Casas Grandes: A Fallen Trading Center of the Gran Chichimeca

Summary

CASAS GRANDES, a three-volume set, is the fascinating narrative of the monumental excavation and research which have been accomplished by The Amerind Foundation over the past fifteen years. Dr. Charles Di Peso and his colleagues have proposed new and unique theories concerning the people of the Gran Chichimeca and the development, dissemination and decline of their cultures. This massive publication, documenting one of the most significant of archaeological investigations, will be a landmark of anthropological scholarship. Dr. Charles Di Peso holds a Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of Arizona. His academic career includes degrees in geology from Beloit College and in foreign trade from the American Institute of Foreign Trade. His professional scope included work in diverse field projects before he became Archaeologist-in-Charge for The Amerind Foundation where he is now Director and member of its Board of Directors. In 1959 he was the recipient of the Alfred Vincent Kidder Award for Achievement in American Archaeology. He is listed in numerous "Who's Whos" of American men and women of science. He is credited with more than forty reviews and articles in scholarly journals and is the author of manuscripts of important and lasting value to the body of archaeological knowledge.

Volume 1: Preceramic - Viejo Periods (10,000 B.C. to A.D. 1060)

Volume 2: Medio Period (A.D. 1060 to A.D. 1340)

Volume 3: Tardio and Espanoles Periods (A.D. 1340 to A.D. 1821)

Reference Volumes 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 contain the detailed source material and basic scientific data upon which the evaluations and conclusions in the first three volumes are based.

Volume 4: Architecture and Dating Methods

Volume 5: Architecture

Volume 6: Ceramics and Shell

Volume 7: Stone and Metal

Volume 8: Stone and Metal Bone, Perishables, Commerce, Subsistence, and Burials

Cite this Record

Casas Grandes: A Fallen Trading Center of the Gran Chichimeca. ( tDAR id: 459211) ; doi:10.48512/XCV8459211

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

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

This Resource is Part of the Following User Created Collections


Resources Inside this Project (Viewing 1-7 of 7)

  • Documents (7)
  1. Casas Grandes: A Fallen Trading Center of the Gran Chichimeca, Volume 1, Preceramic - Viejo Periods (1974)
    DOCUMENT Full-Text Charles C. Di Peso.

    "The archaeological zone of Casas Grandes lies within this unknown expanse. Its cultural core is that prehistoric metropolis of which Bandelier counseled: I also venture to suggest that the earliest possible date the ruins of Casas Grandes be thoroughly investigated, since excavations, if systematically conducted, cannot fail to produce valuable results." -Bandelier, A.D. 1892 Comments such as these kindled the flame of curiosity and directed the Amerind Foundation, Inc., to turn its...

  2. Casas Grandes: A Fallen Trading Center of the Gran Chichimeca, Volume 2, Medio Period (1974)
    DOCUMENT Full-Text Charles C. Di Peso.

    It is believed that sometime around the year A.D. 1060 a group of sophisticated Mesoamerican merchants came into the valley of the Casas Grandes and inspired the indigenous Chichimecans to build the city of Paquime over portions of an older Viejo Period village. These foreign donors may have been drawn here by specific information supplied to them by their family-affiliated spying vanguards, who perhaps lived with the frontiersmen during the last phase of the Viejo Period. These organizers who...

  3. Casas Grandes: A Fallen Trading Center of the Gran Chichimeca, Volume 3, Tardio and Espanoles Periods (1974)
    DOCUMENT Full-Text Charles C. Di Peso.

    The Chichimecan Revolt of the 1340s tore asunder the weakened body politic of the Paquime province and in so doing radically changed the settlement pattern in the old kingdom. In the Robles Phase, the city, along with some satellite villages in the Casas Grandes Valley, was abandoned and the political power, as well as the economic wealth, shifted to such northerly towns as were located in the Zuni, Hopi, Mogollon, and the eastern Anasazi-Chichimecan homelands. Some of the Paquime artisans may...

  4. Casas Grandes: A Fallen Trading Center of the Gran Chichimeca, Volume 4, Architecture and Dating Methods (1974)
    DOCUMENT Full-Text Charles C. Di Peso. John B. Rinaldo. Gloria J. Fenner.

    In the case of The Joint Casas Grandes Expedition, correlating the past in terms of the Christian calendar required considerable assistance from members of many other scientific disciplines who were not directly involved with the actual excavations. This scholastic absenteeism created a few communication problems, but in every case the effort of informative dialogue proved very worthwhile, inasmuch as it led to the re-creation of a Paquimian historical continuum, which was one of the primary...

  5. Casas Grandes: A Fallen Trading Center of the Gran Chichimeca, Volume 5, Architecture (1974)
    DOCUMENT Full-Text Charles C. Di Peso. John B. Rinaldo. Gloria J. Fenner.

    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...

  6. Casas Grandes: A Fallen Trading Center of the Gran Chichimeca, Volume 6, Ceramics and Shell (1974)
    DOCUMENT Full-Text Charles C. Di Peso. John B. Rinaldo. Gloria J. Fenner.

    The value of ceramic analysis for chronologically organizing a series of unknown cultures in a particular region and of relating some of them synchronically cannot be denied. Unfortunately, this useful tool is sometimes given undue emphasis and is regarded in some instances as representative of the total culture. Such unbridled use is most dangerous because of the complex nature of pottery - its plasticity when formed, its chameleon-like character on firing, its relative abundance in use, and...

  7. Casas Grandes: A Fallen Trading Center of the Gran Chichimeca, Volume 8, Stone and Metal Bone, Perishables, Commerce, Subsistence, and Burials (1974)
    DOCUMENT Full-Text Charles C. Di Peso. John B. Rinaldo. Gloria J. Fenner.

    During the course of excavations a total of 885 bone artifacts was recovered. Four (0.5%) of these were in Viejo Period association, 877 (99.1%) belonged to the Medio Period, and four (0.5%) to the San Antonio Phase of the Espafioles Period. All of the Viejo Period specimens were utilitarian implements and included a plaiting tool, a coarse coil basketry awl, and two other awls with broken tips. These were simply made, undecorated items- three were splinter tools and one was a split grooved...