Gatlin Site Gila Bend Hohokam Village
Gatlin Site · Gila Bend Platform
Pre-Classic to Classic Hohokam (800–1200 CE)·Hohokam Pre-Classic–Classic Gila Bend phase·🇺🇸 Arizona, Maricopa County, Gila Bend, Gila River Bend, United States
About
About Gatlin Site Gila Bend Hohokam Village
Gatlin Site Gila Bend Hohokam Village is the platform-mound village at the Gila River's great bend 80 km southwest of Phoenix — an isolated Hohokam outpost where the Gila bends 90 degrees. Wasley's platform (3 m caliche) overlies Pre-Classic pit houses (800 CE) and a Gila Butte ballcourt embankment south — documenting Pre-Classic-to-Classic village continuity at Gila Bend before the 1200 CE bend abandonment, earlier than the Phoenix Basin 1450 CE collapse, suggesting Gila Bend was the Hohokam frontier that depopulated first.
Why it mattersGila Bend Hohokam frontier platform — isolated bend village 80km SW Phoenix, earlier 1200 CE abandonment
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Gatlin as Hohokam village or Patayan?
- 021200 CE bend abandonment before Phoenix — drought gradient?
Theories
- 01Wasley Gila Bend frontier model vs. Phoenix core
- 02Hohokam–Patayan interaction at Gatlin bend
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.800 CE Pre-Classic village; platform 1000 CE
- Period
- Pre-Classic to Classic Hohokam (800–1200 CE)
- Culture
- Hohokam Pre-Classic–Classic Gila Bend phase
- Builders
- Gila Bend Hohokam village farmers, platform mound builders
- Purpose
- Gatlin Site platform village at Gila Bend — isolated Hohokam platform village 80km SW Phoenix at Gila River's great bend, platform + ballcourt outliers
- Abandoned
- c.1200 CE Gila Bend abandonment pre-Classic collapse
- Rediscovered
- Excavated 1958–59 Wasley; revisited 1990s Dart (Arizona State Museum)
- Excavation
- Excavated
1958
Wasley excavates Gatlin platform at Gila Bend, ballcourt embankment found
1965
Gila Bend Pre-Classic to Classic platform monograph
1994
Gila Bend frontier abandonment 1200 CE Dart re-evaluation
On the ground
Structures & features
32.9500° N · 112.7300° W · 225 m · 3 mapped features
Caliche Platform Mound (3 m, 1000 CE)
platform moundCaliche-adobe platform 3 m high with compound wall at Gila Bend
32.9508° N · 112.7294° WGila Butte Ballcourt Embankment
ritualBallcourt embankment 50 m long south of platform, Gila Butte phase
32.9493° N · 112.7309° WPre-Classic Pit-House Village (800 CE)
settlementPre-Classic pit houses beneath platform, red-on-buff Sacaton
32.9511° N · 112.7293° W