @ 1:30 in the video was within feet of where I stood in April 1973! I never made it to the upper level.

Talk about a Kodak moment! Your videos are amazing! Thanks for the armchair adventures!

[tllc]

your crawl at the height you were at put my heart in my throat. I am glad you made it in and out safely!

[CJSmithGuitar]

The up close of the petroglyphs and the views through the holes up top were so cool to see! I felt like I was up there defending my home. Thanks for that extra effort climbing up there!

[stuartcalow]

Retired archaeologist, Norfolk, England. Binge watching. Fantastically exciting to see so much preservation. The romance and atavistic feelings inspired! The beauty of the land, the thrill of your scary climbing and the awesome photography. The sensitivity you have to maintaining the archaeological record. Do you report the positions to your nearest university? Very impressive.
We have in Norfolk, loads of Prehistoric, Roman, Saxon and Medieval sites but it's all underground, after 2000 years of ploughing, and when I dug them it always seemed to be raining, cold and windy!

[perseusguy]

Wow! That was impressive, I can't think that many people have visited this dwelling so up close and personal in hundreds of years. Excellent endeavor!

[sleepingbee]

Those 5 lines are interesting, and my mind runs wild with possibilities. The most mundane could be, like, "Tonight you're assigned to guard post 5" but the wildest idea could be "5 men have died defending this spot" or even "5 attacks have been fended off from this position."

[_isfollowingme]

I appreciate the looking into the history of these places....without destroying or even disturbing the site. ❤

[katherinereece]

I'm an archaeology geek, now unfortunately disabled. I just found your channel and I want to thank you for the videos. I can't get out there so it's wonderful to "come along with you" on these explorations! I subscribed... looking forward to more adventrues.

[Paul-rcpk]

Just another interesting site scattered amongst the many in the southwest. When I was younger, I too loved hiking into the back country to explore. But with age comes the understanding that I'm no longer physically able to get to the places like you just illustrated. Thanks for the incredible views!

[chicweber]

Thank you so much ‼️

I love what you do.
I’m 63 fighting cancer and you are allowing me to see things that I would never have the opportunity too.
Thank you so much ‼️😊

Be safe ‼️😊

[lorrynortheastguy]

I'm a newbie who found the videos by chance, three days in now and spent all my spare time watching I'm hooked and will pass on to others.

[juliaferraro]

That was the most amazing place I've ever seen! It was even more spectacular because you could get up so close. I always try and imagine the people making those hand prints and pictures. Thanks for taking us along 💚

[ginagina]

That was truly amazing to see. Thank you for going through that tight space so we could experience this.

[vampiresexparty]

This video is by far my favorite!
You actually took us to a different time in life. I also appreciate you risking your life for these amazing shots. 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

[rupestrianfly]

I've been there back in the 90s. Like you, I often travelled alone. One of my rules when alone was not to climb up steep surfaces like you have. It was a different story when someone else was with me to help spot me. Back then, we did not have cell phones, internet, etc. Paper maps were the thing back then. I do appreciate the fact that you don't provide location data. Many sites seem more trampled now than when I was hiking.

[evabuehler]

The big petroglyph had an owl feeling. It was watching and could see all!

[alainaaugust]

About the crawl in the narrow space: Don’t forget people back then were shorter and leaner with tougher muscles. Probably was no problem at all for them to scoot on through. The white, round face with prominent eyes may be related to the famous kachina dolls of the Southwest. Kachinas depict and call forth good spirits for protection. I’ve see kachina jewelry with the face round. Eyes are prominent because the spirits see all. If these white circle faces are ancestral to kachinas, facing outward they may be a way of advertising “This place is protected by strong spirits. Stay away.” Those strong, good spirits made you work for it, didn’t they?!