Hohokam! Ancient Monuments of the Salt River Valley
Hohokam! Ancient Monuments of the Salt River
Valley explores the accomplishments of the
ancestors of the O’odham people who thrived in our
arid desert environment for over a millennium, from
A.D. 1 to 1450. The ancient houses, canals and ovens
uncovered by archaeologists under the streets of
Mesa, rarely seen by the public, are presented here.
We also present many rare and unusual artifacts of
Hohokam daily life and provide information recovered
by recent museum excavations.
Children explore the floor of a pithouse.
Pithouses served as the homes of Hohokam families. A
pithouse of this style was characteristic from about
A.D. 900-1150.
Mural of Mesa Grande, showing temple mound site
and a Hohokam ballcourt at lower right. In the
background the Salt River flows westwards. The
Arizona Museum of Natural History cares for the Mesa
Grande, a site on the National Register of Historic
Places. The Mesa Grande mound is just greater in
each dimension than a modern football field and
measures 27 feet high.
The exhibit shows the network of trade and
interaction between different prehistoric cultures.
It presents rare and unusual items that came from
places as distant as West and Central Mexico, such
as copper bells and pyrite mirrors.
Hohokam are noted for their figurines, which
sometimes occur in sets showing activities of daily
life. Two original Hohokam figures are in bottom
left of case; the others are reproductions, which
illustrate how the Hohokam might have painted their
prehistoric figurines for use.
The exhibit includes a reproduction of a full
size earth oven or horno. Hornos
measure about 6 feet deep by 6 feet wide, and were
used to roast agave hearts.
The Hohokam created the largest irrigation
systems in the prehistoric New World. This display
is based upon actual canals that the museum
excavated at the site of the new Riverview
development. What you see here is a prehistoric
canal later filled in by sediments deposited by the
water of the canal.
Can you solve the puzzles?
Archaeology is fun!
|
