Adrienne Ambrose
Principals of Archaelogy, ASB230 MCC
No one is sure where the first Hohokam came from. They could have migrated from Mexico by following the streams of the desert. Or, a certain group of "archaic" people may developed a technique of farming, villages, and hand technology weaving their own society and culture.
The Hohokam, however, are known as farmers. They are said to have become the most skillful "desert agriculturalists". With just the simplest tools of stone, the Hohokam had built an irrigation and network system of canals that spanned from the Salt and Gila Rivers which watered their farmland, and they grew many crops in the arid, harsh desert of the Southwest.
The Hohokam and the time periods in which they occupied the desert have been broken down into four time periods, the Pioneer Period, the Colonial Period, the Sedentary Period, and finally, the Classic period.
The first, the Pioneer Period begins from 300 B.C. through A.D. 550. At this time frame, the Hohokam built small, scattered settlements of mud houses over pits which were shallow. Their "houses" usually were constructed of pole, brush and mud.
The Hohokam were producing bowls and
jars in this period. These bowls and jars were plain, but they were well
produced. These plainwares were gradually 
replaced by buff-colored vessels decorated with
red designs. An interesting fact about the Hohokam is that they did not
develop this wonderful farming and ceramic knowledge with their migration
into the desert. The Hohokam came to the Southwest with this knowledge already
a major part of their society and culture.
Other materials produced at this time where polished stone bowls, palettes, axes and shell ornaments. The Hohokam also used metetes and mano to grind dry plant food. By the time the Pioneer period ended, the Hohokam had migrated to Phoenix and Tucson and the junctions of Verde and Salt Rivers.
The second period, called the Colonial Period, is one of expansion and exploration of the Hohokam Culture. The period dates from A.D. 550 through A.D. 900. With this expansion, the Hohokam were able to improve there farming methods, populations grew, and trade was more extensive. One reason or theory that has been stated is that the Hohokam and the society still had their close ties with the Mexican societies of that time. Most of the new influences and traits could be detected and seen through the building of their homes and structures. The villages became large, the plat form mounds which is a hard surfaced, flat mound topped with ceremonial structures or so that structures could be built and finally, ball courts.
Also at this time, the canal grew and
became more useful. The canals were cut 
deeper and more narrow so more water could flow
through the canal and with less surface evaporation. The red-on-buff pottery
also becomes more elaborate. The designs, such as quail and rows of dancers
were repeated bands on plates and bowls. There was also another change in
the art work of the culture. Ceramic figurines and "nonutilitarian"
objects were drawn and sculpted from clay with much care. The ceramic figures
were very lifelike, and were male and females figures which often emphasized
their sexual "attributes". The nonutilitarian objects are sculptured
stone bowls or effigies which were decorated with a wide assortment of animal
designs. These figures, found with buries, could represent some sort of
ritual dealing with burials. And finally, the plaque or mirror which is
mosaic or made from pyrites which are reflective in nature, is further proof
the contact the Hohokam had with native Mesoamerica, in which these plaques
and mirrors come from.
The third period of Hohokam culture
is called the Sedentary Period. The Sedentary Period dates from A.D 900
through A.D. 1100. During this time, the Hohokam had reduced their "experimentation
and elaboration in arts and crafts". The mass production of artifacts
and pottery instead of one theme of the 
individual pottery or bowl maker may have been
a cause of decline of art work in the Hohokam culture. Storage jars that
were large and with the "Gila" shoulder were more dominate then
other jars that were made at this time. The red-on-buff pattered bowls and
jars were used, and the patters were more geometric and became more complicated.
The bowls and palettes of stone that the Hohokam used were less elaborate,
while the mosaic plaques of Mesoamerica become more elaborate. The Hohokam
started to work with shell during this time period, and made some remarkable
art work with this material. They used techniques such as etching, which
was used only in this period, to shape and design their shells. The famous
small, copper bells of Mesoamerica were first found in this period.
The architectural advances in this period improved slightly as compared with the Colonial Period. These advances involved the ceremonial structures. The mounds or Platform mounds were better constructed and some underwent reconstruction. Overall, the patterns of settlement changed very little, although houses were now sometimes arranged and built around the plaza. The migration of the Hohokam into the valley also remained fairly stable, with the expansion heading North and east of the Flagstaff region. This movement could have been the result of the improvement of the soil that they farmed from ash and cinders deposited by a volcano. The Hohokam still had ceremonies, and the burial of the dead were first apparent in this time period.
