Paquimé (Casas Grandes)
Paquimé · Casas Grandes · Paquime · Paquimé Archaeological Zone
Postclassic (Medio/Chihuahua culture)·Mogollon-Paquimé (Oasisamerica)·🇲🇽 Chihuahua, Casas Grandes Municipality, Mexico
About
About Paquimé (Casas Grandes)
Largest pre-Hispanic pueblo city of northern Mexico (c.1130–1340 CE, 70 ha, population ~2,500) with multi-storey adobe apartments, T-shaped doors, I-shaped ballcourts (Mesoamerican), macaw breeding pens (Java), copper bells, shell trade and platform mounds. Oasis on Casas Grandes River, flourishing as Mesoamerican-Chaco hinge; violently destroyed by fire c.1340 (war or internal). Di Peso 1950s.
Why it mattersOasisamerica capital; macaw trade; Mesoamerica–Pueblo bridge.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Who burnt Paquimé — Apaches or civil war?
- 02Macaw feather ceremony scale
Theories
- 01Mesoamerican diaspora elite model
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.1130–1340 CE (Medio period)
- Period
- Postclassic (Medio/Chihuahua culture)
- Culture
- Mogollon-Paquimé (Oasisamerica)
- Builders
- Paquimé elites (priest traders)
- Purpose
- Desert oasis metropolis controlling macaw/shell/copper trade and astronomy
- Abandoned
- c.1340 CE (burnt)
- Rediscovered
- 1562 Ibarra; 1958–61 Di Peso
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
1130
Paquimé Medio founding
c.1340
City burnt and depopulated
On the ground
Structures & features
30.3730° N · 107.9480° W · 1470 m · 3 mapped features
House of the Ovens (Casa de los Hornos)
houseCeremonial adobe apartment with ovens
30.3735° N · 107.9475° WMacaw breeding room (pen)
penIndoor cages with t-shaped doors for macaw breeding
30.3728° N · 107.9482° WI-shaped ballcourt
ballcourtMesoamerican ballcourt
30.3730° N · 107.9490° W
Gallery