Hohokam Pima National Monument

This site is a significant example of the Hohokam culture, which lived in the broader area from about 1 CE until approximately 1500 CE. Snaketown, contained in a one-half mile by three-quarters mile piece of property, was occupied by Hohokam people during the Pioneer and Early Sedentary stages (approximately 300 BCE to 1100 CE). Early in the Classic Period (1150 CE – 1400/1450) the community of Snaketown, once apparently central to the broader Hohokam culture, was suddenly abandoned. Parts of its structure were burned, and the site was not reoccupied. The Hohokam were farmers, even though they lived in an area with dry sandy soil, rugged volcanic mountains and slow running rivers. They grew beans, squash, tobacco, cotton and corn. The Hohokam made the sandy soil fertile by channeling water from the local river through a series of man-made canals. Woven mat dams were used to channel river water into the canals. The canals were generally shallow and wide, reaching up to ten miles in length. Most of the population lived in pit houses, carefully dug rectangular depressions in the earth with branch and mud adobe walls supported by log sized corner posts. These pit houses were similar to those constructed by the neighboring Mogollon pueblo people, but were larger in size and made with a more shallow depression. The oval shaped fields at Snaketown were identified as ballcourts at the time of excavation. Each was about long, apart, and high. In 2009 it was suggested that the shape of an oval bowl with curved sides, and the uneven embankments on the long sides, are unsuited for any kind of ball game. However, they correspond with dance floors of the Tohono O'odham (Papago) people, used for their Vikita ceremonies until at least the 1930s. Snaketown's pottery was generally homogeneous during the periods of its occupation. However, most specialists agree that pottery samples contain elements implying the presence two different, but probably related groups, over time. Snaketown is dated by some scholars to around 300 BCE. Archaeologist Brian Fagan dates Hohokam culture to 500 CE, and sums up the situation by stating that there are simply two separate schools of thought on the subject. Martin and Plog belong to the first group and Haury belongs to the second. The second group argues that these features the first group believes came from Mexico were developed locally. While there is much dispute on the origin of Snaketown, most scholars are able to agree that Hohokam culture peaked between 700 and 900 CE. Snaketown derives its name from another O’odham word meaning “place of snakes” and is considered to be one of the larger Hohokam settlements. A type of pottery (called red-on-buff) that is identified as distinctly Hohokam is found over ca. of the southwest. This indicates the extent and prominence of the Hohokam people at their height. ==Archaeology==

The site of Snaketown is positioned on the Gila River and the community is estimated to have been 250 acres in size at its maximum extent, with much more farmland and smaller settlements surrounding it. Snaketown at its height contained between 1000 and 3000 people. Snaketown houses were shallow pit houses. There were hearths, small clay lined basins near the doorways. These houses were home to small groups of extended families == Archaeological history ==

Snaketown was first excavated in 1934 by the Gila Pueblo Foundation, under the direction of Harold S. Gladwin. Between 1964 and 1965, a second excavation was led by Emil Haury, assistant director of Gila Pueblo, with assistance from E.B. Sayles, Erik K. Reed, and Irwin and Julian Hayden. The two expeditions discovered that the site contained more than sixty midden mounds. A central plaza and two oval shaped fields were surrounded by pit houses, and an elaborate irrigation system fed the nearby fields in which beans, maize and squash were grown. The Hohokam practiced cremation, and the expedition excavated up to eight areas which could have been used as crematoria. Industries producing pottery and shell jewellery also existed and the settlement had trade links with Mesoamerican societies, evidenced by copper bells and figurines. Most archaeological excavations have been backfilled to protect the site for future research. However, a scale model of the original Snaketown community is held at the Heard Museum in Phoenix, while artifacts from excavations are housed in the Arizona State Museum. ==Archaeologists and Snaketown==

Winifred and Harold Gladwin began the intensive study of Hohokam culture with the help of Emil Haury. They eventually founded a research organization entitled “The Gila Pueblo Archaeological Foundation” that focused on the Hohokam tradition at other sites, but eventually led Haury to Snaketown, which he excavated in the early 1930s. ==The abandonment of Snaketown==

It is not particularly clear what caused the abandonment of Snaketown around 1100 CE. Haury cites over-irrigation leading to soil depletion as a possibility for its fall, but still contends that abandonment also occurred in nearby cultures that were less dependent on irrigation. Fagan notes that this time coincides with the Medieval Warm Period, which might have caused droughts. Fagan also suggests that the people continued farming in a much less organized manner or relocated according to remaining irrigation canals. Haury maintains that Snaketown was deserted around 1100 CE while Fagan uses the later dates of 1150–1450. Several texts maintain that its population increased until the dispersal of its population. The dispersal could have occurred quickly and violently, as the archaeological record indicates the burning of many buildings at the same time. ==Re-colonization and Snaketown==

In 1865, the United States Cavalry created Camp McDowell in the general vicinity of Snaketown. In 1867, a retired soldier began the Swilling Irrigating and Canal Company on the remains of the ancient canals. As the company succeeded, a settlement began to form, which was eventually dubbed “Phoenix” after the mythological Phoenix creature that is reborn from its own remains. ==See also==

• Crown, Patrica L. and Judge, James W, editors. Chaco & Hohokam: Prehistoric Regional Systems in the American Southwest. School of American Research Press, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 1991. . • Emil W. Haury 1976. The Hohokam Desert Farmers and CraftsmenExcavations at Snaketown, 1964–65. The University of Arizona Press, Tucson. • Gladwin, Harold S. and Winifred; Haury; and Sayles 1938. “Excavations at Snaketown: Material Culture.” Medallion Papers. Gila Pueblo, Globe, Arizona. Reprinted 1965 by the University of Arizona Press, Tucson. • The National Parks: Index 2001–2003. Washington: U.S. Department of the Interior. == External links ==