Pueblo Grande Museum
1 .. ~ •••. ".. ... jlIIl ,... ,.,. FE ... ",."" .. J, ~ ..... p ... Pueblo Grande Museum Profiles No, 16 Food For Thought: Prehistoric Foods in Southern Arizona Ifyou tried to envision what this area was like in Hohokam Settlement of the Salt River Valley pre)tistoric times by stripping away all of the modem development, you might decide that it was barren. . "Hohokam;' an Akirnel O'odham (Pima) Indian The closest natural desert vegetation is in Papago word meaning "all used up;' is the name given to the Park, but most of what you see is creosote (Larrea prehistoric people that occupied much of southern tridentada), which has no food use, and a few spiny Arizona from about AD 1, or later, to AD 1450. By cacti. You look at the nearby Salt River bed, which is constructing the largest systel)1 of irrigation canals in dry and lifeless, with few plants of any kind growing North America, the Hohokam grew over adozen along its edge, and even fewer animals. Out behind different crops, more than any other prehistoric the museum you notice afew mesquite (ProsozW;) culture in America. Although their diet was based on trees that appear to be useful for shade, but not much the typical "com, beans, and squash" triad of North else. Phoenix is located in one of the hottest and American cultivars, the Hohokam were far more driest parts of the Sonoran Desert, and it may seem sophisticated in their use and manipulation of plant like an unlikely place to settle without modem tech and animal resources. nology. However, the Sonoran Desert has the greatest The Phoenix area has deep alluvial (river amount of biological diversity of any desert in the deposited) soil, which is highly productive when world, and what we see today along the banks of the irligated. While canal irrigation has always been the Salt River is vastly different from when the first primmy means for local farmers to water their crops, farmers settled here. the Hohokam employed other methods as well, including'several forms of floodwater fmming. Early Archaic Period Settlement and Subsistence in their occupation of the Salt River Valley, and continuing much later in other areas, During the Archaic Period, the inhabitants of the Hohokam relied .on the flooding southern Arizona lived in fairly small groups and of rive!s or washes to moved periodically throughout the year to collect provide sufficient moisture natural plant and animal resources in areas where to bl1ng crops to maturity. they were most abundant. During the Late Archaic Seeds could be planted in period (about 1200 Be to AD 150) in the Thcson area the mud-along the banks of a people grew com and lived in small villages that may' river, or at the ends of deselt have been occupied year-round. The gradual shift washes (arroyos), where ... from hunting and gathering to agriculture resulted in flood waters would repeat ... people becoming more settled, but they continued to edly spread out over the " rely on gathered wild plants as important supplements rich alluvial soil. •.• to their diet. • •
~ Pueblo Grande Museum and Cultural Park The Hohokam built rock-lined possibly in surplus amowlts for trade. Cotton seeds terraces and small check dams are not fOWld at aJ'chaeological sites north of southem on the slopes of mountains to A1izona until AD 11 00, yet we know that the Anasazi trap rainwater lUll-off that ana other prehistotic groups in northem mona used could be diverted to crops. cotton te>.tiles pIior to that time, This implies that the They constructed rock piles near the bases of some Hohokam may rave maintained a monopoly on the important plants, especially agaves (Agave spp.), to growth of cotton and probably traded it throughout protect them as they grew to maturity. Some the Southwest. Historic vaJieties of cotton used by Hohokam "rock pile fields" extend for Native Ameticans in Arizona are known to require less many acres around mountain slopes. water and to mature more rapidly than the The earliest Hohokam canals commercial vaIieties. were small, short and located close to In addition to com and cotton, large rivers. Canals eventually became larger, common beans (Plwseolus vulgaris), longer, and more branched. Some