362-208e<BR> Hohokam potsherds and shell fragments; pottery, shell; from ruins near Tempe, probably Pueblo Grande and La Cuidad, Arizona; A.D. 850-1000.<BR> 1 Gila Plain bowl rim; 2 wide-mouth jar Gila Plain rims; 4 Gila Plain jar body sherds (sand temper), 1 Santa Cruz Red-on-buff rim sherd; 3 Santa Cruz Red-on-buff body sherds (2 jars, 1 bowl); 2 Cardium shell fragments (unworked). The assemblage is from the Santa Cruz phase from which period many Hohokam sites in the Phoenix-Tempe area date (Wilcox 1987, 1993). Non-micaceous sands, sometimes with phyllite, were used to temper the pottery of the Salt River Valley.<BR> Many shell ornaments were found in Hohokam sites, as well as large amounts of shell debris, testifying to the work spent on the manufacture of such precious jewelry. The Indians made shell into beads of various shapes and sizes, necklaces and pendants, the latter as using whole shells, or pieces of flat shell cut in various geomorphic, zoomorphic, and anthropomorphic shapes, bracelets, rings, tinklers, miniature trumpets, etc. The source of most shell found in Hohokam sites was the Gulf of California, several hundred miles to the southwest. Species favored included Olivella (for beads), Glycimeris (for bracelets), Pecten, Conus, Laevicardium, and Spondylus. Burials contain a high frequency of exotic materials, especially shell, and marine shell is associated with status differentiation during the Classic Period. The elite probably controlled access by organizing special expeditions to the Gulf of California and enlisting specialized craftspeople for the production of shell artifacts, although alternative interpretations are being considered. Artistic production peaked in the Sedentary Period, while the Classic Period produced the largest quantity (Haury 1976:305-324; Vokes 1984; McGuire 1985, 1992; McGuire and Howard 1987; Wilcox 1987:139; Neitzel 1991:187-189; Stone 2003:144-147). Ten Kate (1889:49) wrote about the Hohokam: "Art in shell was very much developed among these ancient people. Seashells were the favorite material of the manufacture of personal ornaments, and much of the shellwork shows traces of having been used as a base for inlaying. The backs of the shells were coated with a kind of black cement, manufactured from the gum deposited upon the twigs of the hedondilla, or greasewood, by a certain insect. In this gum were embedded little mosaic fragments of turquoise and of red shells, and then rubbed down smooth." Relatively little unworked shell was found in Hohokam sites. Those pieces that remained intact were raw material or pieces used as scoops and paint containers (Haury 1976:309). <BR> (Wilcox and Hovens 2008)<BR>