Prehistoric Indians of the Southwest

by H. M. Wormington

There were several stages of development in the Hohokam, just as there were in the Anasazi [culture] with its six principal stages, ranging from Basketmaker to Historic-Pueblo times. The first is known as the Pioneer for this was the formative stage of the culture. The Colonial period which followed was, as the name implies, one in which colonies were established. During the next period, to which the name Sedentary has been given, the culture was fully developed. The term Classic, which is applied to the following period, is really a misnomer, for the cultural peak of the Hohokam had passed. It was, however, a time of high cultural development during which Pueblo and Hohokam people lived side by side in the Desert Province. Little is known of the Hohokam following the end of the Classic period when, about 1400 A. D., the Pueblo people moved away, but it is possible that the present Pima Indians may be descendants of the ancient Hohokam or that at least some Hohokam blood flows in their veins. A people with a variant form of the Hohokam culture who lived farther south may have been the forerunners of the present Papago Indians.

THE PIONEER HOHOKAM

The Pioneer period, according to recent estimates, began about the time of Christ and lasted for some five or six hundred years. It is possible, however, that these dates may have to be revised again, as more information becomes available. At present, unfortunately, this earliest period is known from only one site. This is a large site, called Snaketown,[27][28][31] which lies in the Gila Indian Reservation twelve miles southwest of Chandler, Arizona. It was occupied from Pioneer until Sedentary times, and has yielded a tremendous amount of information. It is extremely fortunate that this important site has been excavated with exceptional care and has been splendidly reported upon.

The Snaketown area is more arid than most other places occupied in prehistoric times and contains a stream that is now only intermittent, although it was probably perennial during the prehistoric period. Lumbering in the mountains and overgrazing have doubtless contributed materially to the desiccation of the region, but even in prehistoric times it must have been extremely dry. There is no evidence of the construction of irrigation canals which were so characteristic of later phases, but it seems possible that they may have existed at this time, although in a less well developed form, for without irrigation it would have been almost impossible for prosperous villages to arise in such a poor environment. Little is known, however, of the agricultural attainments of the people at this time. In fact, no corn has yet been found which may be attributed to this period, although it is certainly reasonable to suppose that it was being cultivated. The scarcity of bones of food animals indicates that meat did not play a very important part in the diet. Turkey bones are extremely rare. It is believed that turkeys were never domesticated by the Hohokam.

All Hohokam houses were earth lodges with much the same general plan. They were single-unit structures, usually with depressed floors. Entrance was through a covered passage or vestibule, normally in the middle of one side. Walls were constructed of poles, brush, and mud. The roofs, which consisted of rafters overlaid by smaller timbers, were supported by upright posts set in the floor. During Pioneer times houses were larger than in any other Hohokam period and in some cases were up to thirty-five feet square. Some archaeologists believe that the largest houses may have been occupied by more than one family.[31]^c Others feel that it is more probable that they were ceremonial structures.[30] During most of the time, four or five roof supports were employed, but there was one [phase] early in the period when a great many posts set in rows were used and it is hard to see how such a house could have been lived in at all. So much skill was required to erect these houses that they certainly must not represent the people’s first attempt at housebuilding, and there was undoubtedly an earlier phase for which evidence has not yet been found.

No material has been found which may be attributed to a pre-ceramic period, unless the Cochise [culture] proves to be ancestral to the Hohokam. Pottery is found in even the earliest Pioneer levels. The Hohokam did not have any [corrugated pottery]. All their wares were smooth and were produced by the paddle-and-anvil technique. When this method is used to shape and finish a piece of pottery, a round or mushroom-shaped object, known as an anvil, is held inside the vessel to receive the force of the blow, while the exterior is struck with a wooden paddle. Air was permitted to flow over the pottery while it was being fired, producing an [oxidizing atmosphere].

There are important differences between the pottery making methods of the Hohokam and those of the Anasazi. As has been previously noted, among the Anasazi, the final step in the finishing process was to shape and smooth the vessel through scraping with a gourd or pottery spoon, and most pottery was fired in a [reducing atmosphere].

The earliest Hohokam pottery found is simple but well made. At first only plain undecorated wares in gray, brown, or red were produced. The [temper] contained flecks of mica which show through the surface. Bowls were usually red. Jars, which had a capacity of about two gallons, were normally gray or brown. Before long, painted decorations began to be applied. Designs were simple rectilinear or curvilinear forms. Hatching was widely used. Decoration was in a maroon-red paint on a grayish background, and the red portion was sometimes polished. As time went by, the background became a buff color rather than a gray. Because of this distinctive color combination, the term Red-on-Buff [Culture] was originally applied to the Hohokam.[32] During Pioneer times, some polychrome ware was made and it is believed that this may mark the first appearance of the use of multiple colors in the Southwest. This pottery has red and yellow designs on a gray background. In many cases grooves were [incised] on bowl exteriors before the paint was applied. Even after painted pottery was introduced, it never made up more than twenty per cent of the total pottery of the Pioneer era.

Figurines, depicting human beings, as well as bowls and jars, were made of clay. These are known from the earliest times. They are quite similar to those of the Mexican Plateau, and it is thought that they may have been introduced from there, together with the knowledge of the cultivation of corn. These figurines have ridgelike noses pinched up from the base, and eyes and mouths represented by slits and dots. These were always modelled rather than made in molds. Some have funnel-shaped heads and may have served as containers. Figurines were usually fired, but this was not invariably the case.

Even from the earliest times the Hohokam appear to have cremated the dead, a practice which anthropologists always deprecate. These ancient people could hardly know how much they would inconvenience certain men in the twentieth century by their funerary habits, and undoubtedly they would not have cared. Bones and ashes are rarely found in the Pioneer period but some have been recovered from pits and trenches. The actual cremation is not believed to have taken place here. There were offerings of crushed burned pottery, and late in the period some stone objects were used.