Casa Grande Hohokam South Compound
Casa Grande South · Hohokam South Compound
Classic Period Hohokam (1150–1450 CE)·Hohokam (O'odham ancestral) Classic Period (Soho–Civano phases)·🇺🇸 Arizona, Pinal County, Sonoran Desert, Middle Gila, United States
About
About Casa Grande Hohokam South Compound
Casa Grande Hohokam South Compound is the Classic Period platform-mound village south of the Casa Grande Great House — the iconic 4-story caliche Great House (1350 CE) on the Gila River. South compound trenches expose compound-walled platform mound houses, Soho–Civano phase red-on-buff pottery and the Casa Grande canal (Canal de las Casas Grandes) intake — documenting late Hohokam canal aggregation (1150–1450 CE) before the Gila depopulation that emptied the Sonoran Desert canal villages. The Great House astronomical alignments (solstice windows) anchor Hohokam cosmology at the south compound's civic centre.
Why it mattersHohokam Classic canal aggregation — south compound of Casa Grande Great House with solstice alignments
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Casa Grande Great House as elite residence or astronomical observatory?
- 021450 CE Gila abandonment — drought or social fission?
Theories
- 01Crown Classic Hohokam canal collapse model tested at Casa Grande south
- 02Hohokam–O'odham continuity via Casa Grande south compound
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.1150 CE Soho phase founding; Great House 1350 CE
- Period
- Classic Period Hohokam (1150–1450 CE)
- Culture
- Hohokam (O'odham ancestral) Classic Period (Soho–Civano phases)
- Builders
- Hohokam canal farmers, Classic Period platform mound builders
- Purpose
- South compound of Casa Grande Ruins National Monument — Classic Period Hohokam platform mound village south of Great House, lower Santa Cruz–Gila canal system
- Abandoned
- c.1450 CE Classic collapse — Gila River abandonment
- Rediscovered
- Excavated 1906–08 Fewkes; 1930s–60s NPS; re-evaluated 1980s Crown
- Excavation
- Excavated
1907
Fewkes stabilizes Casa Grande Great House, south compound mapped
1936
NPS excavates south compound platform mound, Soho–Civano red-on-buff published
1984
Crown re-evaluation Classic canal collapse synthesis Casa Grande
On the ground
Structures & features
32.9950° N · 111.5363° W · 420 m · 3 mapped features
Platform Mound South Compound (Compound Wall)
settlementCompound-walled platform mound village south of Great House, Classic 1150–1450 CE
32.9958° N · 111.5357° WGreat House Solstice Windows
astronomical4-story caliche Great House with solstice-aligned windows above south compound 1350 CE
32.9943° N · 111.5372° WCanal de las Casas Grandes Intake
hydraulicCanal intake feeding south compound canal system, Gila River Hohokam canal 10km
32.9961° N · 111.5356° W