ASM Occasional Electronic Papers No. 1: Homol'ovi IV

Chapter One:
Introduction

E. Charles Adams

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Homol'ovi IV (AZ J:14:15 [ASM]) is the earliest village of the Homol'ovi settlement cluster founded in the 1250s by immigrants from the vicinity of the Hopi Mesas (Figure 1.1; Adams 2002; Lyons 2001).

Figure 1.1 Map of settlement cluster

Although established by a relatively small group of individuals who built perhaps 20 rooms, the village rapidly grew to about 200 rooms, many of which were probably occupied simultaneously. The first settlers selected the top of a small butte about 15 m high on the west side of the Little Colorado River. Homol'ovi is a Hopi word meaning "be mounded up" (Hopi Dictionary Project 1998) and refers to the numerous small hills and buttes in the area. Homol'ovi IV was established on one of these. Although the first settlers used the top of the butte, the lack of room caused later immigrants to occupy the south and east sides of the butte. The village grew accre-tionally from top to bottom until parts of nine arcs of rooms encircled half the butte (Figure 1.2). The latest and lowest rooms were constructed on middens that had accumulated to a depth of over 1 m, thus sealing the earlier deposits. At the base of the butte on the south to southeast portions of the village was located an unbounded plaza containing at least two kivas. Farther south were numerous large roasting pits and to the east was the cemetery area. On the west side of the butte are numerous large boulders that once capped the butte. Most have extensive petroglyphs whose style and iconography suggest they were made by the Homol'ovi IV inhabitants (Cole 1992).

Figure 1.2 Map of Homol'ovi IV

Homol'ovi I was privately owned by the O' Haco family, local ranchers, until 1988 when ownership was transferred to Arizona State Parks and it came under the management of Homolovi Ruins State Park. Park staff constructed a fence around the village to protect it from visitors and livestock. During the 1989 nine-week field season of the Homol'ovi Research Program (HRP), 10 structures, the plaza, and numerous isolated features were excavated at Homol'ovi IV using staff and students from the University of Arizona and volunteers from Earthwatch. In addition to excavations, Douglas Gann, then an undergraduate, uncovered and mapped most of the walls of Homol'ovi IV. These maps enabled Gann to produce computer simulations of the village and HRP to reconstruct the growth of the village during its brief occupation.

The predominant decorated pottery at Homol'ovi IV consists of two types from two wares: Jeddito Black-on-orange of Tsegi Orange Ware, which was manufactured at villages located on or adjacent to the Hopi Mesas; and Tuwiuca Black-or-orange, a local copy of Jeddito B/o, of Winslow Orange Ware (Hays-Gilpin, Bubemyre, and Senior 1996; Lyons 2001). The close stylistic and technological relationship between the two types and the Winslow Orange Ware types in general suggest the immigrants that founded and settled Homol'ovi IV originated from the vicinity of the Hopi Mesas. The strong preference for the tops of buttes or small mesas, similar kiva architecture, and similar room size and village layout expressed by contemporary villages throughout northeastern Arizona further support Homol'ovi IV immigrants as originating from the north. Indigenous settlement has been ruled out by the absence of any evidence of occupation of the local area at the time of Homol'ovi IV's founding (Adams 2002; Lange 1998; Young 1998).

At the time of abandonment of Homol'ovi IV there was increasing presence of polychrome varieties of the black-on-orange types. The polychrome types become predominant at nearby Homol'ovi III, which was founded in the 1280s (Adams 2001). Their rarity at Homol'ovi IV (see ceramics chapter) suggests abandonment in the 1280s and 1285 has been selected as the midpoint to that decade. Due to the 30-year span of occupation and the rarity of trash-filled rooms in either excavated or vandalized rooms, it is reasonable to argue that virtually the entire village was occupied at one time. Excavations reveal that 2-4 rooms were used by a household. With an estimated 200 total rooms, maximum population could have approached 200. Adams (2002) has speculated that Homol'ovi IV occupants could have founded or were early occupants of Homol'ovi I, about 5 km upstream from Homol'ovi IV because Homol'ovi I grew to such a large size in a matter of only a few years. If Homol'ovi I were indeed the destination for Homol'ovi IV, the reasons for the move could have been the more favorable location of Homol'ovi I, where the river flows year-round and the floodplain is at its widest (Adams 2002).

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