Building Collapse: Hierarchy and an Anarchic Social Movement in the Hohokam Classic Period

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Why Platform Mounds? Part 2: Regional Comparisons and Tribal Histories" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Archaeologists have offered multiple explanations for the dramatic architectural, subsistence, and political shifts that happened at the end of the Hohokam Classic period. Many of these explanations are good at exploring potential factors leading to these changes in regional contexts, like the Phoenix Basin where it is often discussed as a large-scale collapse. However, these explanations are often less applicable in other areas of the Hohokam world. Is there a unified explanation, or even a series of inter-related explanations, for this cultural transition that occurred in multiple regions within the Hohokam world, such as the Phoenix Basin, Tonto Basin, Tucson Basin, Safford Valley, San Pedro Valley, and the Papagueria? Is there an inference to the best explanation? In this paper, we will compare previously proposed models for Hohokam Classic period "collapse" to evaluate how they apply across different regions. These will be compared to O'odham oral traditions. Finally, using indigenous and anarchist political theories and a social movement framework, we will explore a potential explanation.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)   •
• Why Platform Mounds? Part 2: Regional Comparisons and Tribal Histories

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 25020