The “Collapse” of Cooperative Hohokam Irrigation in the Lower Salt River Valley

Hill, J. Brett; Lyons, Patrick D.; Clark, Jeffery J.; Doelle, William H.

doi:10.1353/jsw.2015.0015

Cited by 20 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 61 publications

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“…Prehistorians have advanced many different models for cultural change in southern Arizona, and they have identified a wide range of factors as potential causes. These include such diverse mechanisms as migration, flood, drought, volcanic eruptions, variable solar output, ocean-atmospheric dynamics, social unrest, salinization, earthquakes, warfare, path dependencies, network size, and astronomical associations (Elson et al 2002; Graybill et al 2006; Haury 1976; Hegmon et al 2016; Hill et al 2015; Huckleberry 2015; Loendorf 2012; Masse and Espenak 2006; Mills et al 2013; Nelson et al 2010; Ravesloot et al 2009; Redman 1999; Tainter 1988; Woodson 2016). We agree that many factors conditioned cultural variation in the Phoenix Basin, and these theories are not necessarily mutually exclusive with the model presented here, which posits that cyclical overpopulation led to repeated vulnerabilities to socio-environmental constraints.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Southwestern archaeologists have widely employed room counts to approximate prehistoric and historic population sizes (Hill et al 2004, 2015). However, Preclassic- and Historic-period pithouses in the Phoenix Basin are not readily visible on the modern ground surface and can only be identified through excavation, which makes it difficult to count all rooms (Fish and Fish 1994:119).…”

Section: Prehistoric- and Historic-period Population Estimation Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In general, archaeologists who have studied prehistoric remains in the Phoenix Basin have ignored Akimel O'Odham cultural traditions (Hill et al 2015:618). Even those who have incorporated Native American perspectives have generally combined Akimel O'Odham information with the traditions of people who live outside the Phoenix Basin, especially the Tohono O'Odhams (i.e., Papagos) who live in less well-watered regions to the south (e.g., Rice 2016).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Despite many decades of work, little consensus exists regarding what caused the Hohokam Collapse, and researchers still don't agree about the nature of the relationship between prehistoric and historic populations in the area (Ezell 1963, 1983:149–150; Gilpin and Phillips 1998:28–43; Haury 1976; Hegmon et al 2016; Hill et al 2015; Loendorf 2012; Loendorf et al 2013; McClelland 2015; Mills et al 2013; Nelson et al 2010; Ravesloot et al 2009; Rea 2007; Redman 1999; Rice 2016; Seymour 2011; Tainter 1988; Wells 2006). We propose that understanding the changes at the end of the Classic period has been an intractable issue because researchers have tacitly assumed that major changes in material culture patterns indicate that a different ethnic group migrated to the region.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Ancestral O'odham: Akimel O'ODHAM Cultural Traditions and the Archaeological Record

Loendorf

Lewis²

2017

Am. Antiq.

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Archaeologists have long used the prehistoric inhabitants of the Phoenix Basin in south-central Arizona as an example of a failed or collapsed society, and most prehistorians still assert that Hohokam material culture patterns ended at the close of the Classic period (circa A.D. 1150–1450). Although researchers are increasingly recognizing connections between prehistoric and modern indigenous people, little consensus exists regarding the cause or causes of the dramatic alterations in material culture patterns that occurred in the region. Most archaeologists who have studied the changes at the end of the Classic period, however, have not fully considered the implications of previous and subsequent conditions, including similar and seemingly abrupt shifts in cultural practices that occurred both before and after this time. This paper uses Akimel O'Odham (i.e., Pima) cultural knowledge to contextualize the “Hohokam Collapse.” We show that this perspective of culture history explains the relationship between prehistoric and historic populations and answers many of the long-standing questions regarding cultural variation in the Phoenix Basin.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Prehistoric- and Historic-period Population Estimation Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

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Ancestral O'odham: Akimel O'ODHAM Cultural Traditions and the Archaeological Record

Loendorf

Lewis²

2017

Am. Antiq.

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“…Excavations of Hohokam canals show that the canal system increased over time, with some canals reaching as far as 16 km away from the river (Hill et al., 2015). New fields were put into use farther from the Salt River.…”

Section: Stone Age Innovationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Saline Soils and the Agricultural Failure of a Prehistoric Population

McCauley¹

2020

CSA News

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A solution: You dig. You create an elaborate system of ditches carved from the hard, desert soil, and you direct salty water from the river onto your fields as best you can. It works for a while-you and your family can grow food to eat while the river runs.Soon, some of your fields fail to grow as many crops as they used to. A puzzle: You are a farmer with no metal tools. Even if you had a plow, you haven't any animals to pull it. Nearby is a river filled with salty water though that river runs sporadically throughout the year. You do have an abundance of sunlight, but that sun dries out the soil as quickly as you can water it. You expand. You create more canals and fields and let the poorest-performing land lay fallow. It is a constant battle to maintain the same level of production, even with more land growing crops. Sometimes the rains come down all at once, flooding the river and your carefully dug canals and ditches, occasionally destroying them completely. You start Artist's rendition of a Hohokam field by Michael Hampshire (courtesy of Pueblo Grande Museum, City of Phoenix).

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A critical evaluation of soil salinization, waterlogging, and agricultural productive capacity in Hohokam irrigation of the Phoenix Basin, Arizona, USA

Caseldine

2023

J of Env Quality

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A causal link between environmental degradation and societal collapse has captivated the imagination of generations of archaeologists, historians, and the public. At its core, it is believed that the agricultural aspirations of societies outstrip what the environment can offer. The Hohokam, who farmed the Phoenix Basin of Arizona, USA, for nearly a millennium (AD 475–1450), have been repeatedly used as an exemplar of incongruence between the environment and agricultural practices leading to crop failures and ultimately societal collapse. Contributing to the collapse narrative is crop failures that spread across the lower Salt River Valley during the late 1800s. Unacknowledged by collapse narratives is that unproductive fields were brought back to life at the start of the twentieth century with techniques not beyond the capability of the Hohokam. Hohokam farmers and their descendants maintained and prospered in the valley for more than a millennium, so the assumed unidirectionality toward degraded productive capacity warrants examination. In this article, five lines of evidence are used to assess the relationships among soil salinization, waterlogging, and agricultural productive capacity. The multistep approach reveals that available evidence fails to substantiate soil salinization and waterlogging as primary catalysts in the decline of Hohokam irrigation. As such, establishing causality between environmental factors and societal decline in the past requires multiple lines of evidence producing contextually detailed syntheses, rather than simple models.

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The “Collapse” of Cooperative Hohokam Irrigation in the Lower Salt River Valley

Cited by 20 publications

References 61 publications

Ancestral O'odham: Akimel O'ODHAM Cultural Traditions and the Archaeological Record

Ancestral O'odham: Akimel O'ODHAM Cultural Traditions and the Archaeological Record

Saline Soils and the Agricultural Failure of a Prehistoric Population

A critical evaluation of soil salinization, waterlogging, and agricultural productive capacity in Hohokam irrigation of the Phoenix Basin, Arizona, USA

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