W72E The Hohokam Archaeological Culture: Imagery and Timekeeping in Stone (Zoom; OLLI @ U of A)
Zoom | Registration opens 12/16/2025 10:00 AM EST
South-central Arizona’s pre-1450 CE Hohokam archaeological culture is known for its distinctive pottery, seashell jewelry, carved stone artifacts, ballcourts, pyramids, and irrigation works. Less well known is Hohokam rock imagery. The Hohokam “Gila style” petroglyphs richly depict animals, people (or deities?), and geometric designs. “Hohokam Scratched” petroglyphs are rare, subtle, and enigmatic. Hohokam pictographs (rock paintings) also are rare. All three image types appear to have been created in particular ways, suggesting there were social rules for who could make them and how. And some petroglyphs provide evidence of Hohokam astronomical and calendrical observations. In this presentation archaeologist Allen Dart shows and discusses Hohokam stone imagery and timekeeping.
Al Dart, an OLLI study group leader since 2012, is the volunteer executive director of Tucson’s nonprofit Old Pueblo Archaeology Center. He worked as a professional archaeologist in Arizona and New Mexico since 1975 for federal and state governments, private companies, and nonprofit organizations. Al has received awards from Arizona Humanities (Outstanding Supporter), the Arizona Archaeological Society (Professional Archaeologist of the Year), the Arizona Archaeological and Historical Society (Victor R. Stoner Award), the Arizona Governor’s Archaeology Advisory Commission (Award in Public Archaeology), and other honors for his efforts to bring archaeology and history to the public.
*This registration item is ZOOM-only; there is not an in-person component to this course. It is offered and run by The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of Arizona.*