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118-478: The Hohokam Pima National Monument is an ancient Hohokam village within the Gila River Indian Community , near present-day Sacaton , Arizona . The monument features the archaeological site Snaketown 30 miles (48 km) southeast of Phoenix, Arizona , designated a National Historic Landmark in 1964. The area was further protected by declaring it a national monument in 1972, and

236-565: A mammoth skeleton which was above a deposit of artifacts from the Cochise culture . This was Haury's first experience with Paleoindian archaeology in the Southwest. During the late 1930s and early 1940s excavations, led by Julian Hayden and Haury, were conducted in the area of Ventana Cave in Arizona. Ventana Cave is a rock shelter with extensive stratigraphy of which the lowest layer

354-413: A 6.4-acre parcel situated immediately west of the old Mesa Hospital. Within this plot are the ruins of a large adobe compound and a nine-meters-high, relatively intact, platform mound. This is only one of the last three remaining Hohokam platform mounds in the greater Phoenix metro area. This parcel was transferred into public ownership in the mid-1980s, therefore the compound and mound were not destroyed and

472-690: A few feet per mile, balancing erosion and siltation. The Hohokam cultivated varieties of cotton, tobacco, maize, beans , and squash , and harvested a vast variety of wild plants. Late in the Hohokam Chronological Sequence, they also used extensive dry-farming systems, mainly to grow agave for food and fiber. Their agricultural strategies were vital in the inhospitable desert, and allowed the aggregation of rural populations into complex urban centers. Many features of earlier Hohokam domestic architecture, such as rectangular pithouses , were apparently transplanted relatively intact from

590-669: A finer quality and were tempered with caliche and limited amounts of very finely ground micaceous schist and small particles of vegetative material. The true measure of the Hohokam can only be derived from the sum of their material culture. This is best gleaned from a review of their principal population centers, or more appropriately, major villages or giant cities. Although sharing a common cultural expression, each of these major villages has its own unique history of emergence, growth, and eventual abandonment. Including outlines of archaeological exploration, provided below are brief descriptions of

708-528: A full visitor center exists on the enclosed site that is open October–May annually. Located within the modern city of Tempe, Arizona , the Hohokam settlement of Los Hornos (from the Spanish los hornos , meaning 'the ovens') was initially investigated by Frank Cushing in 1887. With urban expansion, additional excavations were conducted in the 1970s, late 1980s, and throughout the 1990s. The results of these comprehensive archaeological projects have documented both

826-483: A large Preclassic- and Classic-period village organized much the same as Snaketown and Pueblo Grande, respectively, yet on a somewhat smaller scale. Los Hornos appears to have started around 400 CE, as a small cluster of rectangular pithouses situated on the extreme western edge of the site, west of Priest Dr and south of US 60. Over time, the Los Hornos settlement expanded along a series of large secondary canals to

944-505: A large central locus, which often included small platform mounds. These platform mounds were rectangular, faced by post-reinforced adobe walls, and were filled with either sterile soil or refuse from Preclassic trash mounds. In the largest villages, the central locus included small platform mounds. The number of small and medium-sized settlements seem to have declined as the larger communities became increasingly more densely occupied. Although Casa Grande red-on-buff continued to be produced,

1062-502: A large central plaza. Adjoining the plaza was a medium-sized ballcourt, and overall, the village was affiliated with several smaller outlying settlements. In the 10th century, at least two large secondary villages and about a dozen new hamlets were founded to the west of the main settlement. With the abandonment of Snaketown and the transition from the Preclassic to Classic periods, the greater Grewe-Casa Grande community became one of

1180-964: A larger understanding the Mogollon that happened in the 1970s, as well as understanding the role of Casas Grandes in the Mogollon sequence. Mogollon and Harris Villages were very much the type sites for the Mogollon culture and are the sites that convinced Haury of its uniqueness from other Southwestern cultures. Work began on the Mogollon Village site in 1933. It is a site on the San Francisco River north of Glenwood , New Mexico in Catron County, New Mexico . During Haury's excavations eleven houses of several types were excavated. An abundance of artifacts were uncovered including pottery, clay objects, grinding stones, projectile points, as well as several burials. Harris Village

1298-679: A major food source for the Hohokam to augment the food grown in irrigated areas. Engineering improved access to river water and the inhabitants excavated canals for irrigation. Evidence of trade networks include turquoise , shells from the Gulf of California , and parrot bones from central Mexico. Seeds and grains were prepared on stone manos and metates . Ceramics appeared shortly before 300 CE, with pots of unembellished brown used for storage and cooking, and as containers for cremated remains. Materials produced for ritual use included fired clay human and animal figures and incense burners. Growth

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1416-728: A one-half mile by three-quarters mile piece of property, was occupied by Hohokam people during the Pioneer and Early Sedentary stages (approximately 300 BCE to 1100 CE). Early in the Classic Period (1150 CE – 1400/1450) the community of Snaketown, once apparently central to the broader Hohokam culture, was suddenly abandoned. Parts of its structure were burned, and the site was not reoccupied. The Hohokam were farmers, even though they lived in an area with dry sandy soil, rugged volcanic mountains and slow running rivers. They grew beans , squash , tobacco , cotton and corn . The Hohokam made

1534-485: A possibility for its fall, but still contends that abandonment also occurred in nearby cultures that were less dependent on irrigation. Fagan notes that this time coincides with the Medieval Warm Period , which might have caused droughts . Fagan also suggests that the people continued farming in a much less organized manner or relocated according to remaining irrigation canals. Haury maintains that Snaketown

1652-535: A rapid decline. Around 1400 or 1450 CE, the entire settlement was abandoned, except for a low-scale occupation associated with the Polvoron phase. Today, about 60% of the Grewe-Casa Grande site has been either destroyed due to agricultural and commercial development, excavated, or remains relatively intact buried under fields used to grow cotton. About 40% of this once huge settlement can be found within

