Journal of the Southwest

Hohokam Palettes from the Gila Bend Region DEVIN ALAN WHITE Palettes, generally found in Hohokam archaeological sites dating to the Colonial through the Sedentary Periods (AD 750–1150), have been studied by a number of researchers over the past eight decades. Much progress has been made toward understanding how they were made, how they were used, and what they meant to the Hohokam people, but much about them remains unknown. Although the best-studied specimens come from the area around Phoenix, many have been found in regions peripheral to the Phoenix Basin, such as the Gila Bend area to the southwest. The excavations by Norton Allen and others at Gila Bend–area sites like Gatlin unearthed several dozen palettes, and the transfer of their private collections to museums has made it possible to analyze and compare those palettes to ones found elsewhere. This allows archaeologists to better understand the relationship between peripheral settlements, like those in the Gila Bend area, and sites in the Hohokam core. The first archaeologist to define and systematically study palettes was Emil W. Haury. In 1934 and 1935, he and other researchers from the Gila Pueblo Foundation excavated at Snaketown, on the Gila River Indian Reservation south of Phoenix. In his discussion of palettes from the site, Haury (1937:124) proposed that these artifacts, which had been found mainly in cremations, evolved from simple stone slabs. He pointed out that unlike figurines, mosaic plaques, and copper bells, palettes have no equivalent in Mesoamerica. Instead, he inferred that this artifact type had developed in the Salt-Gila Basin (1937:125). Haury excavated at Snaketown again in 1964 and 1965, and published those findings in 1976. His newer study of palettes revisited his previous research and added new evidence. Because the 1964–65 excavations were DEVIN ALAN WHITE holds an MA and PhD in anthropology from the University of Colorado, Boulder. He currently works as a photogrammetric scientist for Integrity Applications Incorporated, in Chantilly, Virginia. He is also a research associate at Crow Canyon Archaeological Center in Cortez, Colorado. Journal of the Southwest 52, 2 and 3 (Summer-Autumn 2010) : 311–321 312 ✜ JOURNAL OF THE SOUTHWEST not focused on cremations (Haury 1976:286), he recovered significantly fewer palettes than he had in 1934–35. However, the relative frequencies of palettes in established phases deviated little from those presented in his earlier study. Haury re-evaluated his earlier study, finding that the vast majority of his early conclusions required only minor revisions. Nevertheless, while conceding that palettes “still remain something of an enigma” (1976:288), he went on to write that The long-standing use of the trait and an evident local developmental sequence suggest . . . that [the palette] was a Hohokam creation. Yet, the feeling lingers that the inspiration lies somewhere to the south, perhaps because the older examples were made of the harder materials, the shaping of which had been mastered by the stone craftsmen of ancient Mexico. But more importantly, the idea of incense burning, and the concept of sacrifice are southern in terms of the Southwest, and the palettes are connected with these two patterns. On a more specific form level of comparison, the treatment of the human figure as a palette during the Classic Period in Guerrero . . . and during the Colonial Period of the Hohokam . . . is certainly more than accidental. (Haury 1976:288–89) Decades later, Jenny Adams (2002) observed that there is much variation among palettes with respect to form and function. This variation has led to a great deal of confusion when it comes to identifying them. One problem is that the definition of a palette is very imprecise, meaning that even the most crudely shaped small piece of ground stone can be termed a palette. Three researchers have however greatly helped in resolving the definitional problem. Stephen H. Lekson (1990, 1991) has contributed the most to the documentation of Hohokam palettes. When he began his research project in the late 1980s, only the palettes from Snaketown had been looked at in any great detail. The ultimate goal of Lekson’s study was to track spatial and temporal variability in palette decoration and form. He set out to make a scale...