The Hohokam
Ancient Masters of the Desert
The Hohokam was identified by archaeologists is a cultural sequence in the archaeological record in Sonoran Desert of southern Arizona from the years approximately 300 B.C. and 1450 A.D.
Hohokam is comes from the O'odham – the contemporary Native American Inhabitants of Southern Arizona- language's Huhugam meaning"those who have gone". While researchers believe that the Hohokam may have occupied southern Arizona as early as 2000 B.C. Starting as hunters and gatherers in the region, the Hohokam/Huhugam eventually developed cultural feats such sophisticated canal technology, long lasting art, and permanent settlements sites for archaeologists to find today.
Engineering Feats
Village Courtyard Culture
The evidence of many Hohokam villages lies buried under urban development where they coincide with Arizona's most major cities Tucson and Phoenix.
The images displayed above are excavation and aerial maps of the Hohokam Site known as Snaketown, located south of Phoenix, Arizona . Hohokam villages were designed as several courtyards with surrounding living quarters where extended matriarchal families are thought to have inhabited.
Hohokam early settlements consisted of clusters of subterranean pithouses often referred to by archaeologists as "In-pit Houses." These structures were built to step into an excellently-insulated adobe structure, safe from the harsh desert extremes.
The Image to the left is of Hohokam pithouse consisting of a stepped entrance, plastered walls, polished caliche floor, and a number of artifacts. This pithouse is one from the Hardy Site in Tucson, Arizona.
Settlements existing between approximately A.D. 800 and A.D. 1100 were found to have what archaeologists identify as ballcourts, similar to the ballcourts of Ancient Mesoamerica. Influenced through a sophisticated trade network, the Hohokam likely utilized these oval depressions for public gatherings and games played with a ball made from the rubber of a plant native to the Chihuahuan Desert, the guayule.
The image to the left is part of the Arizona State Museum's collection showing the western portion of Snaketown's Ballcourt I during a 1935 excavation.
Overtime the people in the Hohokam region started building their settlements as aboveground compounds. After A.D. 1150 settlements existed within protective walls that consisted of platform mounds, courtyards and several adjoining rooms.
Pictured the the right are Hohokam Ruins of Casa Grande National Monument, NPS.
Prehistoric Petroglyphs
The rock art dotted throughout southern Arizona is attributed to the Hohokam people. Petroglyphs were created by the Hohokam through etching, pecking or scraping designs into the dark patina found on the surface of rock and cliff faces. Most southwestern rock art precedes modern written history and had it's origins hundreds, perhaps thousands, of years ago
The distinctive Hohokam style consists of a number of symbols both seemingly abstract and also reminiscent of local life.
Abstract etchings adorn rockfaces throughout the Sonoran Desert. These abstract petroglyphs include spiral symbology that are still being interpreted by visitors in their original locations.
Visitors to the Sonoran Desert may visit these petroglyphs like Sears Cliff at Gila Bend.
Many images are often found to be interpreted as animals, humans, and possibly astrological objects.
To the left, are various animal and human petroglyphs that encircle a spring area. The location is a panorama of the Salt River Valley, where dozens of Hohokam villages and hundreds of miles of hand-dug canals lie under the asphalt of Phoenix proper.
Mapping the Ancient
As GIS is a terrific tool for an array of different fields, it is also ideal for Anthropology and Archaeology as well. While Indigenous origins and culture are breaking into mainstream, the data that represents these populations are not as available as they ought to be. For the purpose of creating data, below is the beginnings of a map plotting locations of known Hohokam sites amongst the burgeoning modern metropolises of the Desert Southwest.
Hohokam Sites and Artifacts
Hohokam Ancestral Masters of the Desert
The archaeological record of the Hohokam (i.e. Huhugam) diminishes after 1450 A.D. Evidence of extreme drought and storm damage to the Hohokam's extensive canal irrigation systems. As scientists still seek the answers to this extensive society's' demise, the descendants of the Hohokam remain in Arizona as fellow community members and neighbors. Despite the ravages of Colonial expansion of the Spanish, Mexican, and American governments, the Hohokam traditions persist through modern day First Nations such as Tohono O'odham (Papago), Akimel O'odham, Hopi, Zuni and Yuma. Recognizing native cultures, their past, and relating these aspects to the modern world an integral part of healing the land and furthering growth in the Sonoran Desert. This Storymap is one step towards using visual data through GIS technology in order to aid in this endeavor.
