Trade and Exchange Networks
From the information provided in class, it is evident that there is sufficient evidence to demonstrate that there was long-distance trade that existed in prehistoric times in the Southwest. The presence of products such as seashells in archeological areas of Arizona, which show that might have come from as far as the Pacific Ocean. The Marine shells were traded over long distances. During AD 1000, there was evidence of trade for shell jewelry. There is evidence of the exchange of agricultural products. Besides, animals that were found in the south like Macaw were also part of trade items. One of the most critical trade equipment was the Obsidian, which was valued for its projectile point. Archeologically, the presence of long-distance trade could be done through the dating of the organic and inorganic materials found in the Sycamore Creek area. Through dating, it would be possible to identify artifacts such as shells and Obsidian, and knowing that such objects did not originate from the Sycamore Creek area, then the conclusion would be that they were brought into the area through trade.
There is also evidence of trade and interaction between the Hohokam and Mexicans from the south. The construction of ball courts by the Hohokam people that were similar to the Mexican site is an indication that there was an interaction between the Hohokam and the people from Mexico. The presence of goods from Mexico indicated that there was trade with the people of Hohokam. Products such as Copper bells, mosaics artworks, stone mirrors, and exotic birds such as macaws.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
The presence of Obsidian in the Grewe-Casa Grande archeological site was an example of evidence that can be used to explain long-distance trade. People who occupied Grewe before A.D.1100 acquired the Obsidian from neighbors. However, during the classic period, the residents of Casa Grande were forced to import Obsidian from a distant source. Obsidian circulation networks were enlarged during the classic period. The people Sycamore Creek area traded agricultural products like corn and cotton.
It appears that the people who resided at the Sycamore Creek area had some control over the long-distance trader. The central location of the territory placed the Hohokam residents in a position to trade with people from North West, from Mexico and other different regions. The Sycamore Creek area is located along rivers and valleys, which was a prime trade position.
Social Inequality
During the Sycamore creek project, various areas were found to be evident in cremation areas. Archeologists documented the cremation evidence that they collected from these areas. From the archeological data, it is evident that there is some form of patterning in cremations from these sites.
Middle-aged individuals were more likely to be cremated and put in ceramic vessels that were interred in a given way. The containers used are placed in a certain way, such as an inverted. Adult males remain in a jar seemed to be put in pots or bowls and then inverted over a red-on-buff jar. The ceramic vessels also seem to have been marked differently. The fashion looks definite for men while we are not told whether the vessels that buried females and children were inverted or not.
Grave inclusions suggest a lot about the person buried in that particular grave. From the data provided, the author identifies explicitly the number of jars varied in the grave. For example, an individual could be buried with three jars, including the plain ware globular jar, plain ware bowl, sacaton Red-on-buff shouldered jar, and Sacaton Red-on-buff flare –rimmed bowl while others were buried in different materials that were far less, for example, the shell disk beads. I think it was an illustration of the socio-economic status of the deceased.
The material that was found in the grave indicated the social status of the person buried. From the data collected, it is evident that there were different materials in each of the graves. There are cases wherein one grave the deceased were buried with different artifacts such as three of four jars, while in a separate cemetery, the deceased was buried in Schist palette. In other cases, others were buried using jars that were decorated and curved artifacts such as jars while others were buried in plain and incurved artifacts such as a bowl. There are different explanations that can be given to these artifacts that were associated with the various graves such as age, gender, social, and economic status in the society. Again there is the idea that given these graves were made in different historical times. It can also have resulted in a difference in the no of an artifact that was found in each of the graves.
3. Symbols
Just like many archeological sites, multiple petroglyph panels were encountered in the Round Valley area during the Sycamore Creek Project. The only conclusion that these petroglyph panels depicted some form of symbols and meaning to the people who resided in these regions. Hohokam residents seemed to draw these symbols that were scattered across the Sycamore Creek areas along the borders.
The data and pictures provided for the petroglyph panels show different symbols such as bighorn sheep, depicts families and births, humanoid, and gendered figures. It is believed that these symbols represented something in the Hohokam belief system. An example is given of rocks where birds, butterflies, and birds were drawn, and it is believed that these were symbols of the immediate environment. On the rocks, there are images of village images, borders, valleys, houses, and so forth.
Archaeologists found that the petroglyphs found near within the sycamore area were strategically positioned in critical areas. Precisely, the stone containing the petroglyph was positioned on terraces edges gently sloping surfaces on the sides of creeks. These areas were isolated boulders and two clusters in one small area. There are different arguments for the placement of the rocks containing these petroglyphs in these places. Some suggest that they were meant to play some specific role within the residents of these areas. An example was to educate the young ones of their culture while others are seen as an appreciation of nature and life. It was a culture of the people who resided in these areas, which primarily is seen as storing and passing down critical cultural information.
Architecture
In Rattler's green farmstead, the housing structure was the masonry structure with the house being single-roomed. The houses were built of blocks and granite. The houses were built such that the walls were not standing fully with small entrances. Some structures were also built using quartzite instead of the commonly used type of material, which is granite. The houses did not consist of the roof.
Boulder Tee farmstead also had a masonry type of structure. Boulder Tee farmstead had three masonry structures. Among these structures, there were two habitation structures though they were small. The structures were built of granite, and there were no roofs as well. Some structures were made of plain bricks with no roof but are covered with concrete. Other structures were sunken featured buildings (Pit houses) such as those that Hohokam.
There is patterning indicated in the data given that some areas were more occupied than others. For example, the northern side had the largest settlement. The location of the place determined the number of structures available. The presence of rivers especially led to a large number of people settle around them.
Pit houses that were overlapping were present were family groups that were the same built at the same place for long periods of time. People of the same stock settled in one place leading to clusters. The frequency and number of structures were more were arable land was in plenty and in those places where cultivation was possible. A small number of people stayed at the valleys; hence, fewer structures and the settlements were scattered.
The structures which are portrayed in the data appear to be of social importance, especially those that are located near the canals and the rivers. Near the canals, there were unusual forms of architecture that indicated a society that is complex. The Hohokam canals were an indication of a social system that has a central authority. Having a place near the canals and being able to constructive canals that are extensive would not be possible if one did not have some authority that is centralized.
