Snaketown
Snaketown is an archaeological site 30 miles (48 km) southeast of Phoenix, Arizona that was inhabited by the Hohokam people. Definitive dates are not clear, but the site was generally thought to be inhabited between 300 BCE and 1200 CE. Hohokam is an O’odham word meaning “those who have gone.” Specifically who the Hohokam people were and when the site was inhabited is subject to debate. It was dedicated as Hohokam Pima National Monument in 1972. Snaketown is governed by the Gila River Indian Community, which chose to preserve the site by reburying it after early excavations. The Monument is not open to the public.
Snaketown in Arizona is dated by some scholars to around 300 BCE. Whether or not these were the Hohokam people is subject to debate. Martin and Plog maintain that these were the Ootam people, which was a subdivision of the Cochise Culture. According to these two, the Ootam were conquered and subsumed around 1000 CE by the Hohokam people from Mexico. Martin and Plog credit the Mexican Hohokam people with bringing extensive irrigation works, as well as other features attributed to what is thought of as Hohokam culture, from the south. Emil Haury, an established scholar on the subject, makes no mention of this apparently hostile takeover. Furthermore, he views the Hohokam as a harmonious people, particularly in the way they shared water. Archaeologist Brian Fagan dates Hohokam culture to 500 CE, and sums up the situation by stating that there are simply two separate schools of thought on the subject. Martin and Plog belong to the first group and Haury belongs to the second. The second group argues that these features the first group believes came from Mexico were developed locally. While there is much dispute on the origin of Snaketown, most scholars are able to agree that Hohokam culture peaked between 700 and 900 CE. Snaketown derives its name from another O’odham word meaning “place of snakes” and is considered to be one of the larger Hohokam settlements. A type of pottery (called red-on-buff) that is identified as distinctly Hohokam is found over ca. 30,000 square miles (78,000 km2) of the southwest. This indicates the extent and prominence of the Hohokam people at their height.
The site of Snaketown is positioned on The Gila River and the community is estimated to have been 250 acres in size at its maximum extent, with much more farmland and smaller settlements surrounding it. It has been estimated that in the Hohokam era, canals were built in this area up to seven miles (11 km) long, providing water for 70,000 acres of land. The size of the canals indicates that Snaketown probably formed a type of weak chiefdom, however some feel that the canals do not indicate this type of social complexity. Snaketown at its height contained between 1000 and 3000 people. The household was most likely the fundamental building block of Hohokam society. The water was thought to have been owned by the entire community, but families probably maintained the rights to plots of land. People who aided in the building of the canals may have received first pick of the land. The more affluent would own larger plots of land and were therefore rationed larger portions of water to maintain them. Housing of Hohokam people varies according to status, time and sources. It is generally agreed that simple adobe structures and impermanent housing were used depending upon the time of the year. Small dams were placed systematically to control the intensity of the river flow. Snaketown also included a central plaza and two installations, that were identified as ballcourts at the time of excavation since its earliest times, but did not always include irrigation. In its earliest stage it most likely resembled other agrarian cultures of the time. As irrigation grew, the Hohokam people continued to prosper. They began to grow new crops such as agave and tobacco, and although maize farmers, they most likely subsidized their diet with small amounts of hunting and gathering. As Snaketown grew in size between 975 and 1150 CE, an additional ball court was built. Some scholars believe the ball courts may have promoted trade or competition between communities or segments of communities. A number of status symbols and trading pieces were found at Snaketown, indicating the Hohokam’s affinity for trading. These pieces included shell, stone, and macaw feathers. Trash heaps played just as crucial of a role as trading pieces in the archaeology of Snaketown. Many of the trash heaps helped archaeologists develop the chronology of the site.
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