ended more than pwnpkins (Cucurbita pepo), and bottle seven miles from the Salt River, and a few exceeded . gourds (Lagmw,lUL siceraria), each 16 miles in length. FoUr large prehistoric canals began Oliginally from MesoameIica, were other early near Pueblo Grande. The shallow bedrock of the Hohokam crop plaJlts. By AD 950, the Hohokam were Papago Buttes, located immediately to the east, raises also using the cushaw squash (0. argyrospe1ma) the water table in the Salt River bed, so water could and the buttemut squash (0. lncsclwta). Also around be divelted into the heads of canals. Here, the Salt this time, asecond wave of doinesticated plants was River flowed for most ofthe year, until it was dammed introduced from Mesoamerica, including grain to fonn Lake·Roosevelt in 1911. The tiverbanks were amaJ'anth (Amaranthus hypochondriacus),jack lined with a variety of-watelcloying plants that provid beans (Canavalia ensijormis), and tepmy bemlS ed food, fuel, and construction matelial, as well as (Plwseolus acutijolius). habitat for a vaiiety of animals Incipient Domesticates Mesoarneri~ Use of Derived Crops Incipient domesticates are plaJlts that have Com (Zea mays) was domesticated in been selected and manipulated by hwnaJ1S to such Mesoamerica some 7000 years ago. The earlie~t an extent that they have begun to change mOfpho Hohokam com had hard kemels, somewhat like a logically. In addition to the domesticated food plants popcom. Around AD 775, newer com vaJieties were from Mesoamerica, the Hohokam raised a nwnber of introduced from MesoameIica, including some with incipient domesticates native to the Sonoran Desert, softer kemels. Current evidence indicates that com including agave (Agave spp.) and little barley grass was the ptimary staple of Hohokam diet. Com (Hordeum pusillum), remains, such as chan'ed kemels, bumed cobs and Agave murpheyi is thought to have been one of pollen grains, are routinely found at Hohokam sites. the species grown by the Hohokam. The long leaves The abundance of milling equipment (manos and provided an imPOrtmlt soW"ce of strong fibers for metates) indicates that com was often ground into a cordage, Once the leaves have been stripped off the floW", although these grinding stones were used on plant, its swollen stem or "heart" was roasted for 24 other plaJlt products as well. homs in earthen ovens until it was sugaJY with a Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum var. punctatum) molasses-like flavor. Archaeobotanist Vorsila Bohrer was grown in southem AIizona from at least AD 200. has noted that Agave murpheyi is preadapted to It was used for both its edible seed and its fiber. At cultivation, given its quick matwity, tolerance for cettain sites, especially along the Gila River, it appears inigation, and its ability to reproduce vegetatively. that an emphasis was placed on raising cotton, One of the reasons that we think the Hohokam
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cultivated agave, as opposed to just collecting it, is marks the beginning of their year. Some of the that the dense and inedible parts of the plant, such as saguaro fruit would have been eaten raw, some may tenninal spines, marginal teeth, and leaf fibers, are have been fermented into an alcoholic beverage, some often found in habitation sites located miles from the was made into a multi-purpose SYIUp, and the seeds high elevation rocky outcrops where agaves normally would have been ground into a flour. The fruits of grow. These sharp and dangerous waste products some other cacti were also consumed, such as the would have been removed from the plants if trans hedgehog cactus (Echirwcereus engelmanii) and ported more than a short distance from where they the prickly pear cactus (Opuntia spp.). were collected, as Native Americans did in historic The unopened flower buds of the cholla cactus times. The frequent occurrence of agave in Hohokam (Opuntia spp.) were also important subsistence sites also suggests the routine use of this plant, which resources to the Hohokam. Cholla is high in Vitamin C implies local availability. and calcium, and would have also been one of the Another strong case for an incipient Hohokam first plants available