Oasisamerican Cultures: The Hohokam

The Hohokam culture was located in the desert region of southern Arizona. The Hohokam are thought to have originally migrated/traveled north out of Mexico around 300 BCE, bringing Mexican traits with them. They were creative artisans who are famous for their work with shells obtained from the Gulf of California and creative coiled pottery painted with red designs. It is probable they traded with peoples of northern Mexico because there was a great deal of Mesoamerican influence found, such as ball courts and decorative feathers.

The Hohokam became the most skillful irrigation farmers the southwest ever knew. They developed an elaborated irrigation networks using stone instruments and labor. This gave them the name of “canal builders”, until modern development obliterated their canal systems.

Artifacts and Architecture

Hohokam Etched Shells
National Parks Service via Wikimedia

Archaeologists use artifacts as markers to help identify stages in chronology of a culture or tradition. Pottery that is similarly shaped and decorated is considered to date from the same period. Details and decorations that indicate periods within the Hohokam tradition include coiled pottery made from a tan-colored clay from the Arizona hills decorated with designs painted in darker orange-red clay. Hohokam pottery is commonly referred to as Hohokam red-on-buff pottery.

Ceramic painted vessel (600-900 CE)
Wikipedia loves art via Wikimedia

Archaeological artifacts found in Hohokam sites vary from traditional stone tools to jewelry, most common are stone axe heads with deep grooves for attaching wooden handles. Long flat stone slabs or pallets have also been found and are believed to have been used to grind pigments or colored stones. Other artifacts include distinct arrow points with jagged edges and elaborate shell ornaments such as pendants and bracelets made of seashells from the Gulf of California. One of the more important artifacts found are small copper bells. The bells are evidence that the Hohokam did indeed trade with people of Mexico. Same as pottery, artifacts found in Hohokam sites or other deposits can serve as markers to date accompanying objects or other evidence.

Little is known about the appearance of Hohokam people. Archaeologists rarely find skeletal remains in Hohokam sites because they cremated their dead. They would then place the ashes into their distinctive red-on-buff pottery jars.

Structures found on Hohokam sites consisted of clusters of shallow pithouses similar to those of the anasazi culture. Impressive ball courts have also been uncovered, but they were not like ball courts found in Mexico, the Hohokam courts were large oval shaped basins.

Where did the Hohokam go?

Their fate is unclear but they seemed to have disappeared around the 15th century, the time when the Spanish first came upon the Hohokam descendants (by then the Pápagos lived in the area). Perhaps crop failures or raids from prehistoric Apache tribes led to their collapse. The Hohokam could have retreated and scattered into small villages, most likely their descendants remain in the desert today as new tribes and cultures.

Montezuma's Castle: built by the Sinagua tribe around 1400 CE [not related to Moctezuma]
Phillip Capper via Wikimedia

About the Author

I'm Jose Pierre and I like learning about all aspects of culture, both ancient and modern. I enjoy learning how they communicated, expressed themselves, and their technology.