Casas Grandes: A Fallen Trading Center of the Gran Chichimeca, Volume 5, Architecture

Author(s): Charles C. Di Peso; John B. Rinaldo; Gloria J. Fenner

Year: 1974

Summary

The serpentine mound after which Unit 11 was named was located in Blocks 22 and 23, extending slightly into Block 24, of the Sanchez Bjanco map. To the E, in Blocks 32, 33, 42, and 43, was the house-cluster. Unit 11 was entirely surrounded by an open expanse, with Unit 10 to the NE and Reservoir 2 further to the E. The house-cluster measured 68.30 m. in length on the N-S axis and 56.80 m. in width on the E-W axis, an area of 3,200 sq. m. Included within the house-cluster were 25 single story puddled adobe structures, two multistoried rooms, and four plazas. All of the rooms but two and all of the plazas but one were part of the original construction which took place at the beginning of the Buena Fe Phase; the remainder were added later in the same phase. With the exception of the multistory rooms and one plaza, the house-cluster was abandoned at the end of this time block.

During the early 1850s Bartlett (1854, p. 359) described the ruins of Unit 11 as being a single story structure about 150 ft. square and divided into a number of compartments of equal dimensions. Bandelier (1892, PI. 6) assigned the letter N to Unit 11 and described it as follows:

The plan of this building is so different from that of the other houses that the thought arises whether it may have been of modern origin. Still the potsherds are ancient, although less numerous. The ground plan of this ruin recalls that of a house of a Spanish Mexican hacienda, and the building was only one story in height. (Ibid., p. 551)

Cite this Record

Casas Grandes: A Fallen Trading Center of the Gran Chichimeca, Volume 5, Architecture, 5. Charles C. Di Peso, John B. Rinaldo, Gloria J. Fenner. The Amerind Foundation, Inc. ,9. Flagstaff, Arizona: Northland Press. 1974 ( tDAR id: 448942) ; doi:10.48512/XCV8448942

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Keywords

Culture
Hohokam

Material
Building Materials • Mineral • Wood

Site Name
Casas Grandes

Site Type
Archaeological Feature • Artifact Scatter • Burial Pit • Commercial or Industrial Structures • Domestic Structure or Architectural Complex • Domestic Structures • Funerary and Burial Structures or Features • Hearth • House • Midden • Platform Mound • Post Hole / Post Mold • Rock Alignment • Rock Shelter • Settlements • Town / City

Investigation Types
Archaeological Overview • Architectural Documentation • Architectural Survey • Collections Research • Data Recovery / Excavation • Ethnographic Research • Heritage Management • Methodology, Theory, or Synthesis • Site Evaluation / Testing

Spatial Coverage

min long: -113.774; min lat: 24.798 ; max long: -100.767; max lat: 36.13 ;

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Amerind Museum

Principal Investigator(s): Charles C. Di Peso

Prepared By(s): The Amerind Foundation, Inc.

Record Identifiers

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number(s): 74-82018

File Information

  Name Size Creation Date Date Uploaded Access
1974_DiPesoRinaldoFenner_CasasgrandesV5_OCR_PDFA.pdf 524.24mb Jan 1, 1974 Jun 18, 2019 1:19:14 PM Public

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