![]() The pertinently named modern Phoenix which is today the fifth largest city in the United States of America, stems not from ashes but the ruins of what is believed to have been the most agriculturally productive and populous valley in the west way before 1600 CE (Breternitz 45). ![]() Arizona’s southern desserts are not an exception to this phenomenon. Hot dry regions in the world have generated some of the most outstanding pre-industrial civilizations. These Canals are located in the Phoenix valley of Southern Arizona. Two large ancient canals are still conserved in part of the four waters located in the southern part of the Archaeological Park and the Pueblo grand museum (Ackerly and Randall 34). Most of them were over 13 miles in their length with the largest amongst the Hohokam canals being 21 miles about 33km in length. These canals were characterized by their large sizes and their monumental shapes. By A.D 750-950 a period referred to as the early colonial period, large incorporated canal systems had been established in the Salt River’s southern and northern sides. These canals had the capacity to transport large water quantities onto the Salt River second or upper terrace. The first large Canals were designed by Hohokam irrigation engineers between A.D. In this kind of predisposition the earliest canals must have been especially disposed to demolition through floods. The earliest Hohokam Canal Systems are believed to have been small canals that were closely located near rivers. However, their canal systems never arrived at the sophistication and size of this one of a kind water system. Canal irrigation had previously been employed by people in Southern Mexico who lived along small drainages and rivers. This innovation would later lead to the novel Southern Arizona prehistoric culture christened Hohokam. It is feasible that by AD 50 they introduced a competent technology: canal irrigation. They farmed on wet soils in places that had been swamped when floods and running water bloated their rivers further than their banks. They are most likely to have depended on flood waters for their farming. They are believed to have led an active farming life style through instituting fields along the Salt River margins. Very little is in public knowledge about these people that begun the initial small hamlets above the Salt River along its terraces. The sites become more interesting when you look closer in the context of their history.At about the time Christ emerged people began moving into the Gila and Salt River valleys. Two sites in Mesa, Arizona highlight the history and legacy of these people: Mesa Grande Cultural Park and Park of the CanalsĪt first glance, you are unlikely to be impressed by either site. They settled in communities, built sophisticated irrigation systems, and were skillful farmers and creative artisans. The Hohokam peoples, ancestors of Pima-speaking Indians, occupied this area from about 300 BC into the first half of the fifteenth century AD. Despite the relatively recent establishment and population growth, history of human occupation in the area dates back thousands of years. In 1980, population numbers were under 2 million. ![]() Phoenix was first officially recognized as a community in 1868. Census Bureau, the Greater Phoenix area is the thirteenth largest metropolitan area in the United States, with a 2012 population of over 4.3 million people. Hohokam history in Mesa, Arizona at Mesa Grande Cultural Park and Park of the CanalsĪccording to numbers from the U.S.
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