Plausible Ethnographic Analogies for the Social Organization of Hohokam Canal Irrigation

Abstract

This paper presents the results of a juxtaposition of archaeological findings on Hohokam irrigation and ethnographic research on the social organization of irrigation. There are no ethnographic or historic records pertaining to the Hohokam, so the comparative ethnographic approach is perhaps more productive than in other situations. Several forms of canal irrigation organization are considered, including politically centralized, acephalous, private, and several forms of communal. We find that politically centralized, acephalous, and private forms are implausible in the Hohokam context. Several of the communal forms are plausible. We find no ethnographic basis for positing a valley-wide management system.

Combining radiocarbon and single-grain optically stimulated luminescence methods to accurately date pre-ceramic irrigation canals, Tucson, Arizona

“…The most studied prehistoric canals in the Southwest are those associated with the Hohokam (Table 1) who built expansive canal networks in the large alluvial valleys of central and southern Arizona approximately A.D. 500e1450 (Doolittle, 2000;Howard and Huckleberry, 1991;Hunt et al, 2005;Woodson, 2010). Less well known are canal systems constructed by the farmers that preceded the Hohokam.…”

“…In other cases, multi-kilometer long, hierarchically structured canal systems linking villages, hamlets, and farmsteads were used to irrigate hundreds of hectares of fields organized within a larger irrigation community (Gregory, 1991). The larger canal systems represent a significant investment of labor and required sociopolitical coordination between different groups of people (Hunt et al, 2005;Woodson, 2008).…”

The process, location, and history of Hohokam Buff ware production: some experimental and analytical results

“…They built some of the largest and most impressive hydraulic works of the prehistoric New World (cf. Howard, 1993;Hunt et al, 2005). A hallmark of their material culture is a distinctive buff-colored pottery, which artisans decorated with elaborate and often exquisite designs executed with red-mineral paint (Fig.…”

Identification and dating of indigenous water storage reservoirs along the Rio San José at Laguna Pueblo, western New Mexico, USA

“…For many of these communities, the only recourse to regain access to water is through the courts. Archival records provide an important source for documenting indigenous water control and management, but water use by Native Americans long predates the documentary record established with the arrival of Europeans (Doolittle, 2000;Hunt et al, 2005;Wright, 2006). The physical identification and dating of ancient and historic indigenous water-control features such as canals and reservoirs thus provide an important line of evidence to supplement archival records.…”