PREHISTORIC IRRIGATION PROJECT — SHETRONE 383 



and its many rooms are accounted for by the fact that adobe construc- 

 tion was at best only temporary or semipermanent, and required 

 frequent repairs, abandonment of certain parts, and the building 

 of new units. 



Outside the compound and adjacent thereto were the cultivated 

 fields, comprising many acres. Here, too, the people lived, their 

 domiciles being merely crude shelters of poles and brush, their floors 

 somewhat below the surface of the ground — a type of domicile known 

 to archeologists as pit houses. 



It would be unfair to judge the culture of the Hohokam peoples 

 solely by their unassuming dwellings, for it should be remembered 

 that in the mild climate of their country they could be, and were, 

 people of the great outdoors. Their amazing system of irrigation 

 canals and the resulting agricultural development, together with 

 their pretentious communal centers and their ceremonial ball courts, 

 are sufficient to place them on an advanced plane of culture; nor 

 should one overlook their admirable development of the minor 

 domestic arts. While little of a perishable nature has survived the 

 destruction wrought by time and the elements, their utilization of 

 clay, stone, shell, and other time-resisting materials, is in keeping 

 with their major accomplishments. The pottery ware of the Hoho- 

 kam, particularly, is exceptional, and many fine examples of pots, 

 jars, vases, and bowls, of pleasing form and decoration, have been 

 recovered. Equally impressive, if not as artistic, are the numerous 

 metates and manos, for grinding corn and other grains and seeds, 

 while their stone axes are among the finest known. Beads, pendants, 

 bracelets, and necklaces of shell and other materials are much in 

 evidence, and turquoise occurs sparingly. Chipped flint projectile 

 points and knives, while often of good workmanship, are much less 

 abundant than in the Middle West, obviously for the reason that the 

 Hohokam were mainly agricultural and only moderately dependent 

 on wild game for food. Tobacco pipes are of very infrequent occur- 

 rence, as contrasted with Ohio, where large numbers are found in 

 the ancient mounds and burial sites. Tobacco doubtless was ordi- 

 narily smoked as cigarettes. 



While archeologists specializing in the culture are virtually agreed 

 that the Hohokam came into the Salt and Gila Valleys at or slightly 

 before the beginning of the Christian Era, there is no definite evidence 

 as to their origin. There is some evidence of affinity with the lesser- 

 known Mogollon and Cochise cultures to the south, and of contact with 

 the Pueblo peoples to the north, but the full significance of these re- 

 mains undetermined. 



Fortunately, however, the approximate period of their occupancy 

 and the probable time and cause of their disappearance from their 



