I’ve lived in Phoenix my whole life. I’ve driven past this old Pueblo for my entire driving life and never gave it a thought until recently when I started photographing Rock Art. As I stood on Tempe Butte and I looked out over the valley to the north I imagined what it would be like before the city was here. The flats of the salt river were inhabited by the Hohokom, and this area of the country, was the largest inhabited area. Although Phoenix is the fifth largest city in the country, at one time, it was the largest area that people occupied.
The Hohokom Doug irrigation, canals by hand that fed off the salt River to water their crops. This was an agricultural area below. You’ll find irrigation canals dug by hand that fed off the Salt River to water their crops. This was an agricultural area made out of a desert. In the pictures, you’ll find a map that shows where all the Pueblos were in the valley. It makes sense to me now because most of the desert mountains with black basalt and volcanic rock have rock art. That’s because the valley was filled with these ancient villages.
It’s sort of fitting that the Arizona archaeological society meets at the conference room at S’edav Va’aki. I had decided to go view the grounds and I meet Gene, a docent. He told me all the details of the museum and guided me through the trail that wound through the Pueblo complex.
I’m now getting more and more frequent doses of education on the archaeology of my area. The intra-relationships of surrounding area people and how they interacted. It’s an amazing study because the living conditions are so harsh here in the valley. This is the first weekend in March and it’s 85° but as I step into the Adobe buildings the temperature drastically drops. The sun is not shining in and it’s a very comfortable cool atmosphere.
I really enjoyed my visit but now is time for the monthly meeting of the Arizona Archeological Society.
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