Pre-Columbian America was full of survivors. Groups of people who found themselves living in difficult situations (geographically especially) who had to find ways to adapt or they would die out.
Enter the Hohokam. Tucked into the Southwest corner of the continental United States, these people found ways to survive in a harsh desert climate without the aid of any modern convenience. Spend some time at this website and the links provided on the page to explore the impressive Hohokam people. In the comment section, describe what impresses you the most about the adaptability of prehistoric cultures.
The Hohokam people had a wide area of south-central Arizona. The Hohokam people were very artsy. The Hohokam people used paddles and they painted with red designs. The Hohokam people have a lot of animals such as bats, llamas, foxes. They also of a lot of reptiles. The Hohokam people also have a lot of Indain tribes. Some of the Hohokam people canals are still used today. They abounded in about the fifthteenth century. This is when the Spanish came upon their descendents. They had basketball, but they used feathers for all the lines on the court. The Hohokam pele seem like a really good group of people. (108)
ReplyDeleteThe Hohokam are very interesting because they were so architecturally and artistically gifted. They were initially called the Canal Builders because of the intricate irrigation network they designed, which was the best of their time. They were also traders among the Anasazi and the Mogollon’s territories. The people made lots of pottery and made designs with shells. The people disappeared without a trace in the 15th century. They completely left the archeological record because of unknown reasons. But these people were absolutely the most intuitive group of people in the whole southwest. Their designs and inventions will always be in the American history as the best of that time. (109)
ReplyDeleteThe Hohokam people were very artsy, and were very well known for collecting shells from the Pacific Ocean and Gulf of Mexico and creating intricate designs on them. The Hohokam also made a type of coiled pottery with a paddle and painted red designs on them. They were very greatly influenced by Mesoamerica because of their use of ball courts and feathers. The Hohokam people were also great entrepreneurs by trading with their neighbors the Anazi and the Mogollan. The Hohokam also were very skilled at irrigation, and some of their practices are still performed today. Overall, the Hohokams were very skilled and devoted workers. (106)
ReplyDeleteThe most impressive thing about the Hokoham was their irrigation system. Which some of their systems are still being used in the Phoenix, Arizona area today! Their ancestors previously called themselves “Canal Builders”. The Hokoham took shells from the Gulf of California and Pacific coast and made creative stuff with them. They often traded goods with their close neighbors, the Anasazi and the Mogollon. The Hokoham built a four story building in the mid 1300’s. The walls were 4 and a half feet thick with holes in three of them. Which means that the building was probably used for astronomy.
ReplyDeleteThe Hokoham were very intelligent people. They had a brilliant idea of an irrigation system. Building these water ways, have made a difference in today's society. Arizona still uses some of their water ways to this day. Ancestors of these people named them for their water building ways. They called these people 'Canal Builders'. The Hokoham took items from shores, like the Pacific coast and the Gulf. They used these items to make creative items. The Hokoham were also entrepreneurs. They sold and traded with their neighbors. ( neighbors were Anasazi and Mogollon). The Hokoham had many land masterpieces, arches, sand dunes,etc. Thinking about this culture they were pretty smart for their time period. (115)
ReplyDeleteWhat impressed me the most about the Hohokam was the irrigation network. They lived in the desert where there was little water, but they built irrigation canals which made them the “most skillful irrigation farmers the Southwest knew.” Stone instruments were the only things they used to build the irrigation networks. The Hohomak used earth mounds to plant crops and families possibly cultivated “their own small plots”. They planted several different kinds of crops in one mound. Later, they started to dig canals to fill up cisterns for storage. A while after that, the people began to experiment with floodwater irrigation. It was impressive that they adapted to the desert and gradually improved their way of life. (117)
ReplyDeleteThe Hohokam had irrigation systems that I thought were very impressive. They were the largest and most advanced irrigation systems in North America of the time. They used the irrigation systems to water their crops, which would be hard in a hot dessert. The irrigation systems were really cool. There were many different channels and canals. People would use head gates to direct the water which way they wanted. They would direct it to their crops or to reservoirs. Water was very valuable to them which is obvious because they lived in a dessert. Men would build canals which could be 30 feet in width and 10 feet in depth. They would dig this with their wooden and stone tools. It must have been hard work. (126)
ReplyDeleteThe Hohokam were interesting group because they live in such harsh conditions. They lived in the middle of the desert where it is hard to find water, so they had to find many different kinds of sources. They can find water in cacti, and many other plants, but they also made irrigation systems. They also used cacti for food, pots, and needles. They also boiled the cacti so they were like cabbage and mashed them to into drinks. They also made very beautiful pieces of pottery. The Hohokam had pretty feathers that they wore too. No one knows how they disappeared near the fifteenth century.
