Mojave Red on Buff Bowl

The Hohokam lived between 300 BCE and about 1450 CE in southern Arizona. Unlike the Anasazi, the Hohokam lived in large spread-out settlements; the Hohokam occupied “four hundred acres and had a population of five hundred to a thousand at its peak” (Hayes and Blom 1996, 32). They had an intricate irrigation system that took advantage of the seasonal downpours and intense heat to help them farm in such a harsh environment (Hayes and Blom 1996, 32).

Hohokam pottery was typically natural buff, and soon after they began decorating them with “red pigment made from hematite” (Hayes and Blom 1996, 33). Their pottery was not polished as some other southwestern civilizations’ pottery was, but they were one of the earliest to decorate their pottery with designs (Hayes and Blom 1996, 33).