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88-713: Most archaeologists believe the Oʼodham to be descended from the Hohokam , although some argue that one group invaded the other's territory. As of the late 1600s, Oʼodham rancherías in the Santa Cruz River Valley included: The Oʼodham language , variously called Oʼodham ñeʼokĭ , Oʼodham ñiʼokĭ or Oʼotham ñiok, is spoken by all Oʼodham groups. There are certain dialectal differences, but they are mutually intelligible and all Oʼodham groups can understand one another. Lexicographical differences have arisen among

176-413: 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

264-669: 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

352-528: 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

440-483: 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

528-505: 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,

616-502: 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

704-679: 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

792-535: 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

880-561: 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

968-481: 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

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1056-589: 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

1144-434: 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

1232-423: 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

1320-538: 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

1408-577: 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

1496-492: 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

1584-783: Is located on Arizona Archives Online . From the Gila Pueblo, the Gladwins conducted research on Southwestern prehistory for over twenty years before donating the facility to the University of Arizona in 1951. In the years while they conducted their research, Harold Gladwin and his wife traveled throughout the Southwest conducting numerous excavations at sites such as: Snaketown , near Phoenix, Casa Grande, Flagstaff, Chaco Canyon , and various places throughout Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Texas. Through their numerous excavations,

1672-520: 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

1760-515: 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

1848-442: 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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1936-675: The Arizona State Museum in Tucson. Gladwin kept publishing on various important archaeological topics throughout his life, up until 1975. Some of his most read works include: Tree Ring Analysis, The Eastern Range of the Red-On-Buff Culture, A Review and Analysis of the Flagstaff Culture, Men out of Asia, Excavations at Snaketown : Material Culture, and The Chaco Branch Excavations at White Mound and in

2024-589: The Gila Pueblo Archaeological Foundation over the remains of a pueblo that the two had excavated together. As work in the area grew, the Gladwins began to move around the Southwest in search of clues about the origins of the prehistoric inhabitants. The Arizona State Museum Library & Archives holds the records to the Gila Pueblo Archaeological Foundation. The finding aid for this collection

2112-765: 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 the region, with goods traveling throughout the Colorado Plateau , northern Arizona, and

2200-611: 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 the name, including Hobokam, Huhugam, and Huhukam. The spellings are commonly thought to be interchangeable, but they have different meanings. In

2288-663: The Red Mesa . Of these publications, Tree Ring Analysis was revised and republished many times by Gladwin, as he would argue with the methods of other archaeologists, or learn more detail into the art of tree ring dating. Particularly in his 1946 publication on the problems of tree ring dating, Gladwin used his own data from the Gila Basin to dispute dates that A.E. Douglass had prescribed to certain archaeological evidence. While Gladwin consistently sought out information that prescribed to his own view of dendrochronology, to this day, he

2376-641: 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

2464-463: 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,

2552-591: 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 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,

2640-681: 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

2728-631: 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

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2816-575: 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,

2904-587: 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

2992-529: 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

3080-505: 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

3168-578: 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 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,

3256-683: 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 the most influential factor on the society. Despite cultural exchange at trade centers, self-sufficiency and local resources were emphasized. In modern-day Phoenix ,

3344-678: The Hohokam culture. After having a chance meeting with the descendants of this culture in 1927, Gladwin wanted to find the roots of these people that the Pima referred to as Hohokam, or “those who had gone.” Finding that these people had left little behind in terms of their modes of travel and pathways, Gladwin found difficulty in locating clues to their culture while he was in the Gila Basin. After visiting numerous prehistoric sites (in his own words, thousands of sites ), Gladwin and his colleagues decided upon Snaketown as their focal point for excavations into this culture. The team decided that this site would be

3432-454: 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

3520-537: 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

3608-756: The New World from Asia also gained attention. Born in New York City in 1883, Gladwin worked in the city as a stockbroker from 1908 to 1922, his first successful career. However, in 1922 he decided to move west to California, and there he began work at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History , taking a special interest in the mutations of butterflies. Gladwin's interest in insects was soon replaced with an interest in American archaeology and, by 1924, he had become friends with A.V. Kidder ,

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3696-804: 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 the Early Agricultural Period grew corn, lived year-round in sedentary villages, and developed sophisticated irrigation canals. The Hohokam used

3784-511: 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

3872-565: 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

3960-537: 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

4048-639: The Tohono Oʼodham or Desert Pima, enrolled in the Tohono Oʼodham Nation . Hohokam Hohokam ( / h oʊ h oʊ ˈ k ɑː m / ) was a culture in the North American Southwest in what is now part of south-central Arizona , United States, and Sonora , Mexico. It existed between 300 and 1500 CE, with cultural precursors possibly as early as 300 BCE. Archaeologists disagree about whether communities that practiced