for gathering in the spring. As a domesticate is little barley grass. Dr. Bohrer has noted calcium source, this food would have been very that seeds from this plant are typically covered with important to people that did not have dairy animals. sheath-like structures called paleas and lemmas. The flower buds were prepared by slow roasting mass These help hold the grains onto a part of the plant quantities in large pit ovens. known as the spike. The spike acts like a self-planting The seeds and greens of other plants were mechanism to drive the attached grains into the routinely eaten by the Hohokam .. Examples include ground and to promote gennination. Naked barley lambsquarters (Chenopodium spp.), pigweed grains that don't have tightly attached paleas and (Amaranthus spp.), purslane (Portulaca spp.) and lerrulias are at a reproductive disadvantage. Virtually horse purslane (Trianthema portulacastrum) , all little barley grass grains recovered from Hohokam The pollen and seeds of lambsquarters and pigweed, sites are naked. Naked grains are advantageous for sometimes referred to as Cheno-ams, are very humans because they lack the inedible. parts which common in the Hohokam archaeological record. We must be removed before the grains are ready to be assume that seeds and greens played an important ground into flour. seasonal role in Hohokam diet. Many other wild plants could be mentioned here, including the seeds or Wild Plants grains of a number of grasses (poaceae), several species of mustards (Brassicaceae), and The Hohokam collected wild plants to supple perhaps plantain (Plantago insularis). ment their agricultural crop yields. At certain times of the year, or during droughts, wild plants may have functioned as staples. Although use of wild plant Animal Foods species varied due to local availability, one of the most Since the Hohokam did not have important was the mesquite (Prosapis spp.). domesticated food animals, the meat in Mesquite pods were ground to make asweet flour, their diet came from wild animals. Aside high in carbohydrates, that was sometimes formed from their value as protein sources, into a loaf suitable for storage or as travel provision. many other parts of the animals such as The seeds are very dense and difficult to grind, so bones, hides, featllers, and fur were they were probably discarded. Mesquite wood was used to make tools, ornaments, and also used for fuel and construction. clothing. Many animals were hWlted or The saguaro (Carnegiea gigan1.ea) fruit harvest trapped in nearby fields, canals, rivers, was so important to the Akimel and Tohono O'odham and desert habitats. Others were taken (Pima and Papago Indians), who are probable descen by hunting parties in upland areas. dants of the Hohokam, that its annual harvest in July
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, In particUlar, three species of rabbits, desert chub (Gila robusta), Colorado squawfish (Ptycho i cottontail (Sylvilagus audubonii), black-tailed jack cheilus lucius), razorback sucker (Xyrauchen tex rabbit (Lepus calijomicwJ), and antelope jackrabbjt anus), Gila coarse-scaled sucker (Catostomus insig (Lepus alieni), were important sources of meat for nis), flanhelrnouth sucker (Catostomus latipinnis), the Hohokam, as indicated by their abundance at and Gila mountain sucker (Catostomus clarki). Some various prehistoric sites in the region. These animals of these were not small. The Colorado squawfish, for were taken with bows and arrows, or driven into nets example, was reported to reach six feet in length and II during communal hunts. Other small quarry animals nearly 100 pounds in weightl I included rodents such as ground sq¢rrels, kangaroo . Hohokam fishing methods are not well-known. rats, 'woorirats, and field mice; reptiles li~e Sonoran Few.artifacts that relate to fishingfechnology have mud turtle, desert tortoise, and even lizards ajld been recognized in the archaeological record from snakes; and game birds like quail and mourning dove. southern AJizona. Nets, weirs, scoops, cactus-spine . Large game animals pursued by the Hohokam in hooks, arrows, and mild poisons may have been , " various areas of southern Arizona consisted bf mule