1770-542: A retired soldier began the Swilling Irrigating and Canal Company on the remains of the ancient canals. As the company succeeded, a settlement began to form, which was eventually dubbed “Phoenix” after the mythological Phoenix creature that is reborn from its own remains. Hohokam The origin of the culture is debated. Most archaeologists either argue it emerged locally or in Mesoamerica , but it

1888-561: A series of relatively small, circular plazas. These appear to date to the sixth century CEand were located along and immediately upslope of the Coolidge Canal system. By the eighth century CE, this dispersed hamlet had expanded nearly a kilometer south and developed into a full-fledged summer home for the priests and chieftain. At this point, the settlement consisted of densely packed yet discrete groups of pithouses clustered around small open courtyards. In turn these structures delineated

2006-481: A series of small villages along the middle Gila River. The communities were located near arable land, and dry farming was common early in this period. Water wells , usually less than 10 feet (3 m) deep, were dug for domestic water supplies. Early Hohokam homes were built of branches that were bent, covered with twigs or reeds and heavily applied mud, and other available materials. Crop, agricultural skill, and cultural refinements increased between 300 and 500 CE as

2124-589: A single very large and well-built compound that often had some form of large community structure, such as a platform mound or great house. Great house structures, as with the one preserved at Casa Grande Ruins National Monument , were built only at the largest communities. These stone or adobe buildings had up to four stories, and were probably used by the managerial or religious elites. They may have also been constructed to align with astronomical observations. Trade with Mexico appears to have declined, but an increased number of trade goods arrived from Pueblo peoples to

2242-473: A site where Gladwin had first conducted research in the 1930s. Snaketown was the epitomes Hohokam site. It was strategically placed in the proximity of the Gila River which then allowed for its famous irrigation system. Haury's re-examination of Snaketown was based around the hope that with the use of new technology, new research methods and ideas surrounding the Hohokam, that questions which had arisen since

2360-434: A small ceremonial mound, a large central plaza, several large community houses, and hundreds of residential pithouses, and may have been home to at least several thousand people. After Snaketown was abandoned, several minor settlements were founded within the general vicinity and continued to be occupied until the early 14th century CE. The Hohokam Pima National Monument is located on Gila River Indian Community (GRIC) land and

2478-423: A technique called coiling. A small, fine clay base was connected to a series of coils. These coils were then thinned and shaped using a paddle and anvil. Hohokam Plain and Red wares were primarily tempered with a variety of materials including micaceous, phyllite, or Squaw Peak schist, as well as granite, quartz, quartzite, and arkosic sands. Analytically, based on the type of temper used, these are classified as to

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2596-518: Is an archaeological construct that divides Hohokam history into phases of significant cultural changes. It uses two main methods of expression: Gladwinian and Cultural Horizon. The latter is an adaptation of the chronological scheme used in Mesoamerica applied to avoid the interpretive bias inherent in the Gladwinian scheme (i.e. Pioneer, Colonial, Sedentary periods). The HCS and the methods to establish its calendrical reference are applied only to

2714-528: Is considered to be one of the larger Hohokam settlements. A type of pottery (called red-on-buff) that is identified as distinctly Hohokam is found over ca. 30,000 square miles (78,000 km) of the southwest. This indicates the extent and prominence of the Hohokam people at their height. The site of Snaketown is positioned on the Gila River and the community is estimated to have been 250 acres in size at its maximum extent, with much more farmland and smaller settlements surrounding it. It has been estimated that in

2832-615: Is dated by some scholars to around 300 BCE. Whether or not these were the Hohokam people is subject to debate. Paul Sidney Martin and Fred Plog argued that these were the Ootam people, which was a subdivision of the Cochise culture . According to these two, the Ootam were conquered and subsumed around 1000 CE by the Hohokam people from Mexico. Martin and Plog credit the Mexican Hohokam people with bringing extensive irrigation works, as well as other features attributed to what

2950-466: Is generally agreed that simple adobe structures and impermanent housing were used depending upon the time of the year. Small dams were placed systematically to control the intensity of the river flow. Snaketown also included a central plaza and two installations, that were identified as ballcourts at the time of excavation since its earliest times, but did not always include irrigation. In its earliest stage it most likely resembled other agrarian cultures of

3068-492: Is generally considered as a time of growth and social change. The community of Snaketown , once central to the culture, was suddenly abandoned. Parts of this large village seem to have burned, and it was never reoccupied. This period also saw the construction of large and prestigious structures in the Salt-Gila Basin. These included large, rectangular, adobe-walled compounds with platform mounds and great houses, such as

3186-520: Is now listed as either a late form of Sacaton or Casa Grande red-on-buffs. The wide range of vessel forms used for decorated pottery was discarded for globular jars with necks. Production and use of Hohokam buff wares decrease significantly. So did the procurement and trade of raw shell from northern Mexico and its manufacture into jewelry. There was a transition from pithouses to pitrooms and an introduction of spherical spindle whorls similar to examples used in northern Mexico. Conceptually, this episode had

3304-752: Is primarily associated with the Gila and lower Salt River drainages in the Phoenix basin. The Phoenix Basin was the Hohokam Core Area, and the Hohokam Periphery were adjacent areas where the Hohokam culture extended. Collectively, the Core and Peripheries formed the greater Hohokam Regional System, which occupied the northern or Upper Sonoran Desert in Arizona . The Hohokam also extended into

3422-515: Is the major characteristic of the Colonial period. Villages grew larger, with clusters of houses opening on a common courtyard. Some evidence exists of social stratification in larger homes and more ornate grave goods . Area and canal systems expanded, and tobacco and agave production began. Mexican influence increased. In larger communities, the first Hohokam ball courts were constructed and served as focal points for games and ceremonies. Pottery

