P.C. in the PIII: Ceremonial Racing as an Integrative Stategy in the PIII-PIV Communities of Central Arizona

Throughout the Southwestern United States and Mesoamerica, prehistoric people used running and racing as a means of religious expression, personal sacrifice and community cohesion. In such context, the physical location of racing was often unimportant and constructed facilities were relatively rare. In the Perry Mesa region of Central Arizona, however, manufactured “racetracks” were highly formalized and represent the only form of communal architecture in this area. We studied these features with the goal of better understanding the behavior and beliefs of Native Americans along the middle Agua Fria and Verde Rivers between A.D. 1100 to 1400, and how they fit into the surrounding social landscape. Our data suggest that rapid aggregation from disparate origins led to the avoidance of dissimilar ritual architecture and a subsequent focus on a shared social-ritual activity: racing.