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For over a century, archaeologists have investigated the vast network of prehistoric Hohokam canal irrigation systems in the lower Salt River and middle Gila River valleys, as well as in other areas of southern Arizona. However, documentation of the agricultural fields in which prehistoric farmers irrigated their crops generally was lacking until the last 25 years. This is largely a result of the difficulty in identifying ancient fields, since they are not visible on the surface and have been obscured or destroyed by natural landscape processes as well as historic and modern disturbances. More recent archaeological investigations have revealed ancient irrigated fields through innovative methods and excavation techniques. The fields were constructed both by Hohokam irrigators (450–1450 CE) as well as by farmers from preceding cultural traditions during the Early Agricultural period (2100 BCE–50 CE). These discoveries occurred during projects conducted in compliance with the National Historic Preservation Act. In this chapter, I highlight these important studies that have expanded the view of ancient agricultural landscapes in southern Arizona. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Worldwide applications of ochre analysis continue to develop at a rapid pace, highlighting a number of analytical and interpretative issues. As regional source databases continue to grow, researchers have turned to the thornier issues of source allocation. In this study, we utilize LA–ICP–MS and NAA to examine archaeological pigments, ceramic paints and experimental tiles from geological sources and Hohokam ceramics in central Arizona. Archaeological pigments and paint on sherds are successfully source matched based on trace element content, with implications for understanding paint production, sociocultural relations governing trade in pigment and the use of different resource landscapes over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Irragric anthrosols form as a result of prolonged deposition of fine sediments from irrigation water. Ancient irragric soils centuries to millennia old occur in several world regions, especially in arid environments of Asia and the Americas. This article presents evidence for an ancient irragric anthrosol in the North American Southwest, along the Snaketown Canal System in the Middle Gila River Valley, Arizona. This pedostratigraphic unit was formed as a result of a millennium of irrigation by Hohokam farmers from A.D. 450 to 1450. The irragric soil consists of a mantle of silty-to-loamy textures with minimal soil formation overlying a natural argillic horizon on a Pleistocene stream terrace. A soil mapped independently by the United States Department of Agriculture-Natural Resources Conservation Service with these horizons corresponds closely with the canal system. Soil within the canal system tends to be lower in salt, sodium, and pH compared with external soils. This suggests that the irragric process improved soil for crop production through long-term leaching and additions of fresh sediments with the irrigation water. This anthropogenic process of canal sedimentation has had a long-lasting impact on the sedimentary record and soils in this arid environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]