ABSTRACT
Hohokam archaeologists have always participated in the larger community of Anglo-American archaeology and mortuary analyses have reflected the general theoretical tenor of the discipline. In the late 1880s, Frank Gushing undertook excavations in the Classic Period sites of the Phoenix basin as part of the Hemenway expedition to the Southwest. E. B. Sayles treated the Snaketown cremations as cultural traits, that is, as indicators of cultural or ethnic boundaries. Emil Haury returned to Snaketown in the winter of 1964/5 to try and resolve many of the controversies that surrounded the first excavation, especially those concerning the dating of the site. The Hemenway expedition excavated the second largest sample of Hohokam burials ever recovered, counting both inhumations and cremations. The 1970s saw a marked increase in Hohokam excavations as a result of new Federal laws. These projects contributed more and better descriptions of Hohokam burials but few new interpretive comments.
