It is no secret that the autumn leaves mimic the mountains of Red- Rock Secret Wilderness area of Sedona. The secrets lie in the abandoned dwellings, water-sculpted pinnacles, mysterious caves, and spiritual vortexes It just happens to be narrated by magnificent overlooks. 
Palatki Heritage Site encompasses two trails. Once leading to ancient cliff dwellings and the second to an alcove of rock art. Reservations are required to enter.
Sinagua Cliff Dwellings The walk takes you through fields where corns and beans once grew and the through water-sculpted pinnacles.
A climb up the natural steps along the cliff wall brings you to the ruins and evidence of ancient civilizations. 
A closer look will reveal handprints from packing the mud homes and rocks for grinding mesquite pods into flour.
Petroglyphs and Pictographs
The second trail takes you back through the fields and dry river beds to another rock staircase to the alcove. The black soot from campfires and the paintings of ancient people tell a story of animals they hunted and an appreciation for Mother Earth. 
The photo of a young woman was given to the heritage site to show the proper hairstyle. This corner was most likely specific to fertility or attraction. Once married hair was worn down the back.
There are over a thousand images drawn on the walls with speculation about what they mean. Archaeologists and local native Americans have analyzed the site and found similarity throughout the country to signify certain events, like the rising sun or solstices. Below, the photo on the left shows a circle on the upper right. The zig-zag line has black markings under it indicating some sort of a time line. The consensus seems to be that it signifies the rising of the sun over the specific ridges and it mimics the mountains on the left.
True? It is up to us to decide.
Thanks for taking a minute to read.
Wind Kisses 
Fabulous
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Thank you. So much to see in this world of ours.
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I believe it to be true. We have certain monuments in Europe and the UK which historians and researchers believe are dedicated to the sun and stars. Stonehenge, Avebury Stone Circles. We still have practicing Druids in the UK. It all must mean something. Good set of photographs Donna
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Thanks Mike I was a little discouraged. I wrote a whole post the area and how we stumbled across it and how the guides were fascinating. I was summarizing and poof, it disappeared. Wasn’t in the trash, etc… First time I didn’t save the original draft on my computer. Lesson learned. I almost skipped the whole redo thing, but I enjoyed myself too much not to. Thank you for responding…
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I have been hearing about that happening more and more–trying to be more diligent about saving my stuff because of it!! Still, beautiful write up and as always, gorgeous pics Donna. As it gets more and more grey and cold here, I will be looking to your blog for the sun <3.
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