The last time period of the Hohokam cultured is called the Classic Period. The time line for the Classic Period is from A.D. 1100 through A.D. 1450. Researchers that felt at one time that this period was the "apex" of the Hohokam culture, now feel that with such an overall change of it's culture that the culture of the Hohokam became weak. The central area of the Hohokam culture was still strong, but the outlying areas were becoming abandoned.
During this time, their building techniques and patterns were much different then those of the past periods. The communities of the Hohokam were much larger then the ones found in the Sedentary villages, but there were less occupied sites then in the Sedentary villages. The Hohokam were still building their houses from wood, brush and mud over pits, but a new and different architectural from appeared at this time. This different architectural form was a surface structure of clay walled rooms that were contiguous, and these walls were placed sometimes and a dirt mound which were contained by massive walls. These walls were then surrounded by a "stockade-like clay" or stone wall that could be up to twenty feet in height. Some believe because the walls and structures were constructed so high, ladders had to be used to climb over the high walls. The compounds that the Hohokam built might suggest the use of defense, and in these "compounds", scattered houses and the new, clay wall houses made for a crowed, compact life. These early high structures in the beginning were only single story, but later became multi-storied buildings such as the buildings found in Casa Grande for example. In this time period, the ballcourts were still being constructed. Finally, the Hohokam started to build their settlements farther from the rivers than in the past, which made the building of canals to be longer. The dry lands, hillside terraces and floodwater plains were now being farmed. The only modified techniques in farming apparent in this period were the adz and hoe.
The art still was changing in this period.
The red-on-buff pottery was still made and used, but the white-and-black-on-red
pottery started to appear. These 
colored pottery could have been used as trade or
copies from the version that were used to the North of the Hohokam. The
lovely stone pieces were few and in poorer quality then before, and the
mosaics of shell increased. Unfortunately, the mosaic plaques, stone palettes
and etched shell were no longer used in this period.
There is one significant point in this period, however. Not all the Hohokam were changing to the outside influence their cultural way of life. The Hohokam living in the low desert areas did not have these dramatic changes in their way of life but clung to the old ways that they were used to. These Hohokam were still cremating their dead, living in pit houses made of mud and poles and grasses, and finishing their ceramics with the paddle and anvil. This could explain the two distinctive culture modes of the Hohokam during this time period.
Now that the periods of the Hohokam have been defined and explained in some detail, now it is time to become more indept about the society and the sustenance of the Hohokam. The first and most important, and what they are known best for, is their farming or agriculture ways of life.
The Hohokam grew a multitude of crops.
They grew cotton, corn, and several types of beans and squash. As stated
before, these people developed and built a complex system of canals for
their crops. The only tool known so far that the Hohokam used to farm and
cultivate their crops were sharp, wooden digging sticks and handheld hoes
made from rock slabs which were thin in design. Corn, however, like most
cultures, was their staple crop. With this crop it could be roasted, dried,
ground and the flour of ground corn makes a nourishing drink. Beans and
squash were also very important to the Hohokam diet at this time. The beans
could be dried and shelled which then could be added to stews or boiled
to make a stew. Squash could also be eaten in a number of ways. The Hohokam
could boil the blossoms, dry the seeds, or dry strips into some type of
"fruit" to be used for food during the winter months. Cotton was
used for both food and clothing. The seeds of the cotton plant were dried,
ground and then formed into cakes. The fiber of the cotton could be spun
into yard and woven into clothes such as shirts, ponchos and belts. The
finished yard of the Hohokam could also
have been traded with other cultures for items
the Hohokam could use in their society. The Hohokam also modified the desert
to grow agave as a major crop. Agave can be used for a variety of purposes
but is an excellent food that can be roasted in an earthern oven.
Finally, in additional to the farming that they did, the Hohokam also gathered the edible weeds that grew in their field and area. The weeds could be gathered for green vegetables and seeds such as pigweed, sunflower and tansy mustard for consumption.
