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The word Hohokam is a Pima language word meaning those who have vanished. These rock stackers are known for the construction of an extensive system of irrigation canals in central and southern Arizona from 200 until 1450 CE.
The Hohokam established significant trading centers such as at Snaketown and are considered to be the builders of the original canal system around the Phoenix metropolitan area, which the Mormon pioneers later rebuilt when they settled in the area of Mesa, Arizona.
The Hohokam Story:
From before 100 until 1450 CE, these stone stackers lived first in the semiarid region of southern Arizona, (Lower Hohokam on the Gila River, known as the Tucson basin), and then after 700 CE in central Arizona (Middle Hohokam on the Salt River, known as the Phoenix basin). Some time after 1000 CE, communities were built in the northern most area of the Hohokam culture (Upper Hohokam along the Aqua Fria River).
There trade neighbors include the Mogollon to the east, Sinagua, Prescott and Anasazi to the north, Trincheras to the south in Sonora, Mexico and Patayan to the west along the Colorado River.
Irrigation Canals
These stone stackers were the only culture to rely on irrigation canals to water their crops, beginning as early as 800 CE. The canal system supported large populations, possibly the largest in the Southwest by 1300 CE. Their crops included agave, beans, cotton, maize, squash, tobacco and a vast assortment of wild plants.
Due to the mostly desert environment, most of their settlements are located near water and tillable land. Early architecture of the Hohokam villages are similar to ranch living; clusters of residential areas and utility structures. Also, large square or rectangle pithouses survive from the early formative period first developed in the Tucson basin. By the 700 CE, a distinct Hohokam architecture emerges, that of digging residential structures about 16 inches (40 cm) below ground level with plastered floors and a circular, bowl shaped, clay lined hearth situated near a wall entry.
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