Riverview Project
The Riverview development, located at the north
end of Dobson Road, is not a place where you would
expect to find the monuments of the ancient Hohokam.
Yet, buried beneath the modern fields, museum
archaeologists uncovered an astonishing record of
Hohokam irrigation. The Hohokam were the only
prehistoric group in North American to construct
large irrigation networks to water their crops of
corn, squash and beans.
The earliest canal in the Riverview area was an
early ditch built before AD 50. But soon this small
ditch was replaced by large irrigation canals. Over
a period of 1400 years more than 100 canal channels
passed through the project area. This network of
canals extended south as far as Sun Lakes and the
Gila River Community. The Riverview project will
allow museum scientists to understand how this large
irrigation system grew and evolved through time.
The irrigation canals in the Riverview project
were monumental feats of engineering and the
organization of labor. The largest canal found in
the project area measured 15 feet deep and 45 feet
wide. Examination of the canal showed that the
Hohokam rebuilt it on at least 13 occasions. Over
time, canals eventually “silted-in,” filling with
soil carried by the water. The Hohokam then cleaned
or, in some cases, built a new canal.
A canal 15 feet deep and 45 feet wide found
during the excavations at Riverview.
Recording a set of narrow but very deep prehistoric
canals at the Riverview site.
Archaeologist Dutch Duering exploring a deeply
buried Hohokam canal at the Riverview project.
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