Today, people relocate to Sedona and Oak Creek for the breathtaking views and agreeable climate. But archaeology shows us that, because of its reliable water supply and varied ecology, central Arizona’s Verde Valley has drawn residents for more than 120 centuries. Researchers have found numerous projectile points of Paleoindians and Archaic hunter-gatherers, and the sites of agriculturalists identified as the Southern Sinagua (ca. A.D. 600–1425) are scattered throughout the region. Hohokam cultural materials are also present in lowland sites dating between 800 and 1125, indicating that groups from southern Arizona moved into the Verde Valley and coexisted with the Sinagua, or that some Sinagua groups adopted Hohokam practices. Yavapai and Apache groups have lived in the region for many centuries, and the Hopi maintain close ties to this culturally diverse landscape. Contributors to this issue of Archaeology Southwest Magazine provide a closer look at archaeology in Arizona’s Verde Valley.
Today, people relocate to Sedona and Oak Creek for the breathtaking views and agreeable climate. But archaeology shows us that, because of its reliable water supply and varied ecology, central Arizona’s Verde Valley has drawn residents for more than 120 centuries. Researchers have found numerous projectile points of Paleoindians and Archaic hunter-gatherers, and the sites of agriculturalists identified as the Southern Sinagua (ca. A.D. 600–1425) are scattered throughout the region. Hohokam cultural materials are also present in lowland sites dating between 800 and 1125, indicating that groups from southern Arizona moved into the Verde Valley and coexisted with the Sinagua, or that some Sinagua groups adopted Hohokam practices. Yavapai and Apache groups have lived in the region for many centuries, and the Hopi maintain close ties to this culturally diverse landscape. Contributors to this issue of Archaeology Southwest Magazine provide a closer look at archaeology in Arizona’s Verde Valley.
Links of interest related to each article are listed below. Readings of interest are here (opens as a PDF).
Verde Valley Pit Structures: Variations through Time — Stewart Deats
The Mindeleff Cavate Site — Susan D. Hall
Hall, Susan D.
1992 An Architectural Analysis of Cavate Dwellings in the Verde Valley, Arizona. Master’s thesis. Department of Anthropology, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff. University Microfilms International, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Mindeleff, Cosmos
1896 Aboriginal Remains in Verde Valley, Arizona. In 13th Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology, pp. 179–261. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.
Sinagua Farming Methods Revealed — Jerome P. Ehrhardt
From theHandbook of Iron Meteorites (opens as a PDF; entry begins at top right)
The Tale of a Falling Star — article in the Verde Independent; note that the find date of 1927 given in the article does not match records at ASU, which date the find to 1915.