1150 to 1200, there was a shift towards surface structures with freestanding adobe walls that were often enclosed within a walled compound. The superstructure was made of branches and brush that were anchored to a center framework of large timbers, and covered with adobe mud plaster. Archaeologists refer to these as “pit houses” or “houses in pit” depending on the nature of the construction. At first, the houses were individual structures constructed within or around a shallow depression excavated into the earth. Larger villages were organized around a central plaza with ceremonial structures. Hohokam settlements varied in size from small, single family farmsteads to large villages of several hundred people. The core-or heart-of the agave plant was also roasted in large hornos (pit ovens) and eaten. In some areas, agave was particularly important and was cultivated and harvested for the fibers in its leaves, which were processed to make thread and woven cloth. Hallmarks include brown or buff-colored pottery decorated with reddish, ochre (hematite)-based paint a highly developed tradition of shell jewelry manufacturing that included carved pendants a growing a variety of crops, including maize (corn), various beans, squashes, and cotton, which were often irrigated by a complex system of canals and reservoirs as well as the collection of many wild plants, including mesquites, cactus buds, grass seeds, and agave. In the Sonoran Desert regions of southern Arizona, researchers call this developing tradition the “Hohokam” culture. 450-1150 CEĪrchaeologists do not, of course, know what these people called themselves, or how they viewed their community and ties with other settlements in the surrounding regions.
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