Introduction to Homolovi

Homolovi or Homolovi State Park (formerly: Homolovi Ruins State Park) is a group of archaeological sites that contains eight pre-Columbian Puebloan peoples, in addition to approximately 300 other ruins and petroglyphs. (Anasazi) and Hopi ruins. Homolovi is located in a flood plain 2 km (4 mi) northeast of Winslow, Arizona, United States, with views of the Little Colorado River. Archaeologists believe that ancestors of the Pueblo people and Hopi tribes once occupied these settlements, which were spread along a 32-kilometer (19-mile) corridor on the Little Colorado River from 100 B.C. different. AD 1250-1425. In ancient times, two villages - Homolovi I and Homolovi II - each contained more than 1,000 rooms and 40 ceremonial kivas scattered throughout the park. The Homolovi ruins are unique in the ancient Southwest because they help archaeologists better understand the cultural transformations and social changes that occurred in the region during the 13th and 14th centuries AD. Four sites in Homolovi are listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and the park is currently managed by the Arizona State Parks System.

Geography and Prehistory

Homolovi or Homol'ovi means "place of hills" in the Hopi language, the Hopi Reservation and Hopi May in Arizona. Saas is located only 84 kilometers (52 miles) north of Homolovi. Homolovi is located very close to the Little Colorado River (Hopi: Paayu) in the Great Basin Desert Prairie, 130 km (80 mi) southeast of Flagstaff, Arizona, and 117 km (73 mi) from Wupatki Pueblo, in New Mexico 217 kilometers (135 miles) west of Gallup, State. Homolovi covers a total area of ??1,800 hectares (4,500 acres) and is located at an altitude of 1,494 meters (4,900 feet) in the desert. Homolovi receives only about 178 millimeters (7 inches) of precipitation per year.

Scientific and archaeological research shows that nomadic, prehistoric peoples occupied the area that now includes Homolovi intermittently starting in 100 BC. 4000 BC to AD 400. The Little Colorado River makes the area somewhat attractive to an array of fauna: cottontail rabbits, jackrabbits, beavers, prairie dogs, porcupines, waterfowl, fish, elk, deer and antelope come to the river seasonally. Ancient prehistoric peoples and tribes occasionally visited the area during seasonal hunting and migration, but they did not establish settlements in the area until the 10th century BC. AD 500-600. The reason for this may be the region's very dry climate and lack of wood and storable food resources. When possible and when climatic conditions were favorable, early sedentary people hunted and gathered like their prehistoric ancestors, but they also began farming, growing corn, beans, squash, and other small crops. They are also known to grow cotton for textile production. Yucca and rice straw have grown in the area for thousands of years, and when corn harvests failed, the indigenous people turned to rice straw as a staple food.

Prior to the construction of the pueblo at Homolovi in ??the 13th and 14th centuries AD, there were two periods of habitation in Homolovi: the early period beginning in the 13th century AD. 600-900 AD and mid-term 1000-1225 AD. In the 11th and 12th centuries AD, when favorable climatic conditions existed, indigenous peoples built small pit houses instead of large structures made of adobe. These early occupations of the area around Homolovi appear to have been brief and sporadic, lasting about a year or two. This pattern of cyclical settlement and abandonment may be due to changing local environmental conditions and the Little Colorado River. Depending on the year, the river may dry out due to lack of rain or be prone to flooding due to heavy snowfall near the river's headwaters.

The Ancestral Puebloans and Hopi

It is clear from archaeological excavations that these periods were closely related to the Ancestral Puebloans The periods of human habitation at Homolovi do not overlap in terms of ceramics or stratigraphy. Homolovi had no population in the mid-1200s AD, and the new immigrants who entered Homolovi in ??the late 13th century AD were immigrants from what is now Hopi Mesa, Arizona. These newcomers settled in the Homolovi floodplain on the Little Colorado River and made a living by farming. It is unclear why they came to Homolovi to farm and settle, but it is likely due to the influx of people into Hopi Mesas, a result of human migration due to the collapse of larger ancestral Puebloan settlements such as Wupatki, Hofenweep and Mesa Verde.

Some anthropologists and archaeologists believe that Homolowe's settlement was of high strategic value to the Puebloan people, the ancestors of the Hopi Mesa, who later settled and developed it.

Ceramic, obsidian, and shell remains at HOMOLOVI indicate that ancient Puebloans traded with neighboring cultures.

