Casas Grandes (Other Keyword)
1-25 (38 Records)
The Amerind Foundation of Dragoon, Arizona, is a private anthropological research center with an 80 year history. The Amerind conducted foundational studies in southeastern Arizona, but is best known for the Joint Casas Grandes Project (JCCP) conducted in Chihuahua between 1958 and 1961. The Arizona collections consist of southeast Arizona sites dating from the Hohokam Colonial period to the Spanish Presidio Santa Cruz de Terrenate. The New Mexico collection includes material recovered at the...
An ancient mitochondrial DNA approach to explore pre-Columbian inhabitants ancestry at Paquimé, Casas Grandes (2016)
The genetic analysis of different periods in specific spatial territories could contribute to understand patterns of interactions for pre-Columbian populations that lived in northwest Mexico. Especially for those sites that show debated cultural traits such as Paquimé, the use of all possible bioarchaeological approaches may be key to identify their population ancestry, affinities, and to evaluate possible migrants origin. This research analyzes ancient mitochondrial DNA, HVI and HVII, of 14...
Black Rocks Beyond the Border: Obsidian in the Casas Grandes World (2015)
Archaeologists in the North American Southwest have documented the source provenance of obsidian artifacts throughout the Ancestral Pueblo, Hohokam, and Mimbres Mogollon regions. These results have impacted how we portray obsidian lithic technology, procurement, and social interaction at both macro and micro regional and temporal scales. Despite the methodological and theoretical advances in southwestern archaeological obsidian studies over the years, obsidian from the Casas Grandes region in...
Booze or Food? Experimental Archaeology of Low-Fired Pottery to Examine Tribochemical Processes (2016)
Ceramic ethnographic research from Africa shows that the fermenting of alcohol in low-fired pottery results in a variety of tribochemical processes, which cause pitting in the interior of the vessel. Jars and sherds from the Casas Grandes region (AD 1200-1450) have similar pitting, causing researchers to propose that either alcohol or hominy was made in these jars. To evaluate these hypotheses we created low-fired vessels and used them for boiling water, making hominy, fermenting corn (corn...
Bunny Or Bison: A Comparative Study of Faunal Material in the Casas Grandes World (2015)
Faunal material has been recovered throughout the Casas Grandes world, from the cultural center of Paquime to the borderlands sites of Joyce Wells and 76 Draw. This study aims to compare the faunal assemblages of several Casas Grandes related sites to examine patterns of faunal utilization through time and space. Our results demonstrate that sites closer to Paquime (including Paquime itself) tend to have a more diverse faunal assemblage as well as having a higher percentage of high-ranked...
Ceramic analysis of site 291, a historic Casas Grandes site. (2016)
Casas Grandes is an archaeological prehistoric site located in the state of Chihuahua, Northwest Mexico. The region’s chronology remains unclear, with knowledge gaps between its time periods, one of these gaps includes the possible social configurations after the collapse of Casas Grandes. This research aims to provide new data obtained from the analysis of the ceramic assemblage of an archaeological site whose architecture seems to linger between late Casas Grandes and Spanish. This site, 291,...
Copper Back Mirrors (Tezcacuitlapilli) as Objects of Political and Religious Authority in the Casas Grandes World (A.D. 1200-1450) (2015)
The rise of the Casas Grandes culture (AD 1200-1450) in Chihuahua, Mexico and the adoption of a new religion centered upon the Mesoamerican solar deity Xochipilli prefigured many of the social transformations that occurred among Pueblo cultures across the American Southwest by the fourteenth century. The appearance of new architecture of clear Mesoamerican derivation (e.g., I-shaped ballcourts) and imported finished objects of shell and copper in the Casas Grandes world indicates heightened...
Cuevas arqueológicas al oeste de la Sierra Madre Occidental, Chihuahua. Las casas acantilado. (2017)
En esta ponencia se hablará de los sitios arqueológicos establecidos en cuevas conocidos como casas acantilado (cliff dwellings) asociadas a la cultura Casas Grandes, teniendo como punto de referencia la actual Zona Arqueológica Paquimé, la cual tuvo su momento de apogeo entre el año 1060-1340 d C. Este tipo de sitios tienen características muy específicas en cuanto a la formación del contexto arqueológico y todo lo que encontramos en él; es decir, gracias al microambiente que en este se genera,...