3540-417: Is thought of as Hohokam culture, from the south. Emil Haury , an established scholar on the subject, makes no mention of this apparently hostile takeover. Furthermore, he views the Hohokam as a harmonious people, particularly in the way they shared water. Archaeologist Brian Fagan dates Hohokam culture to 500 CE, and sums up the situation by stating that there are simply two separate schools of thought on

3658-442: Is under tribal ownership. It covers nearly 1,700 acres (688 ha) (6.9 km²). The GRIC has decided not to open this extremely sensitive prehistoric site to the public. Altogether, the greater Grewe-Casa Grande Site represented the largest Hohokam community located within the middle Gila River valley. Situated between two primary canals (on the north, Canal Casa Grande and to the south Canal Coolidge), over time, this community

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3776-1119: The Mogollon Rim . The Hohokam Core was located along rivers, and as such inhabited a prime trade position. Trade occurred between the Patayan , who were situated along the Lower Colorado River and in southern California; the Trincheras of Sonora , Mexico; the Mogollon culture in Eastern Arizona; Southwest New Mexico; Northwest Chihuahua , Mexico; and the Ancestral Puebloans in Northern Arizona. From 900 to 1150 CE, neighboring Chaco society encouraged trade throughout northern Arizona and into southwest Colorado and southern Utah . These trade networks increased hand-to-hand trade throughout

3894-850: The National Park Service , the word Hohokam is borrowed from the O'odham language , and is used by archaeologists to identify groups of people who lived in the Sonoran Desert . Other archaeologists prefer to identify ancient Arizona as part of the Oasisamerica tradition and instead call Hohokam the Oasisamericans. Nevertheless, Hohokam are one of the four major cultures of the American Southwest and Northern Mexico , according to Southwestern archaeology . There are several official spelling variants for

4012-602: The Salt River Project and helps to supply the city's water. The original canals were dirt ditches and required routine maintenance; those currently in use are lined with concrete. When Hohokam society collapsed, the dirt canals fell into disrepair. European-American settlers later infilled some canals, while others renovated, as with the Mormon pioneers settling the Lehi area of Mesa near Red Mountain . According to

4130-641: The 14th century CE, with the rise of Los Muertos located several miles to the southeast, the Los Hornos community appears to have spiraled into a precipitous decline. Although greatly reduced in scale and importance, the city continued to be occupied until it was effectively abandoned between 1400 and 1450 CE, as was much of the Lower Salt River basin. Today, much of the Los Hornos village has been destroyed due to modern transportation, residential, and commercial development, or has been excavated. The only surface vestiges of this once significant Hohokam city are

4248-463: The 1930s and again in the 1960s revealed that the site was inhabited from about 300 BCE to 1050 CE. At its height in the early 11th century, Snaketown was the center of both the Hohokam culture and the production of the distinctive Hohokam buff ware. Following the last excavations conducted by Emil Haury , the site was completely recovered with earth, leaving nothing visible above ground. Overall, Snaketown boasted two ball courts, numerous trash mounds,

4366-530: The Assistant director of Gila Pueblo was to investigate a site known as Roosevelt 9:6. The importance of understanding the Hohokam was extremely important to Haury and one of his most famous projects was at Snaketown where he conducted extensive excavations and on which he eventually wrote a book. Haury was the first to claim that the Hohokam were decedents of the Paleoindian Cochise culture. Haury

4484-681: The Casa Grande National Monument. Overall, including the recovery of 172 burials and hundreds of thousands of artifacts, about 60 pithouses, numerous pits, 27 adobe pitrooms, and a ballcourt were excavated or tested during the course of this project. Additional excavations were performed in the southeast corner of the monument by the Civil Works Administration directed by Russell Hastings in 1933 and 1934. The excavation of 15 pithouses, three pits, 32 burials, and portions of four trash mounds demonstrated

4602-631: The Casa Grande Ruins National Monument, which was established as the nation's first archeological reserve in 1892, and declared a national monument in 1918. Visitors can enjoy an interpretative center, walk among the stabilized ruins of Compound A, and closely view the great house, which has been protected since 1932 from the elements by a distinctively modern-looking roof. Pueblo Grande Museum Archeological Park near central Phoenix contains preserved ruins and artifact exhibits. Archaeological finds have been recorded along

4720-610: The Early Agricultural Period grew corn, lived year-round in sedentary villages, and developed sophisticated irrigation canals. The Hohokam used the waters of the Salt and Gila Rivers to build an assortment of simple canals with weirs for agriculture. From 800 to 1400 CE, their irrigation networks rivaled the complexity of those of ancient Near East, Egypt, and China. They were constructed using relatively simple tools and engineering technology, yet achieved drops of

4838-575: The Gila River basin, yet these were abandoned, as well. Hohokam split into smaller groups, and the population declined slightly, at a peak rate 2 per 100 people between 1350 and 1400. This decline was previously greatly overestimated because smaller groups are harder to identify. Evidence that the human population was maintained are the unchanged prey animal populations. This phase is characterized by widespread use and manufacture of Salado polychrome, with both Gila and Tonto polychromes. After 1375 CE,

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4956-519: The Hohokam Core Area, which is the Gila-Salt River basin associated with Phoenix, Arizona , not to regions outside that area, called Hohokam Peripheries. Within these regions, the basic period designations are retained; however, local phases are often used to note significant differences, and, to some extent, represents communities influenced by their Ancestral Puebloan and Mogollon neighbors. As farmers of corn and beans, early Hohokam founded

5074-529: The Hohokam abandoned most villages and canal systems in the lower Salt River basin. The area continued to be occupied, but on a far smaller scale. The few villages that remained were quite small, and were concentrated along the Gila River, with the notable exception of the lower Queen Creek drainage. This period is the aftermath of the Hohokam cultural collapse and a critical stage in the ethnogenesis of modern O'odham. The earliest sedentary agricultural settlements in central Arizona date from 1000 to 500 BCE, yet

