Prehistoric Indians of the Southwest

by H. M. Wormington

CHAPTER IV
THE HOHOKAM [CULTURE]

GENERAL REMARKS

While the inhabitants of the Plateau were developing the [culture] described in the previous section, other groups in other parts of the Southwest were evolving along somewhat different lines. The next [basic culture] to be considered is that of the Hohokam, the people of the Desert Province whose center lies in the Middle Gila Basin and which includes the drainages of the Salt and Gila Rivers of southern Arizona.

Hohokam is a Pima word which means “those who have vanished.” The ancient agriculturists, to whom this name has been given, lived in this semi-arid land for many centuries, and, through the use of canals, made a remarkable adjustment to an unfavorable environment. For a long time it was thought that they represented a regional variation of the Pueblo pattern, for the more spectacular ruins contained great communal houses of Pueblolike construction. Associated with these were small crude houses of wattle and daub construction. The large Pueblo houses were thought by some archaeologists to be temples or palaces, and the small houses were believed to be the homes of serfs or peons. When it was noted that different kinds of pottery were associated with the different types of houses, it became apparent that the situation was more [complex] than had been thought. Archaeological excavations finally brought the true explanation to light. During the first part of the fourteenth century, Pueblo people moved into the homeland of the Hohokam, bringing with them the techniques and traditions of their own [culture] which differed in many respects from those of the original inhabitants. The two groups lived together, but, to a great extent, each preserved the elements of its own culture.

There were certain similarities between the [culture] of the Hohokam and that of the Pueblos, but there were many differences. Both were agricultural people, but they used different types of corn and beans,[12] and there were certain differences in their farming techniques. Pottery was widely made in both societies but there were marked differences in manufacturing techniques and in color. Architectural development was entirely different. There were many differences in minor arts; for example, shell work was very highly developed among the Hohokam, and bone was used for tools much less than by the Pueblos. Probably there were physical differences between the two people, but our information on this subject is very scanty, for the Hohokam did not bury their dead, as did the Anasazi, but practiced cremation.

There is a strong possibility that the Hohokam developed from the ancient food-gathering [culture], known as the Cochise, which had flourished in this same general region for many centuries.[54] The possibility has also been mentioned that the Hohokam may have come to southern Arizona from the east with an already established pattern.[27] Of course, the culture continued to evolve, but almost all of the basic traits which characterize it were present in the earliest times of which we have any record.

Fig. 41—Map of the Southwest showing sites referred to in [Chapter IV].

1. Casa Grande 2. Grewe Site 3. Los Muertos 4. Roosevelt 9:6 5. Snaketown 6. Tonto National Monument

The question of dates for the Hohokam is, unfortunately, far more complicated than in the case of the Basketmakers and Pueblos. The wood available for house construction was usually cottonwood or mesquite, woods which are not suitable for tree-ring dating. Through stratigraphic studies it has been possible to find the chronological place of various phases in relation to each other, but the establishment of an absolute [chronology] in terms of the Christian calendar is quite difficult, since it must be based almost entirely on cross-checking of pottery between Hohokam and Anasazi sites. There is a considerable divergence between the dates suggested by different archaeologists, or even by the same archaeologist at different times. There is nothing to criticize in the fact that an archaeologist may give one date at one time and an entirely different one at another. Archaeologists, like all scientists, are seeking for the truth, and as new evidence is uncovered old estimates must often be changed and new ones made. First estimates placed the beginning of the [culture] in Arizona at about 300 B. C.[27] Later this date was revised upward by 900 years.[28] According to the most recent publication on the Hohokam, which contains approximate dates which will be used throughout the following discussion, this culture in the Gila Basin is believed to date back to about the beginning of the Christian era.[57]