The Current State of Looting, Preservation, and Education in the Casas Grandes Region (2015)
The looting of archaeological artifacts is a worldwide phenomenon prompting the destruction of our world heritage. Looting and the antiquities market across the U.S/Mexico border is a complex bi-national issue that has highly impacted the archaeological record. A previous examination of the history of looting in Casas Grandes, Chihuahua, Mexico demonstrates three periods of looting: the Museum Period (1900-1939), the Private Collector Period (1940-1979), and the Present Period (1980-present)....
Dietary Patterns of Paquime: New Evidence from Dental Calculus and Microfossils (2016)
As part of a larger multinational project, we gathered and analyzed 112 samples of dental calculus (fossilized plaque) from human remains discovered at Paquimé and other sites in the Casas Grandes river valley to identify various microfossils still present in the silica matrix. Once identified, we used the prehistoric plant remains to reconstruct human/plant relationships present during the Viejo and Medio periods in and around Paquimé. Our data suggest that maize was used throughout both time...
Dietary variation at Paquimé (Casas Grandes) and Convento sites: Evidence from the stable isotope analysis of human bone collagen (2016)
Paquimé (Casas Grandes), located in northern Mexico, is well known for its Medio period (AD 1200-1450) monumental architecture and the variation apparent in its mortuary practices. While previous bioarcheological studies have addressed a wide range of questions, dietary practices at Paquimé still remain largely unexplored. Stable isotope analysis of bone collagen is one technique that can directly reconstruct diets at Paquimé and identify differences between individuals, time periods, and...
Dressing the Casas Grandes Person: Medio Period Clothing and Ritual (2016)
Casas Grandes Medio period (A.D. 1200-1450) human effigies are unique in the North American Southwest in that they depict primary and secondary sexual traits, making determination of sex possible. We consider the importance of depicted clothing (e.g., belts and sashes), personal adornments (e.g., necklaces and bracelets), facial decorations, and other aspects of dress. We find that Medio period symbolism for males and females was based on gender complementarity that combined the productive,...
Envisioning Natural and Built Environments as Sacred Landscapes in Prehistoric Casas Grandes, Mexico (2019)
This is an abstract from the "Sacred Southwestern Landscapes: Archaeologies of Religious Ecology" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. We develop a hypothesized cosmography in an attempt to evaluate the sacred landscapes of the Casas Grandes cultural tradition of northern Mexico. This analysis includes attention to the relationships among archaeological features and aspects of natural geography in the Casas Grandes region. We draw on previous research...
Examination of Organic Residues and Tribochemical Wear in Low Fired Casas Grandes Pottery Vessels (2017)
Extensive ethnographic evidence of tribochemical globular pitting in brewing vessels exists throughout Africa and Mesoamerica. Current hypotheses, however, do not extend this brewing tradition into the Casas Grandes region until after Spanish Contact. Sherds of pottery vessels collected from the Casas Grandes region (AD 1200-1450) exhibit extensive pitting, which some researchers suggest is due to the fermentation of alcohol and production of hominy. To evaluate these hypotheses, we utilized...
Excavations at Vista del Valle, a Viejo Period Site of the Casas Grandes Cultural Tradition in Chihuahua, Mexico (2016)
In the summer of 2015 we conducted excavations at a site located along the Palanganas River, just south of the Casas Grandes River Valley in northwestern Chihuahua, Mexico. This represents the first excavation of a Viejo Period site (A.D. 700-1200) in this vicinity since the 1960s. We discovered remnants of at least five structures, and fully excavated three. This paper reports our findings and compares them to previous work carried out in the region.
Explorations East of Paquimé (2019)
This is an abstract from the "25 Years in the Casas Grandes Region: Celebrating Mexico–U.S. Collaboration in the Gran Chichimeca" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Since 1994, the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia has conducted archaeological surveys and excavations in the river valleys and drainages in the Casas Grandes region east of Paquimé in northern Chihuahua. Sites from the Archaic through the terminal Casas Grandes periods were...
