Conclusion for the Hohokam but not the Huhugam
Hohokam population declined due to small changes in birth or death rates over a long period of time. Diminished quality and diversity of diet led to poor health. Population concentration along irrigation canals also created a more favorable environment for the spread of disease.
Some population decline is attributable to movement of people out of the region as conditions deteriorated. Archaeological evidence—including the distributions of Roosevelt Red Ware, obsidian used for stone tools, and objects used in late Hohokam rituals—indicates that groups in the Hohokam region maintained connections with people in other areas.
As the populations of the Hohokam region continued to decline and communities became more variable in their cultural makeup (as the descendants of both locals and immigrants), it became difficult to maintain cultural traditions. There were fewer people in more dispersed communities with the knowledge required to pass customs on to younger generations. Eventually, artifacts and architecture archaeologists define as “Hohokam” disappeared—or, rather, changed and became unrecognizable. Small remnant groups no longer practiced the behaviors associated with the Hohokam archaeological culture. They were not Hohokam. Nonetheless, from a modern American Indian perspective, they were Huhugam (Puzzle Piece 1). This brings us full-circle, to an understanding of how people who were at one time both Huhugam and Hohokam ceased to be Hohokam while remaining the ancestors of today’s native people.
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| Contrasts in architecture: The Casa Grande, a four-story adobe structure (left) in use from 1350 to 1450, was part of a large settlement with many adobe compounds (courtesy Library of Congress). In the late 1600s, native residents of southern Arizona lived in small oval brush structures (right). Rocks were used to anchor the bent pole frames of these houses (courtesy of Rene Muñoz). | |
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| Contrasts in ceramics: Salado Polychrome vessels were widely made and traded between A.D. 1300 and 1450 (top). In contrast, only a few plain wares (bottom) were being made and used by the inhabitants of southern Arizona in the late 1600s (both photos courtesy of the Arizona State Museum). | |
This online exhibit was created in partnership with Pueblo Grande Museum, and is made possible by grants from the National Science Foundation.
