Beshbegowah is located in the mining community of Globe, Arizona. Beshbegowah is a community run site consisting of a museum and the archeological site. The archeological site is interesting because it is partially restored. The site is open to the public and is very hands on. The visitor is allowed to wander unescorted through the site. This allows visitors to study and explore at their own pace. I like Beshbegowah because it is a small-town type project that doesn't receive a lot of outside attention. Its importance in the development of Southwestern archaeology isn't well known. The site and museum, in my experience, is never crowded.
The museum contains a model of the site as it probably looked when it was occupied. The model shows access to the village was limited. The pueblo was surrounded by a wall. Access was limited to an easily defended covered entry way. The village was located on a ridge overlooking Pinal Creek which flows into the Salt River. It is surrounded by mountains. The pueblo contained several two story structures. This was a fortress as well as a village.
The site is a of the site of a Salado village. This cultural was active between 1225 and 1450 in the Tonto Basin and Globe-Miami area of Arizona. The site contains about 250 ground floor rooms and probably consisted of about 450 total rooms. Salado curture is mostly defined by the presence of Gila Polychrome pottery, black and white designs on a red base. Some archaeologists find the fact that the definition of Salado is based on Gila Polychrome pottery alone. I find this pottery to be quite striking but I find most Southwestern Pottery that way. I wasn't able to get closeups of the pottery because the glass cases and the lighting made it difficult to photograph.
Salado culture is considered to be a blend of local culture with Hohokam and Pueblo cultures. Pueblo culture can be either Anasazi or Mogollion or a mixture of the two. There is a Hohokam component underlying Beshgegowah. The dates of the Salado culture, about 1200 to 1450, is a time of great cultural flux in the Southwest.