Ancient DNA Investigations of Possible Casas Grandes – Chalchihuites Interactions

Summary

Paquimé, the political and religious center of the Casas Grandes culture, demonstrates extensive evidence of Mesoamerican influence, including macaws, architectural characteristics such as ballcourts and platform mounds, and mortuary practices in the form of modified trophy skulls and human sacrifice. The role of Mesoamerican influence on the development and florescence of the Casas Grandes culture remains an important but contentious research question for the late prehistoric Northwest/Southwest. While there is general agreement that some degree of Mesoamerican interaction occurred, the sources of this interaction, and their significance, remain an open question. In this study, we compare mtDNA haplogroup and sequence data from Paquimé to a series of Southwestern and Mesoamerican samples. The results suggest that samples from the Chalchihuites region of Durango, Mexico, are more similar to Paquimé than geographic distance would suggest. We conclude by discussing the potential role of the Chalchihuites culture in the spread of Mesoamerican traits into Chihuahua and the US Southwest.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 22097