Prehistoric People

Prehistoric People. Saguaro National Park. , The earliest known occupation of Southern Arizona was by Paleo-Indian hunters from about 10,000 to 8,000 B.C. They were followed by Archaic period hunter-gatherers. Hohokam, "the people who have gone," is the name given to the prehistoric people that lived in central and southern Arizona from A.D. 200 until 1450. Present day Pima and Tohono O'Odham may be their descendants., Settling in villages with satellite camps for farming, hunting, and plant gathering in southeast Arizona, the Hohokam were desert farmers of corn, beans, squash, and cotton. They practiced canal irrigation in the Phoenix area. Some of these hand dug canals were 30 feet wide, 10 feet deep and more than 10 miles long. In the Tucson Basin the Hohokam practiced dry farming, often building extensive terraced gardens or planting crops along rivers, streams, and washes., The desert provided a large variety of materials for subsistence. Hohokam people gathered wild plants such as cholla, saguaro, prickly pear, mesquite, agave, and palo verde. They hunted rabbits, deer, bighorn sheep and pronghorn. Stone knives, arrowheads, throwing sticks, and the bow and arrow were important tools for these ancient people., Included in daily life were religious activities, making pottery and baskets, crafting shell jewelry, and trading with other peoples. The Hohokam had no domestic animals other than the dog. Horses, cattle, and sheep were introduced by the Spanish., During the protohistoric period, between the Hohokam occupation and Spanish contact, the area appears to have been occupied by Sobaipuri (Upper Piman) and Tohono O'Odham people., Timeline , 10,000-8,000 B.C. . Paleo-Indian , 8,000 B.С.-A.D. 200 . Archaic , A.D. 200-1450 . Hohokam (Petroglyphs) , 1450-1692 . Protohistoric