I Discovered Earth Dwellings on Google Earth

On a recent journey into the middle of nowhere, I somehow stumbled upon a series of perfect human habitats that seem to be created within the natural geology. Or at least, that's what I believed at first. But to start, let me explain why I was here. This is incredible. In the past two years, a remarkable transformation has taken place in the American Southwest. Once arid deserts have become lush green oases following heavy rainfall. You can see this progression using a time-lapse on Google Earth of a wetland drying up before exploding back to life following the winter storms of 2023. Eager to witness this mirage before it vanishes, I set out to visit this area. Additionally, I plan to visit a unique rock structure I learned about, described as sacred living rock to the local indigenous people. I was fortunate to secure a permit to see this place. Furthermore, I was curious about some unusual looking shapes I found on Google Earth. What I discovered here was so unexpected that in the moment, I don't think I was fully able to grasp what I was seeing. The more I think about it, the more I'm left questioning the origin of these structures. Firstly, this large rock, revered by the Native Americans, very curiously, has a perfect north-facing orientation. This is very likely a coincidence, but certainly noteworthy. I noticed this when looking at this shot, which shows a notch, almost like a gun sight, pointing directly north. Secondly, the perfect nature of the rock formations makes me question whether humans had played a role in shaping these dwellings, and is there a chance that this was home to not one, but multiple civilizations? How many times have humans been forced to abandon this place during periods of drought, only to rediscover it generations later? Unfortunately, due to the horrible defacement of Native American artwork in this area, and the cultural sensitivities of this site, I do not show any of the artwork present here. Instead, I choose to focus on the geologic aspect, which are truly remarkable on their own, and tell a story, the specific details of which we may never fully understand about the amazing humans that have walked across North America. This site has so many, gives me so many mixed feelings. It's so incredibly beautiful, and the artwork is so vibrant and unique. But what people have done here is inexcusable. Wow! Look at that, that looks like it's been carved out. Check it out, that's a mortar hole right there. Oh my gosh. Are you serious? I bet they would have stacked up rocks right on the outside of this, and stored all their food inside of here, completely away from the elements. Oh, there's a spider. Oh, there's so many spiders in here. I've never seen a rock like this before. It's really cool. That's a big nest. You can see the honeycomb right at the entrance of it. I've never seen sandstone like this. It is just so intricate and filled with hundreds of little tiny holes and indentations, which would have been really, really useful if you lived here. This rock is a perfect fortress, completely defensible location, and it makes so much sense that they live there. We are heading out to the next phase of our journey, and we're going to see if we can find some of these really unique-looking shapes I discovered on Google Earth in the middle of the grass. A lot of ticks out here. These are the most perfect mortar holes I've ever seen. They'd use these holes to grind up food, oftentimes acorn, and when one hole would get too deep, they'd move on and create another one. So it really makes you wonder, like, how long would it take for one mortar hole to get worn down to the point that they have to make another one? It must have taken so long. I really have no idea. Pretty cool. You know what's cooler? Endemic species in healthy populations. Black sage. So beautiful. And smells spectacular. Oh, it smells so good. It's almost like a rosemary-type smell. Does that go anywhere? Oh, whoa. That would be like a perfect little one-person sleeping area. It really makes me wonder, like, was there a little, was there a different family living in each one of these rock clusters? I don't know. There might have been. You know, it would be a great place to live. And just the quantity of mortar holes that we found really indicates to a pretty large population that lived here. What a day. That is unbelievable. I have never seen such a beautiful, healthy pond in a pothole before. I thought that black circle on the top of this rock was a cave, but no. It's a natural water source. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Those are totally carved steps right there. This is so cool. Check those out. This really looks handmade to me. I didn't know mochi steps really existed in this part of the world. I've only ever seen them out in, like, the Arizona desert. It's really cool. This whole rock just really has another element of life to it. Like, this rock is just protruding from the ground in a place where there's not a lot of rocks. And because of that, it's just a hive of life here. Like, there's birds' nests all over these rocks, bees' nests, wasps' nests, and there's, like, that little pond with all this life in it. And then also there's all this evidence of humans having lived here and kind of using this structure to survive. And it's just mind-blowing. I mean, it's like this is so much more than just a naturally occurring rock. This is really a source of life in a vast, desolate area. And it's just remarkable. It's just incredible. This is like a perfect little sandstone house. This is incredible. The sandstone just made this little perfect cavern, which would be an amazing place to live. No building required. Unbelievable. This place has just got me mystified. This is the outside of that little alcove. Oh, and there's another one right here. It's like an upstairs balcony. What? Mortar hole. You can see that's, like, perfectly the width of a human being. Wow. I'll be honest, I really wasn't expecting to find this. Check this out. Beautiful shelter. We've got some mortar holes drilled into the rock. And even a little natural cubby hole in the side of this rock where they could have stored their food away from animals. So maybe this would have been more like their living room, right? Where they would have made their food, hung out. And we can see that the ceiling here actually is pretty blackened. So they probably had fires in here pretty often. I have never seen a more advantageous place to live. This place is just... just ideal, honestly. It's truly amazing how this natural landscape created some of the most perfect habitats to live in that I've ever seen. You have reached the conclusion of this video. I hope you enjoyed watching it. If you did, I present to you four options. You could like this video, subscribe to the POV channel, leave a comment, or D, all of the above. As always, I encourage you to get out into sunshine and fresh air. I am extremely grateful for the beautiful nature we have on our planet. And I would encourage you to think about ways we can all continue to protect our beautiful nature and precious biodiversity. In the age of technology, I really believe it is more important than ever to enjoy and preserve nature for our own mental health and for the benefit of generations to come. As always, please leave a place better than you found it and have a great rest of your day.