From Medio to Missionization: A Comparison of Lithic Technology in the Casas Grandes Valley into the Protohistoric Period (2017)
After the early Medio period, populations subsisting in the Casas Grandes region, northwest Mexico experienced internal and external pressures that led to drastic reorganization of their socioeconomic system. This is reflected by significant changes in their lithic toolkit, where differences in raw material use and tool morphology accrued through time. Presented here are the results of our lithic study comparing multiple excavated Medio and the only excavated protohistoric site located...
From Southern Brazil and Northwest Mexico: Swimming across Landscapes with the Fishes (2017)
Prehistoric societies included multidimensional natural, economic, social, political, and ritual landscapes. In this paper we briefly describe landscapes from the southwestern coast of Brazil during the Archaic period and from the Casas Grandes Medio period (A.D. 1200-1450) in northwest Chihuahua, Mexico. More specifically, we address ritual landscapes from shell mounds to hilltops. These components of landscapes are highlighted in honor of research conducted by Paul Fish and Suzanne Fish that...
Gene Flow at Paquime: Cranial Non-Metric Approaches to Regional Social Interactions (2016)
The origins of the Casas Grandes phenomenon remain an essential, if elusive pursuit for Southwest/Northwest archaeologists. The explanations are numerous, and include migrations, in-situ development, local emulation of prestigious Mesoamerican traits, and several different combinations therein. In this study, a series of biodistance analyses are conducted using different cranial and dental metric and non-metric traits. Several hypothesized sources of migrants and cultural transmission are...
Geometric Morphometric Approaches to Casas Grandes Ceramic Specialization (2015)
Previous studies of the Casas Grandes region have suggested that several craft items, including ceramics and ground stone, were produced by part or full-time specialists. In this study, we build upon previous approaches to ceramic specialization by conducting geometric morphometric analysis on an extensive collection of scaled digital photographs of Viejo and Medio period whole vessels. Geometric morphometrics allows for the statistical analysis of shape as indicated by the relationship...
Methods for the Analysis of Structural Wood and Some Examples from NW Mexico – A Paper in Honor of Tomas C. Windes (2015)
The wooden portions of prehistoric and historic architecture are not always well preserved. However, when they are present they provide a wealth of information about construction techniques, labor effort, and other aspects of the lives of these people related to building construction. Some key attributes of analysis include: tree species, when the tree died, felling methods, branch and bark removal methods, and surface treatment. This paper summarizes some of Windes’ contributions to this area...
The Multivalence of Black in Casas Grandes Iconography (2019)
This is an abstract from the "Coloring the World: People and Colors in Southwestern Archaeology" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Color symbolism was undoubtedly important to the Medio period (AD 1200–1450) Casas Grandes folks. Red, black, and white designs decorate their pottery, but excavations at Paquimé reveal that the Medio Period farmers used a variety of mineral pigments for painted murals and/or for makeup and body paint. They also conducted...
New Perspectives on Casas Grandes Mortuary Practices: (2015)
The diversity of Casas Grandes mortuary practices has often been cited as strong evidence for hierarchy and political centralization at Paquimé. Initial mortuary analyses argued that variability in grave furniture, corpse treatment, and burial location represented the social identity of the deceased. A central finding of these analyses was that mortuary variability cross-cut age and sex categories, supporting inferences of ascribed vertical status differentiation. In this study, we use recent...
Paquimé and Diablo Phases at Paquimé: An Examination of Architectural Validity of Phase Declarations (2015)
This paper will present on the results of statistically-based analyses of architectural data relating to the Paquimé and Diablo Phases at the site of Paquimé collected and published by Charles Di Peso et al. in 1974. A re-examination of the architectural data is necessitated as, in a methodology dissimilar to standard procedure, Di Peso utilized architectural attributes as a basis for phase differentiation. While prior statistical analysis (Frost 2000) has been applied successfully to...
Paquimé in Perspective: A Meta-Analysis of Turkey Remains from the US Southwest and Northern Mexico (2019)
This is an abstract from the "Current Research on Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) Domestication, Husbandry and Management in North America and Beyond" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Excavations at the site of Paquimé in Northern Mexico, uncovered the interred remains of hundreds of common turkeys. Given both the size and unusual nature of this assemblage, studies of the Paquimé turkeys seem well suited to furthering our understanding of...