Intersite Difference in Distant Interactions, Hohokam Canal System 2, Phoenix Basin, Arizona

Summary

Material evidence of interaction between prehispanic peoples in the U.S. Southwest and Mesoamerica is first detected ca. 2000 BCE with the introduction of maize, figurines, and ceramics. Such markers of long-distance interaction increase in diversity and abundance in later periods, including copper bells, scarlet macaws, and other objects and symbols. These objects and symbols moved up to 2000 km by social actions and mechanisms that remain obscure. Although the Hohokam had the strongest ties to Mesoamerica of any region in the U.S. Southwest, more could be done to examine local variation in that interaction. Also unclear is what role such distantly acquired objects might have played in water control practices. For example, were sites located near headgates more engaged in distant acquisitions than other sites in the canal systems? Scholars believe that these canal systems constituted relational communities. In this study we evaluate whether villages within Phoenix Basin Canal System 2, including the well-documented sites Pueblo Grande and Las Colinas, were differentially involved in distant interactions and how their involvement changed over time.This analysis of the distribution of interaction markers within a canal system provides evidence about how individual sites and actors were differentially engaged with distant partners in Mesoamerica.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage