Excavations at Snaketown by Gila Pueblo revealed that the Hohokam of southern Arizona were strongly influenced by the more highly developed cultures of Mexico, particularly between AD 500 or 600 and 1150, and later. Not only did these excavations definitely establish the Hohokam as one of the main culture groups of the Southwest, but also demonstrated the chronological development that took place. The introductions from Mexico lifted the Hohokam into a new pattern of living, which contrasted sharply with the scattered rancherias of the early Indian farmers of this region. Some of the new ideas spread north and east to the Anasazi and Mogollon cultures of Arizona. The extensive irrigation canal system and the large urban developments of city states of the late prehistoric period mark the highest achievement of Hohokam labor.

Information provided by the National Registry of Historic Places, a program of the National Park Service

Photographer: Gila Pueblo Staff-Photo Date: March 1935-ASM No.: 70572 - Arizona State Museum