Both Southwestern North American civilizations, Snaketown and Chaco

Canyon have many similarities as well as differences.

The two sites are very similar in that they are located in the same general
region of North America, Arizona and Mexico, and both existed during the first
millennium. The two civilizations both relied heavily on trade to help facilitate an
exchange of ideas with surrounding cultures. For instance, at Chaco Canyon
turquoise artifacts such as jewelry and other items have been found in
abundance. This area was home to the Anasazi culture. Similarly, at Snaketown
villagers traded crafts made of shell and ceramics. This area was home to
Hohokam culture. It is clear that both societies were sedentary, which is why they
both relied on complex irrigation systems in order to grow and maintain crops for
food. Chaco Canyon used floodwater runoff to keep crops healthy, but Snaketown
took farming to a whole new level. Snaketown had a profoundly advanced
irrigation system that consisted of canals to divert water from rivers into a series
of rows that housed crops.
There are also some profound differences between the two cultures. Yes,
they both had pit houses that helped enhance the sense of a uniform community
amongst the villagers, but these were very dissimilar. For starters, Snaketown
had much fewer pit houses (125) that were much smaller than those of Chaco
Canyon, which eventually were constructed of wooden beams and two-storied.
Contrarily, the pit houses in Chaco Canyon were massive and contained up to
600 rooms and housed up to 1000 people at a time. In fact, Pueblo Bonito, the
largest pit house, was the size of the entire Snaketown civilization. Another
significant difference is that Snaketown had mounds that served dual purposes as
courts for sports and ceremonies, whereas Chaco Canyon had kivas that were
specifically designed for the sole purpose of religious ceremonies. It is very clear
that Chaco Canyon was much better organized, which allowed for a political
structure that kept the people in check and allowed them to flourish for many
more moons than Snaketown.