Romero Ruins tell the story of Hohokam
by Bryan Lee on Apr. 07, 2008, under Body, Local
The Romero Ruins give visitors a glimpse back at the prehistoric society.
A visit to Romero Ruins in Catalina State Park provides a wonderful blend of history and a dramatically beautiful setting.
Prehistoric societies did what was expected of them, say our enlightened, disinterested imaginations.
They worshiped convenient deities, and they developed tribes, clans and families with appropriate pecking orders. They grew maize and beans and gathered berries. And they speared animals – and sometimes each other – with pointed flints.
All this along with their own type of pop culture, which may or may not have led to ruin, sort of a timeless condition.
What is interesting about the Hohokam civilization, other than its sudden disappearance around 1450, is that they might have had a Super Bowl of sorts.
That’s what the Romero Ruins in Catalina State Park suggest. Two oval depressions within the 15-acre ruins area are clearly defined ball fields, common of dated civilizations of the southwestern United States, Mexico and Central America.
Archaeological evidence from petroglyphs and ceramics indicates they played a game here between 750 and 1000 with a ball made of guayule sap.
All the possibilities of intrigue build. What kinds of rivalries were established? What kind of media hype? Were athletes worshiped as they are today? Did kids wear beaded replica jerseys? Did the players wear skirts when they competed?
It is clear these athletic contests served as basic village and inter-village social and ritual functions. The closest comparison today is the high school football game. But in Hohokam land they took it quite a bit further: People met to socialize, stir politics and, maybe most importantly, to trade.
It humanizes the Hohokam, who were by occupation sophisticated farmers and craftsmen. Romero Ruins tells the story and presents archaeological evidence of a “city” on a ridge at the base of the Santa Catalina Mountains that held as many as 300 people.
The ruins are a result of three periods of archaeological activity: 1987, when surface features were mapped and artifacts and pottery collected; 1990, when the present interpretive trail was planned and data were collected from burial sites; and finally 1993, when wall segments were exposed by excavation, and trash mounds were examined.
The interpretive trail is a third of a mile long. It begins after crossing Sutherland Wash and loops. It features a series of information stops on the way.
To reach 5,493-acre Catalina State Park, drive north on Oracle Road or Highway 77 and watch for signs 10 miles north of Tucson, just after you cross Cañada del Oro Wash. The park is a lower Sonoran Desert preservation phenomenon with irregular terrain based on the flood plains of Sutherland and Canyon del Oro washes and rising ridges.
In Hohokam time, the washes continuously flowed, providing a water source. The Hohokam irrigated an extensive agricultural system in which they primarily raised corn, beans and squash. The desert and climate are virtually unchanged from then, with the exception of the flowing washes.
The water source gave forth a rich riparian path in which sycamore, desert willow and ash still abound. And the grasses are plentiful and thick. A walk through Catalina State Park is a study in the colors, versatility, abundance and variety of life the Sonoran Desert presents.
A placid roadrunner slowly made its way through the thick sand of the wash on a recent afternoon bordering on balmy. Scattered visitors were drawn to the Romero Ruins sign and did the trail’s quick but educational route.
The Romero Ruins trail is a gentle rise, nature trail type of attraction. Even if one cares nothing for archaeology, it is an enjoyable desert stroll. The trip has the rough granite backdrop of the Santa Catalinas on one side and the lush desert on the other.
Even in the winter, the desert seems to thrive, and appropriately, the first vegetation one sees is the bright red fruit of the Christmas cholla. It looks like holly, but you’ll find nobody decking any halls with the nasty little prickles.
One of the main features of the trail is the remains of what was once a cobbled wall. In its day, it was 6 feet high and surrounded a Hohokam compound. A close search on the ground among the excavated rocks will produce small shards of burnt-red pottery. Look for petroglyphs on large boulders, and grinding slabs for grain among the rubble.
In some concentrated places, the rubble is obviously disturbed. The legend was that in historic times there were rich veins of gold and silver here and a Spanish mission named Ciru. Neither was true, but that rumor never deterred fortune hunters, who picked the place over.
Also featured are the cobbled ruins of the house of rancher and namesake Francisco Romero, who built his place on the very ruins of the Hohokam in the late 19th century. Remnants of five small structures are in evidence.
Romero’s grandson, Fabian, said in 1928 that his grandfather engaged in continuous warfare with the Apaches in the short time he lived here. He usually started his day by saddling up and chasing after any Apache who had stolen livestock the night before. He could chase off the Indians with a rimfire .44 carbine, a decided advantage over bows and arrows.