5192-505: The Hohokam acquired a new group of cultivated plants, presumably from trade with peoples in the area of modern Mexico. These acquisitions included cotton, tepary bean , sieva and jack beans, cushaw and warty squash , and southwestern pigweed . Agave species had been gathered for food and fiber for thousands of years by southwestern peoples, and around 600, the Hohokam began cultivating agave, particularly Agave murpheyi ("Hohokam agave"), on large areas of rocky, dry ground. Agave became

5310-455: The Hohokam era, canals were built in this area up to seven miles (11 km) long, providing water for 70,000 acres of land. The size of the canals indicates that Snaketown probably formed a type of weak chiefdom , however some feel that the canals do not indicate this type of social complexity. Snaketown at its height contained between 1000 and 3000 people. The household was most likely the fundamental building block of Hohokam society. The water

5428-416: The Hohokam tradition at other sites, but eventually led Haury to Snaketown, which he excavated in the early 1930s. Haury eventually returned to Snaketown in 1964 as a result of new data discovered by the works of Charles Di Peso and Albert Schroeder on Hohokam culture at other sites. This caused Haury to refine his view on Hohokam origins while also reaffirming some initial thoughts on Hohokam chronology. This

5546-454: The Hohokam were the first to master acid etching, daubing shells with pitch and bathing them in acid most likely made out of fermented cactus juice . Artisans produced jewelry from shell, stone, and bone, and began to carve stone figures. Cotton textile work flourished. Red-on-buff pottery was widely produced. This growth brought a need for increased organization, and perhaps authority. The regional culture spread widely, extending from near

5664-483: The Hohokam’s affinity for trading. These pieces included shell, stone, and macaw feathers. Trash heaps played just as crucial of a role as trading pieces in the archaeology of Snaketown. Many of the trash heaps helped archaeologists develop the chronology of the site. The oval shaped fields at Snaketown were originally identified as ballcourts. Each was about 60 meters long, 33 meters apart, and 2.5 meters high. In 2009 it

5782-537: The Mexican border to the Verde River in the north. There appears to have been an elite class, as well as an increase in social status for craftsman. Platform mounds similar to those in central Mexico appear, and may be associated with an upper class and have some religious function. Trade items from the Mexican heartland included copper bells, mosaics, stone mirrors, and ornate birds such as macaws. This period

5900-420: The Mogollon from their Anasazi and Hohokam neighbors. Haury's research in the area allowed him to be one of the first archaeologists to definitively give the Mogollon a chronological sequence. The sequences Haury established were: Early Pit House Period (200–550 C.E ), Late Pit House Period (550–1000 C.E.), and Classic Mimbres Period (1000–1130 C.E.). Haury's research and findings were paramount when establishing

6018-496: The Mogollon. After becoming increasingly uncomfortable with Cummings' perspective on archaeology Haury looked for other opportunities. In 1929 he began to work for A. E. Douglass . It was in 1929 along with Douglass and several other archaeologists that a tree ring sample was uncovered in Show Low, Arizona . It was this tree ring which helped in establishing a missing link in the ability to use tree rings as dating markers, and

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6136-511: The Soho or early in the Civano phases, from 1277 to 1325 CE. At this time, Los Hornos, now centered on Hardy Dr south of US 60 and north of Baseline Road, consisted of about 15 residential compounds, a large central plaza, a large rectangular platform mound with an associated compound, several large trash mounds, and numerous borrow pits and inhumation and cremation cemeteries. Prior to the middle of

6254-565: The Southwest Archaeology Team (SWAT). The SWAT's indispensable volunteer work at the Mesa Grande ruin began in the middle 1990s and continues today. At its peak in the late Preclassic and early Classic periods, this settlement may have consisted of as many as 20 discrete residential areas and covered several hundred acres. Today, due to massive urban development, the surface remains of the village have been reduced to

6372-537: The Suwu'Ki O'odham, or "Vulture People". Eusebio Francesco Chini (Father Kino) arrived in the middle Gila River valley in 1694 to find the monumental great house abandoned and already in a state of decay and decomposition. Despite its condition, later Jesuit missionaries and he used the great house to hold Mass , between the late 17th and 18th centuries. Adolph Bandelier provided one of the first detailed archaeological maps and descriptions of Classic period architecture at

6490-609: The Tucson basin during the early Formative Period. Throughout the Hohokam Chronological Sequence, individual homes were usually excavated approximately 40 cm (16 in) below ground level, had plastered or compacted floors of 12 to 35 m , and had a bowl-shaped, clay-lined hearth near the wall-entry. By 600 CE, a distinct Hohokam architectural tradition emerged that had similarities with Mesoamerica, such as ballcourts that also served as neighborhood gathering and trade spaces. By 1150 CE, pithouses were replaced by above-ground structures in

6608-576: The central locus, or Compound A, of the Casa Grande site, in 1884. Jesse Walter Fewkes and Cosmos Mindeleff made further descriptions of this area. Between 1906 and 1912, Fewkes conducted excavations and stabilization of this portion of the site. In 1927, Harold Gladwin excavated stratified tests of several trash mounds at both the Grewe and Casa Grande sites. He also defined and excavated portions of Sacaton 9:6 (GP), an adobe-walled compound situated on

6726-613: The compound style with central courtyards. By 1200 CE, rectangular platforms mounds were being constructed. Hohokam burial practices varied over time, but cremation was a defining cultural characteristic of the Hohokam Core. Cremation has been used by archaeologists to suggest cultural interaction through trade or immigration with neighboring communities. An example is the Mogollan, at the Continental site in Tucson. Initially,