employed, as described by historic accounts. Fish deer (Odoceileus hemionus), white-tailed deer may,also have been collected by hand when irrigation (Odocoileus virginianus), pronghorn (Anti/ocapra canals were drained. americana), and bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis). , Although these anin;tals may have lived along the Regional Difference in Plant Foods rivers in lowland valleys, they are abundant in upland· Anumber of plants were' emphasized in different regions, and may have been taken by long distance parts of southern AJizona, either because they were hunting parties. Ungulates were not only valued for locally abundant, were 'easy to cultivate in certain their meat, but also for their hides and bones. The areas, or because of local food preferences. It is possi 10weF leg bones of these animals, the jUetapodials or ble that some of these differences were encouraged cannon bones, were especially useful for making awls by the Hohokam to promote prehistoric exchange and hairpins. , Carnivores were also occasionally hunted, relationships. One example of regional variability is the common recovery of tepaly beans from sites in including coyote (Canis latrans), kit fox (Vulpes the Thcson basin. Tansy mustard (Descurainia sp.) macrotis), gray fox (Urbcyon cinereoargenteus) , , , seeds 'are routinely found in Hohokam sites south of raccoon (Procyon /otor), badger (Taxid.ea laxus), the Gila River, but are ral'e in sites in the Phoenix bobcat (Felis rufus), and very rarely, wolf (Canis ' area. Plantain or Indian wheat (Plantago sp.) seeds lupus), black !lear (UrSUs americanus), and are common at sites located along Brady Wash and mountain lion (Felis conc%r). Until a few years ago, the importance of liparian Queen Creek between modem Thcson and anjrnals to the Hohokam was not well known. Recent Phoenix, but are rarely recovered from excavations at Pueblo Grande and at other sites Hohokam sites in either urban. area. along the Salt Riv,er have shown that they used a Cotton seeds are well represented in wide valiety of fishes and other riparian fauna, Hohokam sites along the Gila River, much more so than in Salt River such as beaver (Castor caruJJ!en1!is), muskrat (Ondatra zibethicwJ), and valious waterfowl. Valley sites or in Hohokalll sites Among the fishes, most minnows and suckers away from these rivers. Agave (cyprinids and catostomids) which once inhabit- seems only to have been imPOltant ed the Salt and Gila rivers were taken. Species after about AD 1150 in the northern . Thcson Basin, but in the lower Salt River include bonytail chub ((Jila elegans); roundtail
/ ~\ Pueblo Grande Museum and Cultural Park Valley its use was widespread from early on, and quite rare, and beaver is listed as endangered by the never diminished in importance. Another example of state of Arizona. The presence of deer and bighorn regional variability is that Hohokam use of little barley sheep along the Salt River in Phoenix would also be a grass grains appears to have ceased in the lower Salt ~ rare sight today although they are River Valley after AD 1150, although it continued to found elsewhere in southern be important up to the mid-15th centwy AJizona. in other areas, especially alongthe Gila River. Increasing tile 1nf00wation Base Ecosystem Changes While somE aspects of Evidence from excavations at Hohokam,subsistence have been Pueblo Grande indicates a dramatic understood since the 1930s, most increase in the use of tiparian species after of the details have come to light AD 1150 that contrasts with data found at other sites only dUting the past 20 years tlrrough from earlier time petiods. Although further research is the numerous archaeological studies that have been' still needed, this suggests population increases among undertaken to comply with state and federal laws the Hohokam in the Salt and Gila River basins. Due to protecting significant cultural resources. These over exploitation of the fragile desert environment, archaeological projects occur prior to constmction on J the Hohokam appear to have experienced some. state or federal land or in areas requiring federal subsistence stress in the Classic period .(AD 1150 to funding, permitting, or other forms of approval. 