Prehistoric and Historical Period Agricultural Strategies in the Western Papagueria: Archaeological and O'odham Perspectives

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Transcending Boundaries and Exploring Pasts: Current Archaeological Investigations of the Arizona-Sonora Borderlands" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

This paper investigates prehistoric and historical period agricultural strategies in the Western Papagueria, a vast area of southwest Arizona and Northwest Mexico. It is the hottest and driest portion of the Sonoran Desert with temperatures that exceed 110o and rainfall of 2"—11"/year. It is also a place of great biological and cultural overlap and diversity. Since 1996 archaeologists have surveyed nearly 200,000 acres and identified about 1,900 archaeological sites on the Barry M. Goldwater Range East. One of the biggest surprises is the presence of large villages and associated features that represent various agricultural strategies. These are examined from the perspective of archaeologists and O’odham Elders working together. Once thought to be too dry and hot to practice agricultural there is evidence for canal irrigation, ak-chin farming, dry farming, and walk-in wells at large Formative period sites occupied from AD 1050-1450. Historically, anthropologists described the Hia C-ed O’odham (Sand Papago) as being hunters and gatherers who lived in small villages/basecamps scattered between the Gulf of California and the Gila River. Recent research and oral history indicates that the Hia C-ed O’odham also practiced agriculture—canal irrigation from marshes, floodwater farming along ephemeral washes, and use of playas for agricultural fields.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)   •
• Transcending Boundaries and Exploring Pasts: Current Archaeological Investigations of the Arizona-Sonora Borderlands

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 25064