Gatlin Site

Gatlin Site

Gatlin Site excavation, 1958-1962. Photo courtesy Arizona State Museum.
Nearest city Gila Bend, Arizona
Built 900 A.D.
NRHP Reference # 66000183
Significant dates
Added to NRHP October 15, 1966[1]
Designated NHL July 19, 1964[2]

The Gatlin Site is an archaeological site in Arizona that preserves one of the few documented Hohokam platform mounds. Associated with the mound are pit houses, ball courts, middens, and prehistoric canals. Between AD 800 and 1200 it was an important Hohokam settlement at the great bend of the Gila River. The Hohokam people were the first farmers in southern Arizona, where the permanent Salt and Gila Rivers flowing through the hot Sonoran Desert made the irrigation strategy possible.[3] The site is the largest in the area and was home to over 500 people. Its importance is indicated by the presence of two ceremonial ball courts and one of the earliest platform mounds known.[4] The mound is notable as being one of only few excavated and documented Sedentary Period platform mounds still relatively intact.[2]

The site was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1964.[2]

The Gatlin Site belongs to the town of Gila Bend, Arizona, which is developing it as a regional cultural park.[4]

References

  1. ↑ National Park Service (2007-01-23). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  2. 1 2 3 "Gatlin Site". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Retrieved 2007-09-27.
  3. ↑ Snow, Dean. Archaeology of Native North America. Pearson.
  4. 1 2 Gatlin Site, Town of Gila Bend

External links


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