Mogollon, Hohokam, and O'otam: Rethinking the Early Formative Period in Southern Arizona

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
An important issue in the prehistory of the Early Formative period is cultural affiliation. It is crucial to understanding the ongin and development of ceramic period cultures and the relationships between these and Archaic period peoples. In the past. Early Formative period cultures of southern Arizona were identified variously as Hohokam, Mogollon, and O'otam. Recent evidence has demonstrated an Early Formative period culture that was widespread across much of the southern Southwest and characterized uniformly by diagnostic horizon markers. The earliest horizon is marked by a strong Mogollon character in material traits. Our previous notions of cultural affiliation do not explain this cultural pattern well. Two alternative explanations for the phenomenon are the existence of a generalized, widely shared cultural pattern that gave rise to later groups recognized as Hohokam and Mogollon, and the coresidence of different groups on community and regional levels. These models and their implications for cultural development in the Southwest are discussed.