Long before Euroamericans moved into the area that is now Phoenix, the Salt River Valley was home to a thriving civilization called Huhugam by the culturally affiliated O’odham and Hohokam by archaeologists.
The unique cultural landscape of the Hohokam consisted of large villages, small farming communities, and a prehistoric canal irrigation system whose engineering and agricultural potential remains unmatched by any pre-Columbian society in North America. From roughly A.D. 400 through 1450, tens of thousands of acres were irrigated, supporting large villages and settlements and providing commodities such as corn and cotton for a well-developed exchange system that spanned hundreds of miles from the Phoenix Basin.
Pueblo Grande is one of the names given to a major Hohokam village on the north bank of the Salt River. This archaeological site is also the location of Pueblo Grande Museum, which serves as a public interpretative facility as well as the archaeological repository for the City of Phoenix.
This online collection features a sample of artifacts excavated from the Hohokam site of Pueblo Grande.
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