Hohokam Society May Have Reached The West Coast

New evidence suggests that the Hohokam indians who inhabited the four corners region may have lived as far west as the shore of southern California coast. This evidence points to the Patayan indians actually being part of Hohokam society. 

 The Hohokam indians had the most developed irrigation system in the New World, not suprizing concidering the dry conditions that span from the Four Corners region to Death Valley in California. As a result of studying obsidean an projectile points Steven Shackley at the Phoebe Hearst Museum of Anthropology at the University of California, Berkeley has determined that the Hohokam indians inhabited a large region from the Four Corners in Colorado, Arizona, Utah, and New Mexico as far south as Mexico. He now believes that in addition to this area the Hohoham indians may have moved as far west as California. This would redefine the ansecstry of many Native Americans who decendend from this area in California. This map represents the area that was previously thought to be the extent of the Hohokam polity. The Hohokam indians were a heterogenous polity where one identity was given to many different cultural groups. The Hohokam indians had many different languages and traditions, but identified as one possible due to the need for an organized irrigation system in this region. Shackley’s research is based on trade patterns that can be seen through obsidean and projectile points. You can recognize a society by their method of creating points, but the best way to document trade is through obsidean. This is because obsidean has a chemical makeup unique to the site where it was found. This is because obsidean is produced from magma runoff. You can trace a peice of obsidean back to its origional location, and you can also match it to other obsidean from other indian societies. This can give a trail of trade that leads you back to the origin of the obsidean.

To view a video about eastern California obsidean click here.

The Hohokam indians had a trade network of at least 50,000 square miles.  The biggest indicator that the Patayan people were actually Hohokam is found in the style of their projectile points which are identical to Hohokam points. Another factor is that they have an extremely similar culture including burial practices. This is an example of Hohokam art.

Source: Science Daily