Long before there were European and American explorers, and even before there were the modern Native American tribes we know today, the Hohokam people called the river valleys of central and southern Arizona home. They left over a thousand years of archaeological evidence in the area before their culture collapsed in the decades leading up to 1500.
Today the area is dotted with the remains of their settlements. And their own extensive canals are part of the water ways still in use today. Local museums are filled with their pottery, jewelry, tools and handiwork. And numerous hikes and explorations in the desert offer a unique glimpse into their lives via their rock carvings.
Called petroglyphs, these images picked or chiseled into stone surfaces seem to represent both the animate and abstract. Most experts agree that they're not graffiti because of the tremendous effort put into their creation. It's possible that the Hohokam were acknowledging significant events or locations, or that they were making some kind of religious statement. In any event, they are a striking reminder to the modern visitor that they've had human company for millenia.
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| Spiral petroglyph at Tucson's Saguaro National Park West. |
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| Petroglyphs at Phoenix' South Mountain Park. They might represent a turtle and two snakes. |
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| Petroglyph at Phoenix' South Mountain Park. |
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| Petroglyph at Phoenix' South Mountain Park. It might represent a lizard. |
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| Assorted petroglyphs at Agua Fria National Monument near Badger Springs north of New River. |
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| Assorted petroglyphs, including a deer, at Agua Fria National Monument near Badger Springs north of New River. |
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| Spiral petroglyph in the Phoenix Mountain Preserve. |
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| Images at the Deer Valley Petroglyph Preserve in Phoenix. |
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| Petroglyphs at Spur Cross Ranch Conservation Area, north of Cave Creek. They are images of a hunter, deer, desert bighorn sheep and a distant time. |
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