Archaeological Investigations at Los Guanacos: Exploring Cultural Changes in Late Hohokam Society
Creators: name: Howell, Todd L.
Publisher: name: Northland Research, Inc.
Year: 1993
Subjects: subject: Tempe, AZ
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/geographic-keyword/77287/tempe-az
subject: Arizona (State / Territory)
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/geographic-keyword/79515/arizona-state-territory
subject: Polvóron Phase
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/temporal-keyword/5505/polvoron-phase
subject: Late Sedentary Period
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/temporal-keyword/6049/late-sedentary-period
subject: AD 1350s
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/temporal-keyword/6353/ad-1350s
subject: Hohoham Classic period
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/temporal-keyword/180/hohoham-classic-period
subject: Hohokam
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/culture-keyword/21/hohokam
subject: Los Guanacos
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/5027/los-guanacos
subject: AZ U:9:116 (ASM)
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/78474/az-u9116-asm
subject: Funerary and Burial Structures or Features
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/301/funerary-and-burial-structures-or-features
subject: Cremation
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/880/cremation
subject: Archaeological Feature
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/339/archaeological-feature
subject: Inhumation
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/947/inhumation
subject: Thermal Pit
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/1492/thermal-pit
subject: Hearth
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/343/hearth
subject: Adobe Room
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/1719/adobe-room
subject: Domestic Structure or Architectural Complex
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/251/domestic-structure-or-architectural-complex
subject: Midden
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/347/midden
subject: Non-Thermal Pit
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/2081/non-thermal-pit
subject: Pit
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/355/pit
subject: Roasting Pit / Oven / Horno
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/357/roasting-pit-oven-horno
subject: Pit Structure
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/965/pit-structure
subject: Pollen
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/material-type/13/pollen
subject: Shell
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/material-type/14/shell
subject: Ceramic
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/material-type/1/ceramic
subject: Chipped Stone
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/material-type/2/chipped-stone
subject: Fauna
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/material-type/4/fauna
subject: Ground Stone
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/material-type/7/ground-stone
subject: Human Remains
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/material-type/9/human-remains
subject: Macrobotanical
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/material-type/10/macrobotanical
subject: Archaeomagnetic Sample
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/material-type/1899/archaeomagnetic-sample
subject: Salt River Project
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/other-keyword/139554/salt-river-project
subject: SRP
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/other-keyword/147417/srp
subject: Data Recovery / Excavation
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/investigation-type/5/data-recovery-excavation
subject: Site Evaluation / Testing
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/investigation-type/10/site-evaluation-testing

description: This report describes archaeological investigations at the site of Los Guanacos, AZ U:9:116(ASM). The investigations involved a data recovery program, conducted by Northland Research, Inc. for the Salt River Project (SRP). Los Guanacos was a primarily Classic period Hohokam community. Only a portion of the site is contained in the approximately 103-acre land parcel owned by SRP in Tempe, Arizona. The archaeological investigations reported here document only a small portion of the total community of Los Guanacos. Through the use of backhoe trenches and stripped areas, 72 cultural features were identified and the vast majority were investigated. Two pit structures, seven complete or partial adobe-walled rooms, four adobe wall segments, six hornos, 16 inhumations, one cremation, and a large number of both thermal and nonthermal pits (both extramural and intramural) were investigated. Chronometric evidence obtained from the site indicates an occupation ranging from the late Sedentary (approximately A.D. 1100) through to the Polvoron phase (perhaps as late as A.D. 1500). Several research topics were investigated. Among the more important findings were 1) relatively intensive use of agave and cotton during the Classic period, 2) that obsidian use increased through time, particularly during the Polvoron phase, 3) the identification of free-standing, narrow-walled adobe rooms and pit structures as principal structure types at Los Guanacos during the Polvoron phase, and 4) tests supported a model implicating a collapse of the canal system as a prime cause for Hohokam site abandonment and decreased population levels after the A.D. 1350s.