The Hohokam and Their World: An Exploration of Art and Iconography by Linda M. Gregonis and Victoria Riley Evans

University of Arizona Press, 2025. Trade paperback. VG. 

Southwest Books of the Year Pick

People traveling around the Sonoran Desert will see the traces of an ancient society, the Hohokam, through the material that they left behind―pottery, shell ornaments, carved stone, and rock imagery.
 
The Hohokam and Their World offers readers the opportunity to explore how these various images and objects may have been used by the Hohokam, and what the icons and objects may have meant, including how the Hohokam conveyed ideas about water, the Sonoran Desert, the ocean, travel, ancestors, and the cosmos.
 
Authors Linda M. Gregonis and Victoria R. Evans discuss how artists drew inspiration from their Sonoran Desert homeland and were also influenced by the cultures of western Mexico, the hunter-gatherers of the western desert, the Mogollon to the east, and the Pueblo cultures of the northern Southwest. Unlike traditional archaeological texts, this book takes a holistic approach by examining a diverse range of artistic expressions used by the Hohokam. From intricately crafted pottery to mesmerizing carvings in rock, each medium offers a unique glimpse into the Hohokam’s relationship with their environment and the wider world.