Los Morteros — Tucson Basin Hohokam Village
Los Morteros · Los Morteros Village · AZ AA:12:57
Hohokam Colonial to Classic (950–1350 CE; peak 950–1200 CE)·Hohokam (Tucson Basin)·🇺🇸 Arizona, Pima County, Tucson Basin, Santa Cruz River west terrace, United States
About
About Los Morteros — Tucson Basin Hohokam Village
Los Morteros is a Hohokam Sedentary–Classic period village (950–1200 CE) with platform departure on the Santa Cruz west terrace excavated by Desert Archaeology (James Bayman et al., 1980s–1990s). Adobe pit-house hamlet transitioning to above-ground compound with ballcourt remnant, 600-bedrock mortars (giving name) and extensive agave-baking pits; adjacent 12th–13th c. proto-platform mound precursors after Snaketown abandonment.
Why it mattersMost complete Tucson-basin ballcourt hinterland showing Hohokam collapse-era valley population relocation.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Why 600 mortars intact — ritual milling concentration?
Theories
- 01Bayman: Tucson refuge after Phoenix core fall
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.950 CE (Colonial Sedentary phase)
- Period
- Hohokam Colonial to Classic (950–1350 CE; peak 950–1200 CE)
- Culture
- Hohokam (Tucson Basin)
- Builders
- Tucson Basin Hohokam villagers
- Purpose
- Agave-processing hamlet and ballcourt community refuge after Classic low-land abandonment
- Abandoned
- c.1350 CE (Hohokam collapse)
- Rediscovered
- 1979 Doak–Wallace Tucson Basin survey
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
1981–1994
Bayman Desert Archaeology ballcourt and mortar mapping
c.1050 CE
Ballcourt community flourishing
On the ground
Structures & features
32.3300° N · 111.0800° W · 720 m · 3 mapped features
Los Morteros Ballcourt Depression
ballcourt58×18 m I-shaped ballcourt depression west terrace
32.3306° N · 111.0795° WLos Morteros 600-Bedrock Mortar Station
workshopBasalt bedrock milling station with 600 mortars
32.3293° N · 111.0792° WLos Morteros Compound Pre-Platform
structureProto-platform adobe compound with postholes
32.3310° N · 111.0806° W