The University of Arizona Press
Date: Wednesday, March 6, 2024
Time: 3 – 4 p.m., AZT
Where: ENR2 Rm S107, University of Arizona, 1064 E. Lowell St., Tucson
Steven LeBlanc, retired director of collections, Peabody Museum/Harvard University, will present his slides on “Chaco, Mimbres and Paquime: A New Synthesis,” in person on the University of Arizona campus. The event is sponsored by the Arizona State Museum and is free and open to the public. LeBlanc’s presentation is based on the forthcoming book that he co-authored with Roger Anyon, Ancient Communities in the Mimbres Valley, Continuity and Change from AD 750 to 1350. Attendees will receive a discount code to pre-order this book.
Chaco Canyon and Paquime (Casas Grandes) are both world heritage sites. Between them lies the unique Mimbres culture. For over 50 years the relationships between them have produced many theories, but little consensus. Recent information strongly suggests that the terminal dates for Chaco and Mimbres ca. AD1130 are very near the initial date for the founding of Paquime, thus changing how they might have been related. A new synthesis provides insights into the links between these three cultures.
About the book:
In the Mimbres Valley of southwestern New Mexico, archaeologists have been working for decades to meticulously excavate archaeological sites. Expanding beyond studies that focus on a single pueblo, this volume represents the final report on the excavations of the Mimbres Foundation. It brings together data from a range of pithouse and pueblo sites of different sizes and histories in diverse locations—to refine the current understandings of Mimbres region archaeology in the context of the Greater Southwest.
