Homolovi or Homol'ovi (Hopi spelling of the word) is a Hopi word meaning "Place of the Little Hills". It has also been translated as "Place where the land slopes down to the river". It is the traditional Hopi name for the Winslow, Arizona area and was chosen as the name of Homol'ovi Ruins State Park. The park is located northeast of Winslow and is a little over a mile north of I-40 on SR87.
The Homolo'ovi cluster of archaeological sites includes four main pueblo ruins and over 340 smaller archaeological sites. The main habitation period was from about 1250-1400 AD. However, there were earlier habitation periods starting around 600AD. There are signs of people passing through the area that are 9000-11000 years old. These were hunter-gatherers and may also have been utilizing the rich river cobble deposits containing chert (flint).
The people of the 1250-1400AD period were Hisat'sinom (Anasazi) with close ties to the Hopi people. They were farming the rich flood plains and growing corn, beans, squash, and cotton. They were successful traders and high status artifacts are found at Homol'ovi, including polychrome pottery, copper bells from Mexico, sea shells, and the skeletons of parrots.
Archaeologists believe that the people farmed this area when drought controlled the flooding of the Little Colorado River. At the end of the drought in about 1400AD, frequent flooding made it impossible to farm the flood plain, so the people moved north, joining the people living on the Hopi Mesas. These are the ancestors of the Hopi people of today.
Approximately 20 Hopi clans trace their migration routes through Homol'ovi.
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