1/31/11 – Pueblo Grande Museum & Archaeological Park, Phoenix

We had planned to go to Tonto NM on this last day in the Phoenix area, but it rained last night and forecasts were for more of the same today with thunderstorms in the mountains.  So we hung around until I was bored and nagged George into picking someplace in town.  We ended up going to the Pueblo Grande Museum.  It’s close to Sky Harbor Airport so we watched the planes queue for landing.

The park is actually an archeological site where they found prehistoric ruins of a Hohokam town.  You start off watching a 10 minute video in the museum theater, then go through the galleries to get an understanding of the people and exhibits.  Outside is a Platform Mound, built about 1450 AD, with room walls visible in the excavated end.  There’s also an excavated Ballcourt close by as well as the Grand Canal.

In order to better understand how the Hohokam lived, they’ve built replicas of two different styles of Hohokam homes.  The Adobe Compound with a walled courtyard would have been about 1300 AD, and the Pithouses, 950 AD.  They’ve put pottery and basket samples inside. 

One of the houses in the Adobe Compound has a curtain across the doorway.  George snooped and found a sign:

The outdoor trail is paved and directional geckos are painted on the red concrete.  Made a nice contrast with black clouds that were coming our direction.  All in all, it was a nice way to spend an hour or so before the storm hit.
Pueblo Grande