<< News >> 3000 year old village under downtown Pheonix Arizona
Submitted by bat400 on Monday, 16 October 2006 Page Views: 6472
DigsCountry: United States Type: Ancient Village or SettlementInternal Links:
Downtown Phoenix yields a rare archaeological find. As convention center rises, dig unearths ancient culture. Mark Hackbarth and his crew dug with shovels and hand trowels. Nearby, bulldozers rumbled under the hot summer sun on another corner of the downtown construction site for the new Phoenix Convention Center.
When Hackbarth was called to the site at the end of July, he expected to find Hohokam ruins. But even after 20 years of archaeological work in the Valley, he never imagined the immensity of what he found.
Hackbarth uncovered three of the earliest known pithouses in the Phoenix metropolitan area, houses that were 3,000 years old. And as he dug, he kept finding more traces of the ancient civilization.
With downtown Phoenix engrossed in its biggest burst of construction since World War II, the discovery in its heart is a reminder of how far back the area's history goes. When the Phoenix Civic Plaza was built in the early 1970s, it sat on a cement slab, not a basement. That left the ruins covered until this summer.
By the time Hackbarth and his crew from the Tempe-based archaeological firm Logan Simpson Design were finished in early September, they had discovered nearly 40 Hohokam pithouses. They had also filled 3,500 little brown sacks with artifacts and dirt to be studied for more clues about the people who first found a way to live in the desert.
Angela Cara Pancrazio
The Arizona Republic
Oct. 15, 2006 12:00 AM
Arizona Republic article
Note: A location is not included, as it seems that this site is now completely excavated and gone.





We would like to know more about this location. Please feel free to add a brief description and any relevant information in your own language.
Wir möchten mehr über diese Stätte erfahren. Bitte zögern Sie nicht, eine kurze Beschreibung und relevante Informationen in Deutsch hinzuzufügen.
Nous aimerions en savoir encore un peu sur les lieux. S'il vous plaît n'hesitez pas à ajouter une courte description et tous les renseignements pertinents dans votre propre langue.
Quisieramos informarnos un poco más de las lugares. No dude en añadir una breve descripción y otros datos relevantes en su propio idioma.