1450). These and'other factors may have led to the Without tflese laws, most sites would be destroyed decline of Hohokam society by the15th centUty, at without scientific investigation and we would never least one hUtl<:ll'ed years before the first Spanish have been able to piece together the amazing variety explorers passed through the region. of foods used by the Hohokam or the degree of Although the Hohok~ changed their environ regional variability present in Hohokam plant and ment in a way which may have helped to bring about animal use. the end of their culture, their impact was not like the treme~dous habitat changes seen in southern Arizona . this century. Thday, the Salt River bed in Phoenix is normally dry, except during runoff petiods after heavy &ott M. Kwiatkowski storms or upstream releases from the half dozen Archaeological Research Se1'lJi.ces, Inc., Tempe dams constructed on the Salt and Verde rivers. 111ese changes have eliminated most of the lillarian habitat, Robert E. Gasser and many of the aninlals along the river. Several Arizona Department of Transpo1talion, nativ~ fish identified from the Pueblo Grande site, Phoeni:J: such as Colorado squawfish, bonytail chub, and razor back sucker, have been eliminated from the Salt and Steven R. James Gila drainages and are currently listed as Endangered Gila River Irulian Community, Sacaton and and Threatened Species by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Arizona State University, Tempe Service. Although muskrat and beaver have been collected from the Salt River in the vicinity of Phoenix dUting the historic period, their modem OCCUtTence is
~ Pueblo Grande Museum and Cultural Park Suggested Reading Minckley, WI. '. 1973 Fishes ofArizana. Arizona Game and Fish Curtin, l.€onora Scott Muse Department, Phoenix. 1984 By the Prophet of the Earth: Eth7/1)-botltny of the Pima. The. University of Arizona Press, SzuOOr, Christine R. .. 'l\jcson. Reprinted from the original pub 1991 Hunting bY PrehisliJri.c HorticuUural1sts ~n lished m1949 by the San Vicente the American Southwest. Garland Foundation, Santa Fe. Publishing, New York.
Gasser, Robelt E., and Scott M. Kwiatkowski Nabhan, GaIY Paul 1991 Food for Thought: Recognizing Patterns in 1985 Gathering the Desen. The University of Hohokam Subsistence. In Exploring the Arizona Press, Thcson (discussions of 12 Holwkam' Prehistoric Desert Peoples ofthe plants traditionally important in southern Ameriwn Southwest, edited by George J. Arizona). Gumerman, pp. 417-459. Amerind Foundation New World Studies Series NO.1. 1987 The Desert Smells Like Rain: ANaturalist University of New Mexico Press, in Papago Indian County. North Point Albuquerque. Press, San Francisco.
Hoffmeister, Donald F. Niethammer, Carolyn \ 1986 Mammals ofArizana. University of Arizona 1974 Ammican Indian FoOd and Lore. Collier Press, Thcson. Books, Macmillan Publishing Company, New / York (contains 150 authentic recipes). James, Steven R. , 1994 Hohokam HuntingjUld Fishing Patterns at 1987 The Tumbleweed Gourmet: Cooking with Pueblo Grande: Results of Archaeo-faunal Wild Southwestern Plants. The University Analysis. In Pueblo Grande Prqject: of Arizona Press, Thcson. Environrneru and Subsisteru:e, vol. 5, edit ed by Scott M. Kwiatkowski, pp. 249-318. Additionally, Volume 56, Number 3of Kiva (1991), Soil Systems Publications in Archaeology, the journal of the Arizona Archaeological and Historical No. 20, Phoenix. Society, is a special issue devoted entirely to Hohokam ethnobiology.
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Pueblo Grande Museum and Cultural Park 4619 East Washington Street. Phoenix, Ariwna 85034-1909 (602) 495-0901 . Museum hours: Monday - Saturday 9:00 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. Sunday 1:00 p.m. to 4:45 p.m.
PueIJIo Grnnde Museum and Cullural Park is a""'ion if/he City riPhaenix Parks, .' di.sc>imintlJion with eiJher /he Phaeni:t Parks, _ionand Libro'll !Jepartmenl _ and Libra'll DepartmenJ. Puebla Grnnde is aNaIiarull Ris_ ar /he"&_r ifEqual Ov/xJrtunily /'ragro"" Naliarull ParkSeroice, P.O. Bat 37127, Landmark aumed by /he Cily ifPhoenix. Washinglml Or. 2OO13-7irr. 1M City ifPhoenix does tWl cany a