4136-556: 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

4224-540: The archaeological community of its importance. Taking into account the rapid increase of information about Southwestern cultures and the increase in accuracy of dating methods, Gladwin admitted that he and his team originally had made some judgments and suppositions incompatible with the current criteria of now eleven years later. This publication exemplifies Gladwin's commitment to the field of archaeology, for in his publications he typically admitted where he had gone wrong, and where he needed to keep an open mind in his work. It

4312-576: The archaeological term Hohokam should not be confused with huhugam , the reverence of ancestors and descendants. Hohokam society 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

4400-576: 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

4488-613: 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,

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4576-562: The culture were related or politically united. According to local oral tradition, Hohokam societies may be the ancestors of the historic Akimel and Tohono Oʼodham in Southern Arizona . The origin of the culture is debated. Most archaeologists either argue it emerged locally or in Mesoamerica , but it was also influenced by the Northern Pueblo culture. Hohokam settlements were located on trade routes that extended past

4664-408: 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

4752-465: The different groups, especially in reference to newer technologies and innovations. The Pima Alto or Upper Pima groups were subdivided by scholars on the basis of cultural, economic and linguistic differences into two main groupings: One was known commonly as the Pima or River Pima . Since the late 20th century, they have been called by their own name, or endonym: Akimel Oʼotham The other peoples are

4840-641: 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 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

4928-564: 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

5016-492: 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

5104-474: 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

5192-439: 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

5280-643: 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

5368-604: 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

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5456-405: 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

5544-699: The greater Hohokam Regional System, which occupied the northern or Upper Sonoran Desert in Arizona . The Hohokam also extended into 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;

5632-418: 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

5720-529: 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

5808-643: 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

5896-546: 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)

5984-487: 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,

6072-564: The most rewarding, for it had been relatively untouched by others, especially looters. The excavation began in 1934, and the first results were published four years later. In the first publication, Gladwin and his team took a special interest in the various types of pottery, figurines, stone tools, and shells, and the reference to each time period that they could identify. This site remained a focus for Gladwin for years to come, and he reevaluated his results and republished his works on this site many times in order to better comprehend and better inform

6160-749: 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

6248-429: The noted archaeologist of the Southwestern United States; from this point on, Gladwin's work was in archaeology. Taking special interest in pottery sherds and other refuse, Gladwin began to piece together theories on Hohokam culture as he excavated Casa Grande in 1927 in Arizona. Finding that the local Hohokam red-on-buff pottery artifacts were mixed with polychromes of the Salado Culture, Gladwin wondered how and why

6336-523: 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

6424-412: 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

6512-419: 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

6600-801: The remains of several low trash mounds found in the Old Guadalupe Village Cemetery. Harold S. Gladwin Harold Sterling Gladwin (1883–1983 ) was an American archaeologist , anthropologist , and stockbroker . Harold Sterling Gladwin was an early twentieth century archaeologist that specialized in Southwestern archaeology of the United States. He also was known for his excavations at Snaketown, Arizona , in which he accomplished several publications on this topic; his theories on migration to

6688-464: 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

6776-408: The two came up with a new “method for designation of cultures,” which included taking a look at the current linguistic “stocks” of the area and, through a system of roots stems, branches, phases, and terms, putting these “stocks” into a context of patterns of the Southwestern region. Arguably Gladwin's most famous excavations took place outside Phoenix at a place called Snaketown , which delved into

6864-600: The two distinctive pottery types were together with no evidence for conflict between the Hohokam cultures of the Gila Basin and the Salado cultures of the Tonto Basin. Gladwin's excavations in southern Arizona helped to renew an interest in this area that had been nearly forgotten since Frank Cushing had done his own excavations there in the late nineteenth century. In 1928, Harold and his future wife, Winifred, founded

6952-459: 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

7040-535: 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 a few feet per mile, balancing erosion and siltation. The Hohokam cultivated varieties of cotton, tobacco, maize, beans , and squash , and harvested

7128-421: 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

7216-459: 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

7304-545: 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

7392-617: 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 ,

7480-539: 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

7568-409: 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

7656-508: Was through his constant revisions and republications that Gladwin was able to help decipher the lost culture of the Hohokam. The Snaketown excavations are now protected by the Hohokam Pima National Monument . Most of the archaeological excavations were backfilled to protect the site for future research. A scale model of the original Snaketown community is held at the Heard Museum in Phoenix, while artifacts from excavations are housed in

7744-430: 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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