6844-470: The definition of the Mogollon culture. Much of Haury's work was conducted in the most famous Mogollon area, the Mimbres Valley of New Mexico. Early research in the area focused on the ceramics that made the valley famous, while ignoring the underlying structures and pottery types. It was Haury who, starting in the 1930s with Gila Pueblo, began to identify and understand the timeline and uniqueness of

6962-408: The design and manufacture of jewelry reached its zenith during this phase. Other important developments were the significant increased procurement and manufacture of red ware, and the near-universal use of inhumation burial in the area north of the Gila River, both similar to the practices and traditions used by the historic O'odham. Immediately after 1300 CE, Hohokam villages were reorganized along

7080-564: The east and southeast. At the height of the Preclassic occupation in the Sacaton phase, which was contemporary with the zenith of Snaketown, this settlement had one large ball court, a large central plaza, several formal cremation cemeteries, numerous trash mounds, and several hundred residential pithouses. The detailed excavation of 50 Preclassic period pithouses in the area located immediately south of US 60 and east of Priest Dr, provided invaluable information concerning residential architecture and

7198-492: The example found at the Casa Grande Ruins National Monument . Additionally, evidence of Hohokam influence in a broader context decreased significantly. This phase was initially proposed as part of the Gladwinian scheme, but recently has fallen out of favor with many Hohokam archaeologists. The primary reason for this view is that the Hohokam buff ware type once classified as Santan red-on-buff

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7316-549: The excavations by Frank Hamilton Cushing at Los Muertos , a Hohokam site in Arizona . One of Haury's passions that lasted throughout his career was the presence of Paleoindians in the Southwest. He conducted several excavations at Paleoindian sites and subsequently wrote several papers on the subject. In 1926 Pleistocene megafauna hunting in the Southwest was proven by the discoveries at Folsom, New Mexico . That same year Haury alongside Cummings began excavations at Whitewater Draw in southeastern Arizona where they excavated

7434-474: The extreme edge of the Casa Grande site, east of State Route 87, near the current entrance to the monument. Relatively large-scale excavations were carried out between 1930 and 1931, by Van Bergen-Los Angeles Museum Expedition under the direction of Arthur Woodward and Irwin Hayden. This project concentrated on a 30-acre (120,000 m ) parcel at the Grewe site, and Compound F located within the northeast corner of

7552-439: The first ceramics appear just before the Hohokam rise in 300 CE. Some archaeologists interpret the sudden appearance of pottery as new trade or immigration into the Phoenix area, resulting in the rise of the Hohokam. Other archaeologists classify many of the defining, cultural characteristics as already within the indigenous farming communities by Hohokam rise. Hence, pottery helps to fuel the controversy over Hohokam origins. It

7670-402: The first field experiences came in 1925. That year he was apprenticed to Byron Cummings , A.E. Douglass , and Harold Gladwin where their major work occurred at Cuicuilco right outside of Mexico City . It was at this time that he became one of Cummings' (who was at the time the acting university president) most important assistants. It was through connections made through Cummings that Haury

7788-470: The first reports on Snaketown in the 1930s. In 1964 Haury began his reexamination which led to the publication in 1976 of one of the most influential works on the Hohokam, The Hohokam, Desert Farmers & Craftsmen: Excavations at Snaketown, 1964–1965 . Arguably Haury's most important contribution to the archaeology of the American Southwest was his work in establishing a timeline and refining

7906-643: The functional use of interior space. Additional information concerning the Archaeological Consulting Services Ltd. excavation of a Preclassic occupation at Los Hornos can be found at the following site. After a short period of population loss and community reorganization in the late 11th and early 12th centuries CE, Los Hornos continued to shift east and south in the Classic period. This large village appears to have recovered somewhat and again became an important settlement late in

8024-604: The geographic setting of their manufacture, and are referred to as Gila (Gila River basin), Wingfield (Agua Fria basin, the Northern Periphery, or Lower Verde area), Piestewa Peak (Phoenix metro area north of the Salt River), South Mountain (Phoenix metro area south of the Salt River), or Salt (Salt or Verde River basins) Plain and Red wares. The surfaces of Plain wares were smoothed to some extent and many were polished, or slipped, with other minerals or clays. After

8142-405: The great house and the associated prehistoric ruins found north of Coolidge were collectively referred to as Sivan Vah'Ki , literally meaning the "Abandoned House", or "Village of the king/chieftain", respectively. As Frank Russell recorded in the early 20th century, several O'odham oral traditions note that Sial Teu-utak was an important leader of the Casa Grande community, before the overthrow of

8260-762: The group that was to define the Hohokam culture. Thus, it helped Haury in eventually defining the Mogollon culture . With the assistance and support from Gladwin, Haury was able to conduct large amounts of field research and publish reports. The 1930s was a time of plenty for Haury and when some of his most famous research was conducted. Some of the excavations he conducted included the Tusayan Ruins , Canyon Creek Ruin , Mogollon, and Harris Village , and arguably his most famous research at Snaketown . Between his extensive work with Gila Pueblo, Haury also managed to earn his PhD from Harvard. His dissertation dealt with

8378-418: The largest and most important Hohokam population centers. At its height, the Grewe-Casa Grande village boosted about 100 trash mounds, several hundred residential pithouses, and four or five ballcourts. Regardless of its size, complexity, and significance along the middle Gila River, this settlement never seemed to have attained the status enjoyed by Snaketown, as it pertained to the Hohokam culture, per se . As

8496-529: The largest and most important prehistoric villages, towns, and cities found within the so-called Hohokam core area. Snaketown was the archetypical Preclassic period settlement and preeminent community centered within the core of the Hohokam culture area. Today, Snaketown is situated within the Hohokam Pima National Monument , located near Santan, Arizona , which was authorized by Congress on October 21, 1972. Excavations conducted in