Because Homolovi was located at the crossroads of cultural exchanges between the ancestral Pueblo people, the Mogollon culture, and the Hohokam culture, trade grew the community and brought wealth to the Homolovi. Ceramic, obsidian, and shell remains at Homolovi indicate that ancient Puebloans traded with the Sinagua Culture, Hohokam Culture, and other Puebloan ancestors. The indigenous people of Homolovi grew cotton, which enriched the Pueblo people because the crop was grown primarily for trade with surrounding communities. Start with c. The Ancestral Puebloans began building the pueblo between 1300-1350 AD, supporting a population of approximately 2,500 people by the late 1300s AD. Today, visitors to Homolovi can visit Homolovi Pueblos I and II. The latter has more than 1,200 rooms and is the largest in the village of Homolovi.

Excavations at Homolovi indicate that ancestral Pueblo people hunted certain animals and may have sacrificed certain animals for ritual purposes, and that they were used in rituals The placement within the space creates a powerful archaeological pattern. (Many of these ritual remains included birds of prey, turkeys, and rabbits.) Archaeologists believe that changes in the use of ritual animals over time reflect the rise of the katsina religion, which used kachinas (spiritual creatures) around c. ). AD 1350. With the rise of the katsina religion, the Ancestral Puebloans of the town of Homolovi filled former ceremonial spaces such as kivas and their square plazas.

Abandonment vs. Current Preservation

Although the settlement of Homolovi occurred during a time of considerable upheaval and immigration in the ancient Southwest, there is a lack of evidence that Homolovi and There was open conflict and social disorder in the area near the ruins. Relations between the various pueblos at Homolovi appear to have been peaceful, and unlike other ancestral pueblo sites, archaeologists found no burned remains, desecrated skeletal remains, but open squares and accessible pueblos. This has led some scholars to speculate that the settlement and subsequent abandonment of the Homolovi had more to do with climate change, economics, and new social habits. The residents of Homolovi appear to have quietly left their pueblo sometime around c. 1400 AD, back to the community on Hopi Mesa. The Hopi never forgot their connection to the Homolovi, and they occasionally made pilgrimages and performed ceremonies near the abandoned pueblo. Homolovi and its surrounding areas were not inhabited again until 1876 AD, when a group of Latter-day Saints led by Lot Smith attempted to farm the land. The venture failed due to a mix of extreme climatic conditions such as drought and flooding, and the Mormon settlers left the area in 1888 AD.

Archaeologists began studying and excavating sites within Homolovi State Park in the 1970s and 1980s, and these efforts continue to this day. Notably, archaeological excavations at Homolowe provide important evidence for the Hopi tribe’s oral stories and history of their customs and migrations. The Hopi continue to regard Homolovi as a sacred site, and they continue to make pilgrimages to these sites, reestablishing the connection between the Hopi and their land.

References

Adams, E. Charles, and Charla Hedberg. “Driftwood use by the Homol’ovi and its implications for the interpretation of the archaeological record.” Kiva, vol. 67, No. 4 (Summer 2002), pp. 363-384.

Adams, E. Charles, et al. Al. "Homolovi: The Ancestral Hopi Flace." Southwestern Archeology, Vol. 14, No. 4, Fall 2000, pp. 1-13.

Adams, E. Charles. "Homolí Movi III: A small Pueblo village in the middle of the Little Colorado Valley." Kiva, vol. 54 No. 3, 1989, pp. 217-2

Adams, E. Charles. Homolovi. University of Arizona Press, 2002.

Gilpin Hayes, Kellyanne. “Commercialization before Capitalists: Hopi Ceramic Production and Trade in the Fourteenth Century.” Southwest Journal, Vol. 38, No. 4, (Winter 1996), pp. 395-414.

Green, Stewart M. The Art of Rock and Roll. Falconry Guide, 2018.

Gumerman, George J., and S. Alan Skinner. "A synthesis of the prehistory of the Little Colorado Valley in central Arizona." American Antiquity, vol. 33, No. 2 (April 1968), pp. 185-199.

Harry, Karen G. "The Obsidian Assemblage of Homol'ovi III: Social and Economic Impacts." Kiva, Vol. 54, No. 3, 1989, pp. 285-296.

Homolovi State Park Visited March 19, 2020.

Jameson, John HJ Reconstructing the Past. AltaMira Press, 2003.

Lawrence, Deborah. Fight for unclaimed territory. University of Oklahoma Press, 2016.

Minier, Tish. Discover Native Americans. Hippocrene Books, 2008.

Senior, Louise MS and Linda J. Pierce. "Turkeys and Domestication in the Southwest: Implications of Homol'ovi III." Kiva, vol. 54, No. 3, 1989, pp. 245-259.