The Significance of the Mound Construction. The amount of time expended evidences larger towns than ever before. A system of political organization that had access to hundreds of workers must have existed. Mounds are larger works than ballcourts, and the limited number of mounds in the region relative to ballcourts indicates larger frameworks of social organization. Canal systems require canal-wide organization and coordination.
System management requires interconnection and stable social relations.
Community well-being is dependent on continued successful maintenance and operation of the system. Evidence at Marana indicates that several communities centered on ballcourts became integrated into one, centered on the platform mound and a canal system. The platform mounds can be seen as evidencing a redefinition of social systems and community. Construction of rooms atop the platform mounds after 1250 and walled enclosure of the mounds reinforce the view of the platform mound as an elite space. The platform mounds are also surrounded by the most developed residential compounds, indicating the centrality of the mounds to the community.