8614-643: The lines experienced in the Lower Verde, Tonto Basin , and Safford Basin, in the 13th century. These compounds were composed of a large, rectangular exterior wall that partially (sometimes completely) enclosed a series of adjacent courtyards and plazas separated by partition walls. In turn, each courtyard may have contained one to four large, rectangular, adobe-walled pitrooms, possibly associated with several utility structures. Overall, these communities were characterized by relatively compact clusters of 5 to 25 adobe-walled compounds, which tended to be grouped around

8732-501: The long sides, are unsuited for any kind of ball game . However, they correspond with dance floors of the Tohono O'odham (Papago) people, used for their Vikita ceremonies until at least the 1930s. Snaketown's pottery was generally homogeneous during the periods of its occupation. However, most specialists agree that pottery samples contain elements implying the presence two different, but probably related groups, over time. Snaketown

8850-546: The main method was flexed inhumation, similar to the southern Mogollon culture neighboring to the east. By the late Formative and Preclassic periods, the Hohokam cremated their dead, very similar to the traditions documented among the historic Patayan culture to the west along the Lower Colorado River. Although the particulars of the practice changed somewhat, cremation remained the main practice in Hohokam until around 1300 CE. Hohokam chronological sequence (HCS)

8968-528: The mammoth bones. Also a hearth was discovered. Lehner Ranch became another one of Haury's seminal works in Southwestern Paleoindian archaeology. Haury's work with the Hohokam began in 1930 when he joined Gila Pueblo. There were many questions surrounding discoveries in southern Arizona beginning with A.V. Kidder in the early 20th century to Harold and Winifred Gladwin 's work up through 1930s. One of Haury's first projects after becoming

9086-487: The modern city of Coolidge, Arizona. Most observers are attracted to the four-story great house found near the center of the Casa Grande Ruins National Monument . Akimel O'odham oral tradition records that before the appearance of the Coyote People appeared, this massive structure was built by an important chieftain called Sial Teu-utak Sivan, (turqoise Leader) or "Chief Turquoise". In the ancient hohokam language,

9204-466: The most influential factor on the society. Despite cultural exchange at trade centers, self-sufficiency and local resources were emphasized. In modern-day Phoenix , the Hohokam are recognized for their large-scale irrigation networks. Their canal network in the Phoenix metropolitan area was the most complex in the pre-contact Western Hemisphere. A portion of the ancient canals has been renovated for

9322-399: The name, including Hobokam, Huhugam, and Huhukam. The spellings are commonly thought to be interchangeable, but they have different meanings. In the 1930s, archaeologist Harold S. Gladwin differentiated Hohokam culture from others in the region. He applied the existing O'odham term for the culture, huhu-kam , in its common mistranslation as "all used up" or "those who are gone", to classify

9440-425: The nearby fields in which beans, maize and squash were grown. The Hohokam practiced cremation, and the expedition excavated up to eight areas which could have been used as crematoria. Industries producing pottery and shell jewellery also existed and the settlement had trade links with Mesoamerican societies, evidenced by copper bells and figurines. Most archaeological excavations have been backfilled to protect

9558-419: The neighboring Mogollon pueblo people, but were larger in size and made with a more shallow depression. The oval shaped fields at Snaketown were identified as ballcourts at the time of excavation. Each was about 60 metres (200 ft) long, 33 metres (108 ft) apart, and 2.5 metres (8.2 ft) high. In 2009 it was suggested that the shape of an oval bowl with curved sides, and the uneven embankments on

9676-749: The north and the east. Between 1350 and 1375 CE, the Hohokam tradition lost vitality and stability, and many of the largest settlements were abandoned. Climate change apparently greatly affected Hohokam agriculture and so dispersed its large communities. Repeated floods in the mid-14th century greatly deepened the Salt River bed and destroyed canal heads, which required their continuous extension upstream. Soon, additional flooding removed irreplaceable segments of these extensions, which effectively rendered hundreds of miles of canals virtually useless. Because of differences in hydrology and geomorphology , these processes had less impact on Hohokam irrigation systems in

9794-523: The pottery type that characterized this phase was Salado polychrome , primarily Gila polychrome. This ceramic type was either manufactured locally or procured as a trade ware. This phase also had the introduction the comal , similar to examples found in northern Mexico, and the production of bird-shaped effigy vessels. Examples of exotic stone and shell artifacts associated with high-status individuals – such as nose plugs, pendants, ear rings, bracelets, necklaces, and sophisticated shell inlays – indicate that

9912-412: The presence of significantly large late Preclassic and early Classic period components within the area covered by the monument. Yet, by far the largest and most comprehensive archaeological endeavor was conducted by Northland Research Inc., from 1995 to 1997, on a 13-acre (53,000 m ) parcel within portions of the Casa Grande, Grewe, and Horvath sites that paralleled State Routes 87 and 287. This project

10030-516: The recession of Roosevelt Lake. Working for Gila Pueblo alongside the Gladwins, Haury published an extensive and detailed report of the findings. This report along with those published by the Gladwins, were important in the establishment of ceramic typologies, burial techniques, and lifeways of the Hohokam. By the 1960s there was a lot of controversy surrounding the Hohokam and where they fit or didn't fit chronologically. Haury decided then to re-visit

10148-678: The region, with goods traveling throughout the Colorado Plateau , northern Arizona, and the Phoenix area. Hohokam irrigation systems supported the largest population in the Southwest by 1300 CE. Archaeologists working at a major archaeological dig in the 1990s in the Tucson Basin, along the Santa Cruz River, identified a culture and people that may have been the ancestors of the Hohokam. This prehistoric group may have occupied southern Arizona as early as 2000 BCE, and in

10266-419: The relatively sudden and widespread abandonment or relocation of many Hohokam villages and a short-lived population decline. Vast internal changes, the rejection of the Hohokam ballcourt system, and the peripheries' displaying overt indications of belligerence towards the core area, followed by their cultural realignment, suggests that this was a very important episode. The diagnostic ceramic type for this phase

10384-683: The remains of several low trash mounds found in the Old Guadalupe Village Cemetery. Emil Haury Emil Walter "Doc" Haury (May 2, 1904 in Newton, Kansas – December 5, 1992 in Tucson, Arizona ) was an American archaeologist who specialized in the archaeology of the American Southwest . He is most famous for his work at Snaketown , a Hohokam site in Arizona . Emil was the youngest of four children born to Professor Gustav A. Haury and Clara K. Ruth Haury. Gustav

10502-474: The remains that he was excavating in the Lower Gila Valley . Similarly, in the 1970s, archaeologist Hardy translated the O'odham word huhugam to mean "that which has perished." However, huhugam refers to past human life and not to objects such as ruins. Therefore, the archaeological term Hohokam should not be confused with huhugam , the reverence of ancestors and descendants. Hohokam society

10620-612: The role of Director of the Arizona State Museum, which he held until 1964. The Arizona State Museum Library & Archives currently holds the Emil Haury Papers in its collections . Even after retiring, Haury kept an office at the University of Arizona and went there almost every weekday for most of the rest of his life. Throughout his career Haury published many papers and several books on archaeology and

10738-473: The sandy soil fertile by channeling water from the local river through a series of man-made canals . Woven mat dams were used to channel river water into the canals. The canals were generally shallow and wide, reaching up to ten miles in length. Most of the population lived in pit houses , carefully dug rectangular depressions in the earth with branch and mud adobe walls supported by log sized corner posts. These pit houses were similar to those constructed by

10856-560: The site for future research. However, a scale model of the original Snaketown community is held at the Heard Museum in Phoenix, while artifacts from excavations are housed in the Arizona State Museum . Winifred and Harold Gladwin began the intensive study of Hohokam culture with the help of Emil Haury. They eventually founded a research organization entitled “The Gila Pueblo Archaeological Foundation” that focused on

10974-408: The site was generally thought to be inhabited between 300  BCE and 1200 CE. Hohokam is an O’odham word meaning “those who have gone.” Specifically who the Hohokam people were and when the site was inhabited is subject to debate. This site is a significant example of the Hohokam culture , which lived in the broader area from about 1 CE until approximately 1500 CE. Snaketown, contained in

11092-425: The subject. Martin and Plog belong to the first group and Haury belongs to the second. The second group argues that these features the first group believes came from Mexico were developed locally. While there is much dispute on the origin of Snaketown, most scholars are able to agree that Hohokam culture peaked between 700 and 900 CE. Snaketown derives its name from another O’odham word meaning “place of snakes” and

11210-541: The time. As irrigation grew, the Hohokam people continued to prosper. They began to grow new crops such as agave and tobacco and, although maize farmers, they most likely subsidized their diet with small amounts of hunting and gathering . As Snaketown grew in size between 975 and 1150 CE, an additional ball court was built. Some scholars believe the ball courts may have promoted trade or competition between communities or segments of communities. A number of status symbols and trading pieces were found at Snaketown, indicating

11328-464: The track of the adjacent Valley Metro light-rail construction. The Mesa Grande ruin, located in Mesa, Arizona, represents another large Hohokam village that was occupied both in the Preclassic and Classic periods, from around 200 to 1450 CE. Although this settlement appears to have been very important, it has had little archaeological work, other than the mapping and stabilization projects conducted by

11446-459: The vessels were fired, these sometimes turned a color that ranged from light or dark brown, gray, to orange. Later, the interiors of bowls were slipped with a black carbonous material. Hohokam Red wares were slipped with an iron-based pigment that turned red after the vessel was fired. The manufacture of decorated Hohokam pottery was similar to that of the Plain wares. However, the clays tended to be of

11564-421: The western portion of this settlement grew, large sections of the eastern half declined and were abandoned. By 1300 CE, the village was composed of about 19 adobe-walled residential compounds, several pitroom clusters, a platform mound, a great house, and numerous trash mounds. With most of the village contained within what is now the Casa Grande Ruins National Monument, after the middle of the 14th century, it began

11682-459: Was Casa Grande red-on-buff. This Hohokam buff ware was characterized exclusively by jars with necks, decorated with a limited variety of geometric and textual designs. This pottery type appears to have been manufactured at several locales in the Gila River basin between Florence and Sacaton, Arizona . There was a major cultural retraction of territory, and two significant episodes of reorganization. The first reorganization occurred around 1150 CE and

11800-639: Was a professor at Bethel College a Mennonite college in Newton. When they were both six, Emil Haury met his future first wife, Hulda Penner, when she and her family visited Newton from a nearby Mennonite community. After graduating high school in 1923, Emil then attended the University of Arizona where he earned his bachelor's degree in 1927 and his M.A. in 1928. It was during the 1928–29 school year that he earned his first teaching position. In 1934 Haury earned his PhD from Harvard University . One of

11918-493: Was also a critical figure in the chronology of the Hohokam because of his work in establishing a timeline for the Pioneer period Hohokam. Haury was also a proponent of the idea that the Hohokam had contact with Mesoamerica . The Roosevelt 9:6 site was a Colonial Period Hohokam site near the Salt River north of Globe, Arizona . The site came to the attention of archaeologists when pottery sherds and cremations were exposed by

12036-634: Was also influenced by the Northern Pueblo culture. Hohokam settlements were located on trade routes that extended past the Hohokam area, as far east as the Great Plains and west to the Pacific coast. Hohokam societies received a remarkable amount of immigration. Some communities established significant markets, such as that in Snaketown . The harshness of the Sonoran Desert may have been

12154-463: Was another site excavated around the same time as Mogollon Village. The site is located in the town of Mimbres, New Mexico near the Mimbres River about 75 miles south of Mogollon Village. Thirty-four houses were excavated with variation in shape, and function (domestic, ceremonial, storage). After the excavation and analysis of these two sites Haury was able to establish a housing typology for

