Data Collection Report - Flood Control District of Maricopa County

B. Historical and Pre-Historical Themes EvaluationThe archaeological site files were examined at the State HistoricPreservation Office, the Arizona State Museum, Arizona StateUniversity, and Pueblo Grande Museum. The archeological assessmentincluded the documentation of known cultural resources for the projectarea. Every known archaeological site, it’s location, and all otherspecific information are available in an electronic format. In this section,an overview of the prehistoric cultural resources is presented. Theoverview is followed by a discussion of the specific resources in theproject area. Finally, important themes in prehistory as they pertain tothe cultural resources in the Durango ADMP are summarized.Cultural Resources OverviewThe Durango ADMP project area is within an area that was occupied bythe prehistoric Hohokam culture. This prehistoric culture inhabitedsouthern Arizona between about A.D. 500 and 1450. This stone-ageculture maintained an extensive system of irrigation canals and largevillages in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Hohokam successfullygrew crops of corn and cotton in the Phoenix area through more than ahundred miles of irrigation ditches, the alignments of which are followedeven today. Due to the unique hydrologic and topographic setting of thePhoenix area, many of the irrigation canals begin near Papago Buttes andcontinue as far west as the community of Tolleson.The Hohokam occupation is generally divided by researchers into fourdistinct periods, which have been further subdivided into phases. Thebeginnings of Hohokam culture are initially seen in the Pioneer Period,whose inception date is currently under debate by archaeologists. Anearly Red Mountain Phase has been suggested as beginning around A.D.1 and continuing until circa A.D. 400, and is followed by the moretraditionally accepted Vahki, Estrella, Sweetwater, and Snaketownphases, that together make up the Pioneer Period. During this period, thetraditions of canal irrigation, crop domestication, and the distinctive redon-buffpottery begin to develop. Formal site structure that includestoward the end of the period, large plaza, mounds, and ballcourts,becomes established. Burial ceremonialism is pronounced and adistinctive figurine complex occurs. Burial methods are dominated bycremation and the architectural styles include pithouses.During the subsequent Colonial Period, the attributes that weredeveloping toward the end of the Pioneer period, flourish. While thefigurine complex disappears, an active religious complex can be seen inthe elaborate carved censers and palettes found with cremation burials.The economic and exchange spheres of influence become morepronounced through an extensive ball court network, and theestablishment of settlements throughout southern and parts of centralArizona. The period dated between 700 A.D. and continued toapproximately 900 A.D., containing the Gila Butte and Santa CruzPhases. The Sedentary Period, consisting of the Sacaton phase, lastedfrom circa A.D. 900 to 1150. The patterns seen in the precedingColonial period continued. Climatological data suggest that water forirrigation was abundant, allowing the extensive networks of villages andirrigation canals in the core areas along the lower Salt River valley andthe middle Gila River valley. Most of the large villages in the DurangoADMP project area were inhabited during this time.Extensive changes mark the transition to the Classic Period, which datesfrom approximately A.D. 1150 to 1450. The Soho and Civano Phasesoccur within the Classic Period. This period is marked by a shift in burialmethods, architectural styles, pottery types, and monumentalarchitecture. Cremation burial gives way to inhumation burial, pithousesare replaced by aboveground adobe rooms surrounded by compoundwalls, red-on-buff pottery is abandoned in favor of redware pottery, andballcourts give way to large platform mounds. These many changes hadtheir beginnings toward the end of the pre-Classic era. The Classicperiod lasted for three centuries. The large village of Las Colinas, at theeastern edge of the Durango study area, was occupied at this time. Bythe mid-1400s, the Hohokam culture quickly disintegrated and by the1500s, the culture is completely gone from the archaeological record.The demise of the Hohokam is probably related to pan-southwesterndynamics during the 14 th and 15 th centuries. In the Phoenix areaspecifically, researchers have argued that dramatically unpredictablerainfall patterns caused series of major floods that proved too destructivefor the extensive irrigation systems in the valley.Following the end of the Hohokam culture the Phoenix Basin underwenta period of sparse habitation. People living in southern Arizona appearto have adopted a dispersed, farming, hunting and gathering lifestyle,occupying small rancherias along the rivers. In later times, the probabledescendants of the Hohokam, the Pima, were reported by Spanishchroniclers to inhabit the area as farmers. Little direct evidence existsfor habitation of the Durango ADMP during the period from A.D. 1450until the arrival of Spanish, Mexican, and Anglo factions that began inappreciable numbers in the 18th century. The ensuing period of historicexploitation was marked by mining, ranching, and homesteadinginterests. These historic pursuits included the construction of canals, aswell as re-utilization of prehistoric ones (Details of this historic periodare outlined in the Historic Themes section of this study).DIBBLE & ASSOCIATES 44 DURANGO ADMPDATA COLLECTION REPORT