Are the Tohono O'odham Descendent from the Hohokam and Their Predecessors? A Rock Art Test of Occupation Continuity in Southern Arizona

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

This paper reports data supporting continuity of Hohokam and O'odham occupation and use at the Cocoraque Butte Rock Art Complex by the Archaic, Hohokam, and O'odham people. Data analyzed are from a comprehensive recording of over 11,000 rock art elements completed in March 2018. Surface artifacts indicate the site was in use from 4000 to 5000 years before present through the early to mid 1900s. The 1007 petroglyphs of anthropomorphs located on one intensely-used hillside at this site appear to represent much of the time frame. The images were separated into three patination and intensity-of-execution levels consistent with the occupations of the Archaic, Hohokam, and O'odham people, and then classed into 9 stylistic types resulting in continuity of style across the time frame. Some archaeologists previously proposed that during the A.D. 1200 to 1500 migrations from Northern Arizona and New Mexico, the Hohokam and O'odham in Southern Arizona were joined by Puebloan immigrants. These data were also compared to anthropomorph style types from Pueblo II, III, and IV.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 23453