DescriptionPueblo la Plata, Perry Mesa, Agua Fria NM, Arizona, -01 (marcgottlieb wikimedia).png
English: In central Arizona, the Agua Fria River carves a series of canyons and grassland mesas which in modern times remain rather desolate and sparsely populated. However, circa 1250-1450 this area was home to a puebloan culture that has left ruins of 7 "cities" and numerous other settlements. To protect the nearly 500 archaeological sites that have been identified, this area has received United States federal protection by designation as the Agua Fria National Monument. Pueblo La Plata is one of the large ruined pueblos, on Perry Mesa alongside the Silver Creek tributary of the Agua Fria. Presented are four views at sunrise, the first being the National Monument marker that greets visitors. View #02 looks northwest across the Agua Fria basin toward the Bradshaw Mountains behind. In the foreground are the ruins, remnants of a large multi-room structure built from stones that have long ago collapsed. The ruins are being reclaimed by nature, seen here in the springtime as overgrowth by central Arizona highland scrub and wildflowers. View #03 is a closer look of a northeast facing wall. View #04 is taken from the base of the ruins, looking east upstream along Silver Creek Canyon. The mesa top sparkles with backlit grasses growing on a plaza now littered with pottery sherds. When the Puebloans were here, this would have been a busy scene of their settlement and daily life as seen from their doorways. And, same as today, this is the sunrise landscape they would have awoken to.
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