CONCLUSION
Archaeologists attempt to reconstruct the physical and material
world that these people lived in through study of their trash, houses,
and physical remains. We will probably never know how the inhabitants
of this village viewed themselves in relation to their neighbors,
what they called themselves, or how they perceived the world.
Evidence recovered from the excavations at El Macayo shows that
the settlement was occupied between about A.D. 850 and A.D. 1150,
and that it appears to be part of a large village community, the
full extent of which is not currently known, because only a portion
was investigated. The variety of ceramics and the layers of houses
indicate the settlement was occupied over a number of generations.
The population appears to have been agriculturalist, but with a
heavy reliance on wild resources to supplement their diets. The
skeletal material suggests that there were some periods of dietary
stress that led to infant anemia.
The community was clearly involved with other groups through a
complex network of exchange. This supplied finished ornaments of
shell and stone, and exotic animals such as macaws. Shell was obtained
from the Gulf of California to the southwest. The most likely route
for the shell trade would have followed the rivers of northern Sonora
that flow into the Gulf. The Rio Concepcion and the Rio Magdelena
would have provided relatively easy access to these resources. Archaeologists
identify the people who lived in this region as the Trincheras culture.
The presence of a large amount of Trincheras pottery indicates that
El Macayo’s residents actively traded with these people. It
is equally clear from other pottery recovered at the site that the
inhabitants also actively engaged with the Hohokam peoples to the
north. Regional research has demonstrated that the Santa Cruz River
served as an active trade corridor throughout prehistory. Shell
moved north to the Hohokam communities of the Tucson Basin along
this route. The presence of the young military macaw indicates that
El Macayo was also connected to a southern trade network. Trade
in exotic materials such as macaws, turquoise, and even copper bells
linked the American Southwest with the complex societies of central
and western Mexico.
Whether or not the local residents identified themselves with these
other groups is uncertain. The concepts of “Hohokam” and “Trincheras”
are largely constructs created by archaeologists, based on patterns of
similarity and difference in material remains and excavated features.
The Hohokam “core” regions to the north have seen considerable
research over the years, and this has produced relatively clear models
of the culture. Unfortunately, the Trincheras tradition is poorly known
at this time, and it is hard to know what range of behavior was present
among the population, or how it might be expressed along the frontiers
of their homeland. All indications suggest that these people lived along
an amorphous border region, and their material remains reflect a blending
of traditions. The local pottery has affiliations with both the Trincheras
and Hohokam traditions, although it seems more similar to the former.
The presence of both cremations and inhumations also suggests a blending
of traditions. In the period prior to A.D. 1150, cremation was the most
common (though not universal) form of burial among the Hohokam, and inhumation
was the most common method of burial among the Trincheras.
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