The Hohokam appeared in the valley between 30 BC and 500 AD. They flourished in the desert where they developed a complex irrigation system and an extensive trade system. Then around 1450 AD the Hohokam ceased to exist as a recognizable culture. Where they driven out? Did they move away? Or did they become the Akimel O’odham (Pima) or Tohono O’odham (formerly known as the Papago) or some other group?

The Hohokam of the Sears-Kay site built a large fortifying wall surrounding the hilltop about 1050 AD. Sears-Kay is clustered in five groups situated along a ridge extending westward from the summit. Some were surrounded by low, compound walls.

The Hohokam constructed above-ground rooms everywhere in their culture area in addition to pit houses which never went completely out of style. Angular rocks for construction stable masonry wall were rare, thus caliche or adobe walls were common. The technique seen in our area, therefore is not typical of most Hohokam architecture.

After about 1450 AD, evidence of the Hohokam is difficult to find.

Learn more about these early Arizonans at the Cave Creek Museum.