Ancient Hohokam Communities in Southern Arizona: The Coyote Mountains Archaeological District in the Alter Valley
Creators: name: Dart, Allen
name: Holmlund, James P.
name: Wallace, Henry D.
Publisher: name: Center for Desert Archaeology
Year: 1990
Subjects: subject: Arizona (State / Territory)
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/geographic-keyword/335/arizona-state-territory
subject: Tucson Basin
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/geographic-keyword/2758/tucson-basin
subject: Pima (County)
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/geographic-keyword/7353/pima-county
subject: Interstitial Zone D
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/geographic-keyword/83753/interstitial-zone-d
subject: Classic Period
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/temporal-keyword/125/classic-period
subject: Hohokam Preclassic Period
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/temporal-keyword/7741/hohokam-preclassic-period
subject: Rillito Phase
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/temporal-keyword/5630/rillito-phase
subject: Late Sedentary-Classic Period
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/temporal-keyword/7742/late-sedentary-classic-period
subject: Middle Rincon Phase
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/temporal-keyword/7600/middle-rincon-phase
subject: Canada del Oro Phase
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/temporal-keyword/6022/canada-del-oro-phase
subject: Hohokam
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/culture-keyword/21/hohokam
subject: Huhugam
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/culture-keyword/8166/huhugam
subject: Historic
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/culture-keyword/25/historic
subject: AZ DD:2:16 (ASM)
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/117124/az-dd216-asm
subject: AZ DD:2:23 (ASM)
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/117126/az-dd223-asm
subject: AZ DD:2:17 (ASM)
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/117125/az-dd217-asm
subject: AZ DD:2:41 (ASM)
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/117128/az-dd241-asm
subject: AZ DD:2:28 (ASM)
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/117127/az-dd228-asm
subject: AZ DD:2:43 (ASM)
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/117130/az-dd243-asm
subject: AZ DD:2:42 (ASM)
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/117129/az-dd242-asm
subject: AZ DD:2:45 (ASM)
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/117132/az-dd245-asm
subject: AZ DD:2:44 (ASM)
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/117131/az-dd244-asm
subject: AZ DD:2:47 (ASM)
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/117134/az-dd247-asm
subject: AZ DD:2:46 (ASM)
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/117133/az-dd246-asm
subject: AZ DD:2:49 (ASM)
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/117136/az-dd249-asm
subject: AZ DD:2:48 (ASM)
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/117135/az-dd248-asm
subject: AZ DD:3:1 (ASM)
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/117138/az-dd31-asm
subject: AZ DD:2:50 (ASM)
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/117137/az-dd250-asm
subject: AZ DD:3:115 (ASM)
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/117140/az-dd3115-asm
subject: AZ DD:3:114 (ASM)
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/117139/az-dd3114-asm
subject: AZ DD:3:117 (ASM)
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/117142/az-dd3117-asm
subject: AZ DD:3:116 (ASM)
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/117141/az-dd3116-asm
subject: AZ DD:3:119 (ASM)
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/117144/az-dd3119-asm
subject: AZ DD:3:118 (ASM)
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/117143/az-dd3118-asm
subject: AZ DD:3:121 (ASM)
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/117146/az-dd3121-asm
subject: AZ DD:3:120 (ASM)
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/117145/az-dd3120-asm
subject: AZ DD:3:123 (ASM)
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/117148/az-dd3123-asm
subject: AZ DD:3:122 (ASM)
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/117147/az-dd3122-asm
subject: AZ DD:3:16 (ASM)
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/117150/az-dd316-asm
subject: AZ DD:3:124 (ASM)
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/117149/az-dd3124-asm
subject: AZ DD:3:4 (ASM)
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/117152/az-dd34-asm
subject: AZ DD:3:2 (ASM)
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/117151/az-dd32-asm
subject: AZ DD:3:97 (ASM)
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/117154/az-dd397-asm
subject: AZ DD:3:5 (ASM)
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/117153/az-dd35-asm
subject: AZ DD:3:98 (ASM)
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-name/117155/az-dd398-asm
subject: Trash Midden
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/351/trash-midden
subject: Pit
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/355/pit
subject: Artifact Scatter
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/340/artifact-scatter
subject: Roasting Pit / Oven / Horno
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/357/roasting-pit-oven-horno
subject: Pit House / Earth Lodge
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/263/pit-house-earth-lodge
subject: Hearth
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/343/hearth
subject: Petroglyph
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/363/petroglyph
subject: Pictograph
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/site-type/364/pictograph
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: Fire Cracked Rock
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/material-type/5/fire-cracked-rock
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: Metal
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/material-type/11/metal
subject: Archaeological Overview
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/investigation-type/1/archaeological-overview
subject: Data Recovery / Excavation
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/investigation-type/5/data-recovery-excavation
subject: Records Search / Inventory Checking
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/investigation-type/8/records-search-inventory-checking
subject: Research Design / Data Recovery Plan
valueUri: https://core.tdar.org/browse/investigation-type/9/research-design-data-recovery-plan

description: The greater Coyote Mountains archaeological district identified in this volume is located at the north end of the Altar Valley of Arizona and includes an extensive and varied complex of archaeological sites and features. These cultural materials are believed to represent the remains of one or more large, early-to-late Classic period (A D . 1150-1450) communities focused on at least 10 walled compounds-open spaces enclosed by adobe or masonry walls--interpreted as residential areas. Associated with at least 5 of these compounds are architectural features interpreted by archaeologists as platform mounds-earthen mounds believed to have functioned as public monuments of social or religious importance. The origins of this prehistoric Hohokam Indian community, referred to as the Coyote Mountains platform mound community, are not yet clear. Decorated pottery types at some sites indicate Hohokam Preclassic period (A D . 2001150) occupation of the district but it seems that the community experienced a dramatic population growth during the early Classic period (A D . 1150-1350). This growth may reflect a reorganization and concentration of nearby populations that resided to the north and east on the slopes of the Tucson, Sierrita, and Roskruge mountains surrounding the Avra and Altar valleys or perhaps it reflects immigration from the southern Altar Valley or the valleys to the west of the Baboquivari, Quinlan, and Coyote mountains. Regardless of the sources of this population influx, over the entire course of the Classic period (A D . 1150-1450) the Coyote Mountains platform mound community grew to include an extensive group of contemporary villages, farmsteads, agricultural fields, and limited activity sites spread along the east and south flanks of the Coyote Mountains. These remains have cultural research significance in Hohokam archaeology because they comprise the southernmost Hohokam platform mound community known and because they are the southernmost of a series of platform mound communities that apparently originated in the Phoenix area of Arizona; thus the sites are suitable for study of relationships between peripheral and central platform mound communities. Also, unlike some other platform mound communities of the nearby Santa Cruz River basin, at least parts of the Coyote Mountains community persisted into, and perhaps even reached a population peak, during the late Classic period (A D . 1350-1450). The research potential of the Coyote Mountains Archaeological District is further enhanced by the fact that it has never been subjected to disruptive agricultural, residential, commercial, or industrial development, and many of its contributing properties have evidently been partially buried and thus preserved by recent alluvium.