![]() ![]() The canals were perfectly laid out on the landscape to achieve a downhill drop (or gradient) of 1 to 2 feet per mile. To meet their needs, the Hohokam engineered the largest and most sophisticated irrigation system in the Americas. In the arid desert environment of the Salt and Gila River Valleys, the homeland of the Hohokam, there was not enough rainfall to grow crops. The Hohokam were the only culture in North America to rely on irrigation canals to supply water to their crops. O'odham water control gate in historic period irrigation canal. ![]() ![]() Omar Turney map of 1929 showing prehistoric irrigation canals north and south of the Salt River in the Phoenix area.Ĭarla Booker and Alexandra Howard recording a prehistoric canal exposed in a trench at the Riverview development in Mesa. This group might have occupied southern Arizona as early as 2000 BC! Originating as archaic hunters and gatherers who lived on wild plants and animals, these peoples settled in permanent communities and produced their own food instead of living a more mobile life and gathering what nature provided. Called the Early Agricultural Period, this early group grew corn, lived in sedentary villages all year round and developed sophisticated irrigation canals. Archaeologists identified a culture and people that were ancestors of the Hohokam. In the 1990s, a major archaeological dig along the Santa Cruz River in Tucson resulted in a startling discovery. Early archaeologists proposed that Hohokam culture developed in Mexico and moved into what is now Arizona. It’s an experience every visitor treasures.Where did Hohokam culture come from? To the first scientists who asked this question, the Hohokam seemed to appear in Arizona quite suddenly with the ability to build sophisticated irrigation system to water their crops. Do they portray events and the arrival of visitors? The guides provide historical background and weave magical stories about these people who disappeared so suddenly and mysteriously in the mid-1400s. Or ask your tour guide for an interpretation. Amateurs enjoy recognizing some universal images, such as water, sun and animals. Visitors may explore these sites independently or take one of the guided tours, which are scheduled throughout the day. In the Boynton Canyon area, there are two Sinaguan sites remarkable for their petroglyphs and pictographs, symbols created by pigment rubbed into the rock. The Visitor Center at Tuzigoot houses many artifacts found at the dwellings, and has a life-size example of what an average room at Tuzigoot might have looked like long ago. The wood beams and stones almost breathe the lives of those who dwelled there between 11. Originally a pueblo of two-stories in places, it had 77 ground-floor rooms, many of which have been restored to permit entry. Tuzigoot, the Apache word for “crooked river,” is a Sinaguan village built on a ridge above the Verde Valley. Irrigation canals were developed from these springs by the agrarian Sinagua and Hohokam tribes. A huge sink hole formed by the collapse of a subterranean cavern, the well is fed by underground springs. Montezuma Well is a lush oasis of verdant growth in the midst of the desert. Early settlers, astounded by the sophisticated structures, mistook them for Aztec and the name they ascribed to the “castle” still remains. Another six-story apartment building of 45 rooms was built against the base, but it has not weathered as well. A complex of 20 rooms was built into a cliff 100 feet above the valley. Montezuma Castle, the oldest and best-preserved cliff dwelling in the Southwest, was constructed by the Sinaguans in the 12th century. Today, among the red rock canyons of Sedona, one can view the remarkable remains of once thriving cultures – walking the ancient pathways and touching the ancient mortar. In prehistory, Sedona was a ceremonial meeting area and a major crossroads for trading routes from the north and from South America. The Anasazi, a Navajo term meaning “the ancient ones,” fished the rushing Oak Creek waters, farmed the land and tracked the plentiful hunting grounds.
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