The Hohokam still practiced hunting and gathering during drought and winter months. The Hohokam would gather Mesquite beans that grew in the valley along with the fruits of the local cacti such as saguaro, cholla, prickly pear and barrel cactus. They also gathered agave crowns, acorns, manzanita berries and other small fruits of the Northern Mountain region. The Hohokam did not have any domesticated animals except for the dog, so they hunted for meat in their diet. Deer and rabbit were the main source of meat for the Hohokam diet, but the Hohodam could have also killed and eaten mountain sheep, antelope and rodents. They could also have eaten tortoises, lizards and snakes.
The Hohokam also had some craft production
in their society, as stated before. The best known, perhaps, is the shell
ornaments and pottery of their culture. The Hohokam had plain and decorated
pottery. The coil technique was used quite 
often in developing their pots. To paint their
vessels, the Hohokam used crushed iron pigments such as hematite and limonite
which are found in local deposits or obtained through trade. The pigments
then is brushed on with brushes that were made from yucca leaves or grass
stems. But most of the time the pots were left plain and unpainted. The
Hohokam fired their pottery in open, wood fires, which caused some even
temperatures in firing.
When the Hohokam wanted a lighter vessel for storing or carrying, they could rely on baskets that they weaved. These vessels were light and durable, which could serve many purposes such as gathering and storing foods, sifting corn if the pieces were woven loosely, and even sleeping mats when plaited. The baskets were weaved from the leaves of yucca, cattail and beargrass, which when soaked, became pliable for weaving.
The Hohokam discovered how to decorate
shell by etching. The Hohokam were 
the only culture in the Americas to use this process and they did
so centuries before cultures in Europe began to etch objects and designs.
They could etch a design in the shell by dipping the shell in a weak "acid"
produced by cactus juice which had fermented, which ate away the surface
of the shell. The Hohokam also created necklaces and earrings from shell
beads. They made pendants in forms of discs, circles, frogs, birds, and
horned frogs.
The Hohokam culture also had some village organization to the structures that they built. Their houses were used for sleeping, storage, and protection during bad weather. The Hohokam built ramadas which were the center of the Hohokam's living area. The Ramadas were built with posts which were sturdy, and then covered with saguaro ribs and brush. In these ramadas also were the place were the Hohokam repaired tools, manufactured tools, cooked and prepared their meals. When extended families grew to large, they broke off and established another house a distance away. When the house became dirty and to "lived-in", the family may have abandon the area so that the elements such as wind or rain could wash and clean the area.
Some experts believe that the Hohokam
had an extensive trade with the Mesoamerica/Mexico Indians of the time.
The culture placed a high value on the shell in which they etched, so perhaps
a trading party traveled to the California coast to trade or gather this
commodity. The Hohokam are to believed to have 
traded pottery, cloth, and other such products
for shell material. Except for the shell trade, the Hohokam's most important
contact was with Mexico, especially the west-central region, which some
believe is the origin of the Hohokam culture, as stated before. Such Mesoamerican
artifacts such as copper bells, polished plaques of iron pyrite, parrots
and macaws were found at some sites and are known to originate in Mexico.
There is information also known about the Hohokam's ritual life and ceremonial life as well. Many of the religious and rituals are known to come from Mesoamerican influence. One piece of evidence to this theory is the ballcourt which the Hohokam built. The first ballcourts were built approximately A.D. 700. The ballcourts were oblong, usually large and plastered with mud such as the shape of a football field. They are thought to be used in largely in rituals or celebrations.
Another ritual of the Hohokam was the one of cremation. This could have included some type of "ritualized" activities. The body was dressed with jewelry and perhaps incense. A crematory pit was built, and wood was placed underneath a platform that was built on top. The whole structure was then set on fire. When the fire had cooled, the pieces of bone and other materials were gathered and placed in bowls or jars and taken to the village cemetary
The Hohokam Indians toiled the soil of the arid desert for about 1500 years. During that time, they grew and expanded their culture, had extensive trade with Mesoamerica, and developed a unique and distinctive art form that dealt with wonderful shell artifacts. For what ever the reason the Hohokam disappeared, they left us with a mystery to unravel, they left us to listen to them in the brown and quiet desert in which they once farmed and tilled.
References
1) THOSE WHO CAME BEFORE, Southwestern Archeology in the National Park System, by Robert H. Lister and Florence C. Lister, published 1993.
2) HOHOKAM INDIANS OF THE TUCSON BASIN, by Linda M. Gregonis and Karl J. Reinhard, published 1979.
