Introduction to the Hohokam

The prehistoric Hohokam cultural tradition spanned 45,000 square miles in the desert basins of south central Arizona. One of the major subdivisions of archaeological cultures in the southwestern United States, the Hohokam tradition is distinguished by pottery with red painted designs on buff, brown, or gray pottery. Preceded for more than 1500 years by farming societies without pottery and later with plain and redwares, Hohokam styles appeared during the first few centuries of the Christian era. The demise of the Hohokam tradition after A.D. 1450 and the transition to Piman-speaking groups who met the earliest Spanish explorers is poorly understood.

Figure 1.3.1  Hohokam pottery.

The Hohokam adopted stylistic elements of Mesoamerican origin and their settlement patterns resemble those of the adjacent Mexican states Sonora and Sinaloa more than the Puebloan north. Southern influences include ceramic styles, figurines, censers, and palettes. Similarly, the Hohokam constructed earthen-banked ballcourts and then platform mounds as public or ceremonial architecture rather than the kivas of Puebloan groups. They lived in pit houses until A.D. 1100 near the beginning of the Classic Period, when adobe rooms were often grouped within the walls of a compound.

Figure 1.3.2  Hohokam ballcourt.

Figure 1.3.3  Casa Grande Ruin.

Hohokam agriculture was distinctive in the Southwest in its scale and intensity, creating huge canal systems along the permanently flowing Salt and Gila rivers. A variety of alternative agricultural technologies using storm waters and surface runoff were employed in other environmental settings. After A.D. 1100, canal systems reached their greatest extent, population peaked in most areas, and the most massive public architecture was constructed at large sites as social complexity increased.

Figure 1.3.4  Hohokam irrigation canal.

(Continued)