Gila Bend Area
The "Fortified Hill"
The Hohokam constructed the "Fortified Hill" over a period of about 75 years, beginning around A.D. 1200. The ruin is not far from the town of Gila Bend, but very rugged terrain makes accessing the site a challenge. Forty-three of the ruin's original 57 rooms were reconstructed in the 1960's. The practice of reconstructing rooms greatly reduces the authenticity of a ruin and, in my opinion, makes it far less interesting. Nevertheless, the sheer size of this ruin and the many nearby petroglyphs make the site worth visiting.
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Evidence that the ancients dropped acid? |
Gila Bend Mts.
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Just a few miles east of the "Fortified Hill", at the edge of the Gila Bend Mountains, is another nice petroglyph site. Here, a variety of animals, like the lizzard at left, dance among human figures and all sorts of abstractions and geometric patterns. The artwork was probably made by the Hohokam. |