The site area was also intermittently used on a much smaller scale during the rest of the Hohokam sequence and during the Early Agricultural and Early Ceramic periods, as well as during the Historic period. This approach also offers an illustration of the vulnerability and adaptation of agrarian communities to socio-environmental constraints in semi-arid environments.ĪBSTRACT The Yuma Wash site was a permanently occupied large Classic period village situated in the northern Tucson Basin at the juncture of the eastern bajada of the Tucson Mountains with the Santa Cruz River floodplain.

Results were correlated with regional geomorphic changes, climatic evolutions, as well as demographic data in order to discuss the relative impact of environmental shifts, settlement pattern and population pressure on water management. Characterizing and classifying the depositional environment where the dates were obtained was key to identify phases of low flow, periodic sedimentation or uncontrolled flooding. The analysis of 60 dates (radiocarbon, OSL, archaeomagnetic and ceramic) obtained from 47 irrigation canals used from the Pioneer to the Classic Period allowed us to discuss the temporalities of irrigation networks (construction/abandonment). In order to understand long-term socio-environmental dynamics, hydraulic structures are ideal objects of study as they can be studied from a chronological and geoarchaeological perspective. and the Classic Period: 1150–1450 A.D., during which they constantly coped with a constraining environment and mainly a rare resource, water. Their occupation in the basin is structured around three major phases: the Pioneer Period: 600–750 A.D., the PreClassic Period: 750–1150 A.D. The Hohokam built major irrigation systems along the plains of the Salt River in the Phoenix Basin (Arizona) between the seventh and the fifteenth century A.D.

On the North American continent, irrigated agriculture principally occurred in the semi-arid American Southwest.

We propose a model of Hohokam-Patayan interaction in the Hohokam-Patayan Interface with archaeological test implications. Hohokam and Patayan groups in this frontier zone interacted in a variety of ways while maintaining some degree of distinct group affiliation. Gillespie Dam, along with the Patayan enclave at Las Colinas, indicate that Hohokam and Patayan people sometimes lived side-by-side in the same communities, while maintaining distinct identities as evidenced by continued utilization of distinct ceramic styles. The second completely excavated cemetery contained 7 individuals associated with Patayn pottery, including 12 complete or nearly complete Lower Colorado Buff Ware vessels. The first partially excavated cemetery included 2 individuals associated with Hohokam ceramics. The nature of the Hohokam-Patayan interface is discussed in the context of Gillespie Dam site, where two adjacent, contemporary cremation cemeteries were recently investigated by Rio Salado Archaeology. The Hohokam-Patayan Interface is defined as an area of mixed ceramic assemblages, rock art styles, and some geoglyph features, all connected by a system of trails. Assemblages including mixed Hohokam and Lower Colorado Buff Ware ceramics are now known to typify this region, and rock art panels including Hohokam and Patayan elements as well as geoglyph/intaglio features have been documented in the Gila Bend area. Recent archaeological research on the region immediately west of the Phoenix and Tucson Basins has revealed a significant Patayan presence along with the anticipated Hohokam material culture remains.

Hohokam college