A cross section of the surviving traces of two large prehistoric canals near Pueblo Grande, Phoenix, shows one to have originally been V-shaped in profile, about 6 m. wide and 4 m. deep, and the other U-shaped in profile, about 10 m. wide and 3 m. deep. Both were dug into coarse gravel and the broader (north) canal had been lined with brown clay subsequent to its construction and initial period of use. There is a possibility that the V-shaped South Canal was built first and perhaps abandoned when the North Canal was built. Both canals show evidence of repeated filling and clearing out, either by natural erosion due to a periodically swifter current or by the efforts of the Indians using the canals. Sherds under the banks and in the canals were too few for conclusive dating of construction and use, but suggest that this took place during the Soho phase of the Hohokam Classic period, that is, during the late 12th and the 13th centuries. Hohokam canals much older than this are known, and the occupation of nearby Pueblo Grande began earlier and lasted later than the Soho phase.
The northwestern part of Florida is a strip of land about 225 miles long, extending from Pensacola Bay to Apalachee Bay, in which are recognized two physiographic regions, “Flatwoods and Hammock Lands,” along the coast, and “Southern Pine Hills,” inland. The coastal region, in which are located most of the sites to be considered, is quite flat and of uniformly low elevation, and includes several contrasting types of landscape. The greater part of the land is occupied by the flatwoods or open groves of longleaf and other pines interspersed with grassy meadows and the hammock lands, which support a denser vegetation characterized by palmetto and hardwoods. Along the major rivers are swamps through which wind creeks and bayous.
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