The University of Arizona Press

May 8, 2025

Reframing Paquimé: Community Formation in Northwest Chihuahua is a groundbreaking reinterpretation of the Casas Grandes region by scholars Michael E. Whalen and Paul E. Minnis. This final installment in their comprehensive study challenges the dominant view of Paquimé as a hierarchical society founded by outsiders, presenting instead a compelling case for a largely locally organized society with Mesoamerican and Puebloan characteristics. Drawing on twenty-five years of extensive survey and excavation data, the authors offer a fresh perspective that reframes our understanding of this remarkable archaeological site.

Today, the authors share photos from each of the five phases of their expedition.

The Joint Casas Grandes Expedition (JCGE) excavated the western portion of the Paquimé in the mid-twentieth century. In addition to the massive multistory room blocks, a variety of ritual structures were excavated. These include mounds in geometric and animal shapes, ballcourts, and feasting ovens. The results of the JCGE demonstrated how important this community was.

When we began field work, we concluded that the information most lacking about the Casas Grandes archaeological tradition was its regional setting; how did other communities interact with each other and with Paquimé? Consequently, our field research included five phases:

1. Regional survey, both reconnaissance and systematic surveys.
2. Excavation of sites in the Outer Core Zone.
3. Excavation of sites very near Paquimé, the Inner Core Zone.
4. Studies of ancient farming.
5. Excavation of small sites that might have been occupied after the height of Paquimé.

Phase 1: Regional Survey

We began by visiting and recording sites in a wide area of northwestern Chihuahua. This was followed by years of systematic survey (that is, intensive coverage of specific locations). We recorded hundreds of sites, with most dating to the Medio Period (A.D. 1200-early 1400s), which means they were contemporary with Paquimé.

Phase 2 & 3: Outer and Inner Core Excavations

We excavated four sites, 317, 231, 204, and 242, in the Outer Core. We then excavated two sites, 315 and 565, which are in the Río Casas Grandes river valley within two kilometers of Paquimé itself. Each of these six sites is unique, so we could begin to study how different Medio Period communities interacted with each other.

Another Outer Core site is 204, one of the largest sites we recorded. In addition to three mounds with a total of about 200 rooms, this site had a ballcourt, two earthen ovens, and many fields on the hills around the site. On the hill to the south is an atalaya, a shrine with a clear view of Cerro Moctezuma, an important mountain top shrine on a mountain directly west of Paquimé.

The pictures above show the excavation of rooms at Sites 315 and 565 which are located very near Paquimé. Despite the extensive looting at all the sites we studied, we were able to acquire surprisingly robust data.

Phase 4: Studies of Ancient Farming

We also studied upland field systems noted by check-dams (locally known as trincheras), which are linear rock lines like those across the small drainage as seen in the photo below (left). A few of the agricultural fields likely were “chief’s fields” where the local population tended large fields controlled by leaders. We also test excavated a number of ritual earthen ovens like the one in the photo below (right).

Phase 5: Excavation of Small Sites

Small Late Medio Period sites were also excavated to understand the area’s occupation after Paquime’s decline. Note the thin walls at Site 290 (6 km north of Paquimé) indicative of vernacular construction unlike the massive walls found at Paquimé.

We suggest that Paquimé was the center of the Casas Grandes tradition with wide influence but limited regional control. If the Medio Period began before Paquimé was at its height, perhaps it wasn’t always the most important community. The Paquimé centered society was more like the cooperative Puebloan communities with limited elite control than those in core Mesoamerica with formidable elite domination.

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Michael E. Whalen is a professor emeritus in the department of anthropology at the University of Tulsa. His research interests include complex societies, processes of sociocultural evolution, prehistoric social structure, and ceramic analysis. Before coming to the Casas Grandes area in 1989, he worked in southern Mesoamerica and in the U.S. Southwest. He has published books, monographs, chapters, and journal articles on Oaxaca, western Texas, and northwestern Chihuahua. His research has been supported by the National Science Foundation and the National Geographic Society.

Paul E. Minnis is a professor emeritus of anthropology at the University of Oklahoma, now living in Tucson, Arizona, where he is a visiting scholar in the School of Anthropology at the University of Arizona. He conducts research on the prehispanic ethnobotany and archaeology of the northwest Mexico and the U.S. Southwest. He has published extensively on ethnobotany. He is the author or editor of fifteen books and numerous articles. He has received the E. K. Janaki Amal Medal, the Distinguished Ethnobiologist Award, and the Byron Cummings Award, and he was a Sigma Xi Distinguished Lecturer.