Just where I'd put a marketplace: in a large linear formation on top of a mountain ridge.
There were a large number of of Incan markets at elevation in the Andes. If your civilization was built around the productivity of terrace farming - then people will be living at high elevation.
Top photo looks like mining to me.
I mostly agree, it’s weird.<p>However the region has little in the way of flat ground and the nice flat valley floor is very very flood prone.
When the barbarians come to raid, it’s much easier to tip a rock over to stop them.<p>“I have the high ground” became a meme because of the Star Wars prequels but it was a legitimate force multiplier.<p>The US has a military strategy of air supremacy, notably different from air dominance, because of how easy it is to win when you can just let go of a rock and it’s guided to your enemy by gravity.