TUCSON'S FIRST INHABITANTS

The lush Tucson valley has been inhabited for a very long time. The most notable of Tucson's early inhabitants was the Hohokam, a native American Indian culture. However, the Hohokam replaced earlier native American Indians who were here before them. These earliest Tucsonans are known as "The Archaic" people. The Archaic people are believed to have come into the Tucson area as early as 7000BC (late ice age era). Their culture lasted to about 300AD. The Archaic people were initially hunters of native animals such as mammoths, bison, horses and camels. As the climate warmed and dried, signaling the end of the ice age, the large animals hunted for food, began to disappear. This gradual change allowed the Archaic people to slowly develop and cultivate a society based on hunting smaller animals and gathering a variety of plant foods. The advent of using grinding slabs to make ground flour from seeds marks the beginning of the Desert Archaic tradition.

During the Desert Archaic tradition period, small bands of people moved through out the Tucson basin gathering plants . They lived mostly in the open, but in all probability also built temporary shelters. Summer found them in the foothills gathering foods such as cactus fruits and mesquite beans. Acorns, pine nuts and other foods from the higher mountains were gathered in the fall. Hunting took place year-round. The Archaic people established camps near each collection point, depending on the season. They returned to each site year after year. Late in the Archaic period, corn was introduced into the region from Mexico.

Around 200AD, the Hohokam began slowly moving into the Tucson basin from Mexico. As their population grew, the remaining Archaic people gradually adopted the Hohokam life style. It is believed that slowly the Archaic people were assimilated into the Hohokam culture. During this period the Hohokam began making pottery and building ditches to irrigate their crops. They were also trading for seashells and using stone bowls and clay human figurines. However, they retained, in part, the seasonal hunting and gathering of their Archaic predecessors.

After around 1100AD, ties to the Hohokam heartland in Mexico began to dwindle. Replacing that tie, the Tucson area Hohokam began developing cultural ties to native people of the Mogollon rim area. This resulted in a blend of Hohokam and Mogollon cultures in the Tucson basin area.

By about 1500AD, these people became known as the native Pima and Papago Indians. These are the people encountered by the Spanish when they came into he region in the 1600's.