Snaketown (Snaketown Hohokam Village)
Schuk Toak (O'odham) · Snaketown · Snaktown · Snaketown Hohokam
Hohokam Pioneer to Classic (300 BCE–1450 CE)·Hohokam (Sonoran Desert farmers)·🇺🇸 Arizona, Pinal County – Gila River floodplain, United States
About
About Snaketown (Snaketown Hohokam Village)
Type-site and capital of Hohokam Culture (c.300 BCE–1450 CE, Pioneer to Classic) — 2 km² canal-irrigated village with 2 ballcourts, platform mounds, and 100 km of canals off Gila River irrigating 10,000 acres desert. Emil Haury 1934–64 excavations (700+ pit-houses, 2 ballcourts 300 CE, Mound 1 oval stadium) found 400+ clay figurines, shell jewelry from Baja, and Mexican-style ballgame. National Historic Landmark 1964; sacred to O'odham (repatriated, reburied, no public dig). Managed by Huhugam Heritage Center.
Why it mattersType-site Hohokam; longest canal system north of Mexico (LeBlanc); Mexican ballcourt farthest north; desert irrigation engineering.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Collapse 1450 — Salado migration, 1350 drought, or canal salinization?
- 02Mexican ballgame — migration or idea diffusion
Theories
- 01Snaketown as Hohokam 'Maya frontier' — Haury Mexican influence vs modern 'desert indigenous' revision
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- Pioneer Period c.300 BCE–500 CE; Colonial 500–900 CE ballcourts; Classic 1150 CE mounds
- Period
- Hohokam Pioneer to Classic (300 BCE–1450 CE)
- Culture
- Hohokam (Sonoran Desert farmers)
- Builders
- Hohokam (Ancestral O'odham)
- Purpose
- Canal metropolis and ballcourt ceremonial centre of Arizona desert
- Abandoned
- c.1450 CE Classic Hohokam collapse (Salado? drought)
- Rediscovered
- 1934 Gila Pueblo Haury; 1964–65 second AZ-State Museum season
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
1934
Haury Gila Pueblo first season — ballcourt discovery
c.700 CE
Peak ballcourt village with 100 km canals
1964
Decades project synthesis 'The Hohokam Desert Farmers'
On the ground
Structures & features
33.1850° N · 111.9180° W · 430 m · 3 mapped features
Ballcourt #1 (Colonial)
ballcourt58 m oval stadium with caliche plaster 700 CE
33.1851° N · 111.9181° WPlatform Mound 1
moundClassic period caliche platform mound 4 m
33.1849° N · 111.9179° WCanal headgate (Gila intake)
canal10 m wide intake canal 4 m deep
33.1850° N · 111.9180° W