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| Hohokam chronology | |
|---|---|
| Name | Hohokam |
| Region | Sonoran Desert, Central Arizona |
| Period | Archaic period to Postclassic period |
| Major sites | Snaketown, Casa Grande Ruins National Monument, Pueblo Grande Museum, La Ciudad de los Hornos, Rincon |
| Chronology methods | Dendrochronology, Radiocarbon dating, Stratigraphy |
Hohokam chronology The chronology of the Hohokam tradition establishes temporal relationships among occupations in the Sonoran Desert, linking major sites such as Snaketown, Casa Grande Ruins National Monument, Pueblo Grande Museum, La Ciudad de los Hornos, and Rincon to broader Southwestern sequences like those at Chaco Canyon, Mesa Verde National Park, Salado, and Ancestral Puebloans. Scholars from institutions including the Smithsonian Institution, Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Arizona State University, University of Arizona, Hohokam Pima National Monument have applied methods such as Dendrochronology, Radiocarbon dating, and stratigraphic correlation used by researchers at Harvard University and University of California, Berkeley to refine Hohokam temporal frameworks.
Chronologies for Hohokam occupations span roughly from the terminal Archaic period through the late prehistoric era contemporaneous with the Mississippian culture and early contacts with groups linked to Spanish colonization of the Americas and the Coronado expedition. Key reference frameworks include the sequence developed by E. B. Sayles? and later refined by archaeologists from Arizona State University and the University of Arizona in works connected to projects at Pueblo Grande Museum and mapping efforts at Casa Grande Ruins National Monument. Chronological anchors draw on tree-ring series established at sites like Snaketown and cross-correlated with long chronologies from Chaco Canyon and radiocarbon calibration curves produced by laboratories such as those at Texas A&M University and University of Oxford.
Standard periodization divides Hohokam history into Early, Middle, and Late sequences with finer subphases paralleling schemes used in studies of Ancestral Puebloans, Mogollon, and Salado traditions. Phase nomenclature appears in analogies to frameworks used by archaeologists associated with Franklin Fenenga, Emil Haury, Claude N. Warren, and teams from Arizona State University and University of Arizona. Debates over phase boundaries have engaged scholars publishing in venues tied to American Antiquity, Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, and monographs from the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology.
Dendrochronology established absolute dates for Hohokam architecture at locales such as Snaketown and informed synchronization with sequences from Chaco Canyon and Mesa Verde National Park. Radiocarbon dating from contexts curated at Smithsonian Institution and analyzed at facilities like University of Arizona labs and University of Oxford radiocarbon centers provided calibrated ranges integrated with Bayesian models popularized by researchers affiliated with Oxford University and University of California, Berkeley. Stratigraphic excavation strategies used by teams from Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology and Arizona State University complemented ceramic seriation methods employed in comparative collections at Pueblo Grande Museum and the Museum of Northern Arizona.
Local chronologies vary across irrigation fields and settlements in basins such as the Salt River Valley, Gila River, Middle Gila, Lower Gila, and riverine zones near Tucson and Phoenix. Comparative studies involving sites like Pueblo Grande Museum, Casa Grande Ruins National Monument, Snaketown, and smaller hamlets documented by teams from University of Arizona and Arizona State University show asynchronous development similar to patterns observed in Mogollon and Hualapai areas. Regional interaction spheres link Hohokam sequences to ceramic styles noted in collections at the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology and artifact exchanges documented by curators at the Museum of Northern Arizona.
Long-distance exchange networks connected Hohokam communities to sources of raw materials and prestige goods associated with Chaco Canyon, the Mogollon Rim, the Gulf of California, and the Greater Southwest. Exotic materials such as marine shell from the Gulf of California and turquoise linked to mining districts known to Ancestral Puebloans and Salado groups appear in assemblages cataloged by the Smithsonian Institution, Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, and the Arizona State Museum. Isotopic studies performed at laboratories like Arizona State University and University of Arizona support models of both local mobility and interregional migration mirrored in regional histories compiled by scholars associated with University of California, Berkeley and Harvard University.
Settlement patterns shift from small hamlets and dispersed fields in early phases to nucleated villages, platform mounds, and civic-ceremonial centers at loci such as Casa Grande Ruins National Monument and Snaketown, paralleling demographic trends documented for the Mississippian culture and Ancestral Puebloans. Social organization inferred from architecture, mortuary data, and artifact distributions has been interpreted in publications by Emil Haury, teams at Arizona State University, and researchers publishing in American Antiquity and Journal of Anthropological Archaeology. Later contraction and reorganization before and during early Spanish colonization of the Americas contact episodes are subjects of ongoing study by scholars from University of Arizona and heritage programs at the National Park Service.
Ceramic typologies, lithic technologies, irrigation engineering, and craft specialization define temporal change across Hohokam phases; notable innovations include complex canal systems documented at Pueblo Grande Museum and agricultural features studied by the Archaeoastronomy-adjacent research teams at Arizona State University. Shell ornaments from the Gulf of California, turquoise ornaments associated with Ancestral Puebloans, and tool forms conserved at the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology and Smithsonian Institution illustrate shifting craft networks. Metallurgical impressions from contact-era contexts intersect with colonial histories tied to the Coronado expedition and archival holdings in institutions such as the National Archives and the Library of Congress.