The University of Arizona Press
Hohokam Along the Cañada del Oro
Specialized Land Use at the Rooney Ranch Site
This work presents the results of more than a decade of archaeological fieldwork at the Rooney Ranch site in Oro Valley, Arizona—an upland Hohokam village that played a key role in regional agave production. Edited by Jeffrey T. Jones and Helen L. O’Brien, this volume synthesizes extensive data collected by the Pima Community College Centre for Archaeological Field Training, offering a rare and richly detailed look at how small peripheral settlements contributed to the sustainability of larger Hohokam communities in the Sonoran Desert. Through GIS-based mapping and the analysis of ceramics, lithics, and faunal and botanical remains, the book reveals how specialized land use shaped the economic and social fabric of the region for centuries.
This legacy project stands out not only for its depth but also for its educational significance. As one of the few long-term, community-college-led excavations in the Southwest, the Rooney Ranch project highlights the vital role of student training and local collaboration in archaeological research. With more than seventy data-rich tables and contributions from leading specialists, this volume is an essential resource for archaeologists, historians, and anyone interested in Indigenous land use, desert adaptation, and the enduring legacy of the Hohokam in southern Arizona.
Contributors
Jon Boyd
Chance Copperstone
Michael W. Diehl
Linda M. Gregonis
Lea Mason-Kohlmeyer
Christine H. Virden-Lange
“This is an excellent summation of excavations at a long-lived Hohokam village overlooking the Cañada del Oro Valley in northwest Tucson. It concludes that the village was primarily a location for agave production that could be used locally and at nearby Hohokam communities.”—Gayle Hartmann, author of Last Water on the Devil’s Highway: A Cultural and Natural History of Tinajas Altas
“Jones and O’Brien provide a detailed description and interpretation of the Rooney Ranch Site. Their analysis provides an important contribution to Tucson Basin archaeology.”—Randall McGuire, co-editor of The Border and Its Bodies: The Embodiment of Risk Along the U.S.-México Line
