Prehistoric Indians of the SouthwestWormington, H. M. (Hannah Marie)
History
Prehistoric Indians of the Southwest
Wormington, H. M. (Hannah Marie)
Indians of North America -- Southwest, New -- Antiquities; Southwest, New -- Antiquities
Houses in the main area were roughly rectangular in outline, but the
ends were somewhat rounded and the sides slightly convex. Floors were
encircled by low, mud rims, six inches or less in height, which were
probably designed to keep water out of the houses. Some had
parallel-sided entrance ways, but others had a bulbous vestibule with a
low step at the end. Late in the period, in the eastern part of the Gila
Basin, there were some rectangular surface houses with walls of adobe,
containing sporadic stones, over a pole framework. In some cases,
villages were enclosed by walls and are referred to as _compounds_. This
name is taken from the term which is applied to the walled or fenced
enclosure of a house or factory in the orient.
The irrigation system was enlarged and improved. Ball courts were still
being built but they seem to have been considerably reduced in size by
the end of the period. They were oriented north and south and the ends
were closed. One interesting find, made in a Sedentary site with an
estimated date of 1100 A. D., was a rubber ball buried in a jar.[52]
Analysis showed the rubber to be of American origin, unvulcanized and
unrefined. There is no way of proving that this ball was used in playing
the game for which the courts were designed, but it seems entirely
possible that it was.
At this time some Hohokam people moved north into the Flagstaff area.
They introduced ball courts and other distinctive traits of their
culture.[86]
[Illustration: Fig. 47—Red-on-buff Hohokam jars of the Sedentary
period. (Courtesy Gila Pueblo.)]
In the field of pottery, forty per cent of all that was produced was of
the red-on-buff variety. There was a great elaboration of designs and
some appear to have been taken from woven fabrics. Panels, negative
designs, and patterns tied together by interlocking scrolls, were all
common. There was a great variety of shapes which included three and
four-legged trays. Jars increased tremendously in size, and a few had a
capacity of almost thirty gallons. Bowls were also quite large. Some
plain buff ware was manufactured, but it was not common. Less than one
per cent of the total pottery assemblage consisted of bowls with heavily
slipped and polished reddish brown interiors and mottled brown or gray
exteriors. From the eastern area come bright red bowls with
smoke-darkened, black interiors.
Figurines were of two types. For the most part they consisted of heads
which were apparently attached to bodies made of cord-wrapped fiber.
These have not survived, but their presence is indicated by impressions
in the clay of the heads. The faces are quite realistic and probably
represent an attempt at portraiture. Other figurines, made of buff clay
and painted with red, show full figures, seated, with hands resting on
the knees.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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