Ancient Skywatchers of the Sonoran Desert - The Hohokam
Wild Visions Inc.
PO Box 42194, Phoenix, AZ
85080
623-516-1975 FAX 623-516-8288
Wild Visions, Inc. produced this documentary short on the Hohokam Indians who occupied a large portion of what is now Phoenix, Arizona from 0 AD until about 1450 AD. These ingenious people could tell the seasons of the sun by marking rocks in alignment with the sun at the winter and summer solstice, and the Spring and Fall equinox. This was important as the Hohokam knew when to organize a work force to build over 1000 miles of irrigation canals for their agricultural produce. And they did this with nothing more than baskets and digging sticks! The rock markings told them when to plant. These resourceful peoples could irrigate up to 50,000 acres in a given year. To this day, these Hohokam rock art markings and petroglyphs are still accurate as a calendar and a way of telling the seasons.