12272-572: Was attributed to the Cochise culture while upper layers were attributed to more recent inhabitants. The impact of the work done by Haury and others at Vetnana cave helped in the understanding of Paleoindians in the Southwest. In April 1952, Haury excavated the Naco Mammoth Kill Site near Naco, Arizona , finding the fossilized bones of a mammoth that had been killed by at least 8 Clovis points about 10,000 years ago. The Naco site

12390-496: Was deserted around 1100 CE while Fagan uses the later dates of 1150–1450. Several texts maintain that its population increased until the dispersal of its population. The dispersal could have occurred quickly and violently, as the archaeological record indicates the burning of many buildings at the same time. In 1865, the United States Cavalry created Camp McDowell in the general vicinity of Snaketown. In 1867,

12508-545: Was directed by Douglass Craig, and resulted in the identification and/or excavation of 247 pithouses, 24 pitrooms, 866 pits, 11 canal alignments, a ballcourt, and portions of four adobe-walled compounds, as well as the recovery of 158 burials and over 400,000 artifacts. Based on the results of these projects, the history of the greater Grewe-Casa Grande site can be reconstructed with at least some degree of precision. The genesis of this important village appears to have been associated with several groups of pithouses organized around

12626-617: Was embellished by the addition of an iron-stained slip , which produced a distinctive red-on-buff ware. Further population increase brought significant changes. Irrigation canals and structures became larger and required more maintenance. More land came under cultivation, and Southwestern pigweed was grown. House design evolved into post-reinforced pit-houses , covered with caliche adobe . Rancheria-like villages grew up around common courtyards , with evidence of increased communal activity. Large common ovens were used to cook bread and meat. Crafts were greatly refined. By about 1000 CE ,

12744-559: Was first excavated in 1934 by the Gila Pueblo Foundation , under the direction of Harold S. Gladwin . Between 1964–1965, a second excavation was led by Emil Haury , assistant director of Gila Pueblo, with assistance from E.B. Sayles, Erik K. Reed, and Irwin and Julian Hayden. The two expeditions discovered that the site contained more than sixty midden mounds. A central plaza and two oval shaped fields were surrounded by pit houses, and an elaborate irrigation system fed

12862-586: Was in attendance at the first Pecos Conference in 1927. In 1928 the New York stockbroker turned archaeologist Harold Gladwin along with Winifred McCurdy started the Gila Pueblo Archaeological Foundation . In 1930 Haury became the assistant director at Gila Pueblo. During his time with Gila he was able to expand his work throughout Arizona and New Mexico . It was through this extensive research that Haury became part of

12980-691: Was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. The site is owned by the Gila River Indian Community , which has decided not to open the area to the public. There is no public access to the Hohokam Pima National Monument. The museum at the nearby Casa Grande Ruins National Monument , in Coolidge, Arizona , contains artifacts from Snaketown. The Huhugam Heritage Center also has exhibits on tribal history and archaeology. Definitive dates are not clear, but

13098-539: Was once thought that Hohokam pottery material varied by location, since communities used local resources. Recently, studies on the temper revealed a variety of origins where pottery was manufactured and traded. Several palettes, from different periods, were found in the Gila Bend Region. This is evidence that the Hohokam stayed in one area for a long time. Hohokam ceramics are defined by a distinct Plain, Red, and Decorated buffware tradition, and were made using

13216-409: Was recorded as several separate archaeological sites. These include the Casa Grande, Grewe, Vahki Inn Village, and Horvath sites. Occupied in the Preclassic and Classic periods, each of these sites was composed of between two and 20 large residential areas. Overall, the greater Grewe-Casa Grande archaeological site covered about 900 acres (3.6 km ), centered on State Route 87 and immediately north of

13334-712: Was some of the latest archaeology done in Snaketown, as it was declared a national monument in 1972 and reburied by the Pima people for preservation purposes. The records for the Gila Pueblo Archaeological Foundation are held by the Arizona State Museum Library & Archives. It is not particularly clear what caused the abandonment of Snaketown around 1100 CE. Haury cites over-irrigation leading to soil depletion as

13452-525: Was suggested that the shape of an oval bowl with curved sides and the uneven embankments on the long sides are unsuited for any kind of ball game. On the other hand, they correspond perfectly with dance floors of the Papagos , used for their Vikita ceremonies until at least the 1930s. Snaketown houses were shallow pit houses. There were hearths, small clay lined basins near the doorways. These houses were home to small groups of extended families Snaketown

13570-563: Was the first Clovis mammoth kill association to be identified. The Lehner Ranch site is a mammoth kill site in the San Pedro Valley in Cochise County in southeast Arizona. In 1952 Haury began investigating an arroyo where a rancher, Edward F. Lehner, had observed bones sticking out from a deep layer. These bones were identified as mammoth bones. After excavating several projectile points were found in situ with

13688-466: Was the watershed moment in dendrochronology . This discovery then allowed for archaeological sites in the Southwest to be more accurately dated. In 1937 Haury went back to the University of Arizona to head the Department of Archaeology. To broaden the scope of the department Haury changed the name to the Department of Anthropology. As well as holding his position at the university, Haury also took on

13806-401: Was thought to have been owned by the entire community, but families probably maintained the rights to plots of land. People who aided in the building of the canals may have received first pick of the land. The more affluent would own larger plots of land and were therefore rationed larger portions of water to maintain them. Housing of Hohokam people varies according to status, time and sources. It

13924-430: Was typified by a modest increase in population and near-universal adoption of pitroom architecture. These early pitrooms were built of perishable material covered with a thick adobe plaster, and the basal portion of the interior walls was often lined with upright slabs. Similar to the Preclassic period villages, these early Classic period homes were clustered around open courtyards. These courtyard groups were clustered near

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