The Hohokam of southwest North America

American Scientist

The corpus of 350 radiocarbon and archaeomagnetic dates available for Pioneer and Colonial period contexts in southern Arizona is rigorously evaluated for its relevance to chronology building, resulting in the identification of 31 dates that may be unequivocally applied. Taken with other pertinent data, a new chronology is presented for the Hohokam sequence. The implications of this chronology, which is notably shortened for the post- Vahki phase Pioneer period, are considered in relation to the appearance of traits often thought to be the most diagnostic of Hohokam "culture." The abbreviated chronology supports the interpretation of the trait complex associated with ballcourts and the cremation mortuary ritual as being a rapidly adopted, widespread religious ideology.

Wallace, Henry D. 2014 Ritual Transformation and Cultural Revitalization: Explaining Hohokam in pre-A.D. 1000 Southeastern Arizona. In Between Mimbres and Hohokam: Exploring the Archaeology and History of Southeastern Arizona and Southwestern New Mexico, edited by H. D. Wallace, pp. 433-499. Anthropological Papers No. 52. Archaeology Southwest, Tucson. Amerind Foundation, Dragoon, Arizona. Desert Archaeology, Tucson.

Wallace, Henry D. 2011 What is a Prehistoric Hohokam Community? In Craft Specialization in the Southern Tucson Basin: Archaeological Excavations at the Julian Wash Site, AZ BB:13:17 (ASM): Part 2. Synthetic Studies, edited by H. D. Wallace, pp. 651-681. Anthropological Papers No. 40. Center for Desert Archaeology, Tucson.

In The Hohokam Archaeology of the Tucson Basin, edited by W.H. Doelle. "Archaeology Southwest" 21(3):14., 2007

Archaeology Southwest Magazine issue on the prehistory of the Tucson Basin, specifically examining the Hohokam period. "Hohokam Life in the Eastern Tucson Basin" is a short article in the magazine on the eastern portion of the Tucson Basin. Other articles are focused on other areas of the Tucson Basin and specialized studies or specific sites. Archaeology Southwest Magazine is written for the well-educated public and specifically for the membership of the non-profit Archaeology Southwest. The download includes the entire issue of Archaeology Southwest Magazine with all of the articles on Tucson Basin prehistory.

Systematic Botany

American Antiquity, 2004

One of the most prominent but least understood demographic phenomena in the precontact Southwest is the disappearance of the Hohokam from the valleys of southern Arizona. Despite extensive research, no widely accepted explanation has been offered. We argue that the failure to identify a satisfactory cause is due to excessive focus on catastrophic phenomena and terminal occupations, and a lack of attention to gradual demographic processes. Based on a combination of macro-regional population studies and local research in the lower San Pedro River valley, we present an explanation for gradual population decline precipitated by social and economic coalescence beginning in the late A.D. 1200s. In the southern Southwest an influx of immigrantsf rom the north led to a shiftf rom a dispersed, extensive settlement/subsistences trategy to increased conflict, aggregation, and economic intensification. This shift resulted in diminished health and transformationf rom population growth to decline. Over approximately 150 years gradual population decline resulted in small remnant groups unable to maintain viable communities. Small, terminal populations were ultimately unable to continue identifiable Hohokam cultural traditions and consequently disappeared from the archaeological record of southern Arizona, either through migration or a shift in lifestyle that rendered them archaeologically invisible.

Antiquity, 1999

American Antiquity, 2001