Pueblo Grande Museum Part 2

Is It Better In The Modern Age?

After attending the Native American craft class at the Pueblo Grande Museum I decided to stroll through its outdoor exhibits to learn a bit more about the Hohokam culture. As I walked the grounds alone I was the struck by three things:

1. THE HEAT: How did the Hohokam's survive the summer without air conditioning? I was instructed, by one of the museum's volunteers, to take an umbrella on my walk. Not because it was raining, but because there was no shade outside. However the umbrella did little to offset the 100+ degree temperature that day. I am well aware that all the concrete and asphalt we have added to the city has increased the temperatures, but I'm sure the summers were still hot 1,000 years ago. I doubt the Hohokams escaped the heat by heading to San Diego each August the way Phoenicians do today. Instead, I learned that they stayed deep within their adobe structure where it was cool, only coming outside after the sun went down. Sound familiar? It should. Today we go from our air-conditioned home, in our air-conditioned car, to our air-conditioned workplace and never venturing outside until night time - maybe.



2. THE CONSTRUCTION: If you live in the Valley there's a good chance your house is made of stucco. Mine is. An efficient building material, stucco is touted as a durable, attractive and weather-resistant wall covering. But those of you who have owned your stucco home for a number of years know it's not completely indestructible. Our searing summer heat can crack its finish and a variety of Arizona-pecking birds can leave it riddled with holes. How many years can we expect our stucco homes to stand? Will they last 1,000 years like those of the Hohokam's? True, only parts of their original structure still stand at the Pueblo Grande Museum. But I'll bet it's still more than you'll find of my house after 1,000 years in the Arizona desert.



3. THE SOUNDS: As I stood on top of the Platform Mound, I tried to imagine what it was like
   
   to live there thousands of years ago. I closed my eyes and quickly noticed the sounds of the city. Today this former Hohokam village sits in the middle of a metropolis. Tall buildings surround it, a freeway passes by and planes from Sky Harbor International Airport fly over head. These are things that the Hohokams never could have imagined, and perhaps were better off without. They heard the breeze blowing through the Palo Verde trees, rabbits and quail rustling in the brush and thunder from a storm on the horizon. None of which I could hear, for sound of the cars and planes, and even the bell on the Light Rail train, were much louder.

So comparing our lifestyle today to that of the Hohokam's, very few things are the same and a lot of things are different. But are we really better off?