ABSTRACT
Water meant survival for the Hohokam, and survival rested upon the establishment of an agricultural society dependent on irrigation on a large scale. Their canal system mainly in the Gila and Salt River Valleys covered more than 100,000 acres of mostly desert land in what is now primarily southern Arizona. The sprawling city of Phoenix in Arizona's Valley of the Sun sits atop numerous sites of the Hohokam civilization that appeared along the convergence of the Gila, Verde, and Salt rivers from about 200 CE to 1450 CE. The Hohokam canal system was adapted to the weather conditions and to the desert terrain. The central feature of the Hohokam's contributions to modernity was its hydraulic system, which was an engineering marvel matching that of the ancient Roman aqueducts. In the spring, the Hohokam concentrated on maintaining and repairing their irrigation systems, while in the summer they spent time gathering wild plants and developing thousands of acres of farming fields.
