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According to the reading, there is ample support to the author's point that the Hohokam civilization began to deteriorate suddenly and rapidly due to several satisfactory explanations. However, the professor in the lecture gives several reasons as a rebuttal for the author's claim.
First, the professor contends that it seems not likely to relocate their region because of devastating floods. To be specific, floods in that periods were common and there is a proof that the Hohokam recovered their damages from devastating floods. It means that they were capable to repair their irrigation channel systems. This casts doubt on the reading passage's claim that the Hohokam people were forced to relocate due to devastating floods in the region.
Next, the professor insists that it is hard to believe the society collapsed as a result of a deadly epidemic. He mentions that the foreign diseases presented a few decades after European explorers had arrived in South America. Also, if the Hohokam people had no immunity to the diseases, they should be buried together but they were not and the location was not discovered yet. This counters the reading passage's assertion that Hohokam society were ruined as a result of a fatal epidemic because European explorers brought foreign diseases to America.
Finally, the professor argues that there is no evidence about the hypothesis that the Hohokam civilization disintegrated due to internal conflict. For example, a tomb which could be a proof of their leaders' presence were not founded. Also, oral histories of the Pima Indians could not be a evidence because oral histories were not always reliable. This refutes the reading passage's claim that the authority of the Hohokam leaders was weakened by overpopulation and food shortages, and this may have caused an uprising that led to the end of Hohokam society.