Archaeology Southwest - Exploring and protecting the places of our past

The dominant painted pottery at late Hohokam sites is called Roosevelt Red Ware. When this research project began, Roosevelt Red Ware could be divided into three basic types based on decoration:

Pinto Polychrome A.D. 1280-1330	Gila Polychrome A.D. 1300-1450	Tonto Polychrome A.D. 1340-1450

Most late sites in the Hohokam region have large quantities of Gila Polychrome, some Tonto Polychrome, and no Pinto Polychrome. Thus, most sites could be placed between 1300 and 1450, but archaeologists found it difficult to determine which dated earlier in this 150-year period, and which were the latest sites.

After analyzing whole vessels and potsherds found at dozens of sites, researchers have recently been able to define new pottery types that used to be lumped into Gila Polychrome and Tonto Polychrome. This allowed them to break the period between 1300 and 1450 into smaller segments, revealing which sites were occupied at the same time, and identifying the latest prehispanic sites in the region. These new types include:

Cliff Polychrome A.D. 1350-1450	Nine Mile Polychrome A.D. 1375-1450	Phoenix Polychrome A.D. 1375-1450	Los Muertos Polychrome A.D. 1400-1450