The Tonto Basin Environment
At the center of Tonto Basin is the confluence of the Salt River and the Tonto Creek. The Basin consists of a wide valley surrounded by mountain ranges. This diverse landscape provided prehistoric inhabitants with a rich variety of resources. Migrating peoples, whether from uplands or desert regions, could find familiar resources there.
Settlement Patterns
A diverse mix of local and immigrant groups populated the Tonto Basin throughout its history. Early Tonto Basin inhabitants lived in small settlements dispersed across the valleys and mountain slopes. For over 1,000 years Tonto Basin lifeways included hunting, gathering, and tending small farms.
By AD 1300, Tonto Basin farmers had established an extensive irrigation system. This may have made the Basin a destination for many immigrants during a time of widespread drought. New lifeways developed: a new type of pottery began to be made, and cremation of the dead ceased, for the most part, in favor of inhumation. Inhabitants also began to organize their small settlements around community centers.
Tonto Basin Harvests
A combination of cultivated, gathered, and hunted food resources were used in the Tonto Basin:
- Corn, barley, squash, and beans formed the basis of the diet. Irrigation farming in the low-lands often produced surplus crops. Agave and some weedy plants were easily cultivated in higher elevations
- Cactus fruit, palo verde pods, and a variety of weedy plants were gathered from the desert and were important dietary supplements
- Rabbit, deer, bighorn sheep, and birds were hunted, and added protein to the diet
- Fish and water birds were procured from riparian areas along the Salt River and the Tonto Creek
 |
 |
| Barley | Jack Rabbit |
 |
 |
| Corn | Mule Deer |