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The Hohokam people used weirs and dams to divert water from rivers into their main irrigation canals. The canals that they built took a lot of effort and time. Some canals were 30-50 feet wide, and about 10 feet deep. There were some canals that were 20 miles long! One way the Hohokam people reduced losing water was by plastering the bottoms of canals to keep the water from being absorbed into the loose soil. Some of the things that the Hohokam grew in their fields due to the water they received from the canals were corn, squash, beans, fruit, and tobacco.
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ReplyDeleteI think that they seemed very organized and skilled. For one thing their irrigation system was supposedly one of the best, if not the best. Also one thing they were very skilled at was art. I think it was interesting that they used shells in their artwork. Normally when I think of artwork from around that time I think of pottery with designs engraved into it. The other thing that was interesting is that they mysteriously disappeared. Back to the irrigation system topic. they seemed to be very well coordinated. It said that they mysteriously disappeared, well water being a main key for survival, you would think they would be able to survive. Like it suggested it may have been soil that went bad. Because water isn't the only thing you need to stay alive, you also need food. (140)
ReplyDeleteThe Hohokam people were very adaptable people. One of the ways in which they displayed their adapatibility was in their irrigation system. The Hohokam people lived in the desert area of south-central Arizona. They built the irrigation systems, sometimes called canals, to get water their crops because they were well known farms. They also needed water in general because they lived in the desert. Because of their great canal building, they inherited the name “Canal Builders”. They worked with only stone tools and often used shells in their architecture. The Hohokam people are believed to have migrated to the Arizona area from Mexico. I think the most interesting thing about the Hohokam people was their irrigation systems. (117)
ReplyDeleteI was impressed most by how the Hohokam adapted to the unrelenting desert environment of South Central Arizona. The desert offered no help to their survival because of the inadequate amount of water which resulted in the idea of irrigation. Their accomplishments in design and construction of irrigation methods by the use of elaborate canal systems are some of the most enduring ever constructed with preindustrial technology. Another interesting fact is that the canals were designed and constructed with respect to the characteristics and needs of the environment. These irrigation capabilities gave rise to an agricultural society. It is believed that a social-political structure, “irrigation communities”, evolved to accomplish the management and operation of the canal systems. These communities had their own leadership for organizing labor to operate and maintain the canal systems, establish water allocations and resolve local conflicts. (140)
ReplyDeletehttp://www.desertusa.com/ind1/du_peo_hoh.html
http://www.waterhistory.org/histories/hohokam2/
The thing that impressed me the most about the Hohokam people was the fact that they were able to find ways to live in a desert and adapt to their environment. Referred to as the Canal Builders, the Hohokam were ahead of their times when it came to irrigation systems that they made from stone and was run by many workers. Using the irrigation system, they were able to have a steady water source and able to water their crops. While the irrigation system was a brilliant idea, the Hohokam slowly died off and by the time the Spanish discovered their land they were practically extinct except for a few descendants who taught the Spanish how to build the infamous canals. The thing that impressed me the most about them was the irrigation systems but clearly they needed a backup plan for survival. (143 words)
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