The Context and Meaning of Medio Period Casas Grandes Stone Effigies

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

This project presents the analysis of groundstone effigies from Paquimé, Chihuahua, Mexico. Paquimé was the center of the Medio period (A.D. 1200–1450) occupation of the Casas Grandes region. These effigies are small figurines ground to resemble humans and animals. Our analysis, based on Di Peso et al.’s (1974) Casas Grandes report, indicate that mountain lion and bear pendants were most common animal forms, although many other animals were also present. The context and form of these effigies are consistent with ethnographically documented use of similar effigies among the historic and modern Southwestern Native American cultures in which males primarily used these effigies for healing and hunting rituals. Human groundstone effigies could take the form of large 0.5 m tall effigies of the entire body or smaller effigies of human heads. Phallic shaped objects are likely effigies of male genitalia as well. The larger human effigies are likely statuary items that are tied to specific ritual locations whereas the smaller heads and phallic effigies have a broader distribution across the site.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

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Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 39313.0