The Casas Grandes World focuses on a remarkable prehistoric culture that extended through parts of present-day Chihuahua, Sonora, New Mexico, Texas, and Arizona, centering on the large Mexican site of Casas Grandes. The thousands of prehistoric sites in this vast area have only recently been considered related to each other, yet it now appears that for more than 200 years, from about AD 1200 to 1425, the people of the region traded with each other, made coursed-adobe pueblos in the desert country, manufactured magnificent pottery, and produced some of the most extraordinary rock art in North America. Casas Grandes was recently designated a World Heritage Site by the United Nations. During is florescence Casas Grandes served as a conduit or nexus between the Anasazi of the ancient American Southwest and the Mexican civilizations to the south. Using the seminal work of Charles Di Peso as a touchstone, and drawing on significant new archaeological work, this volume offers a reevaluation of the extent, history, and meaning of the great site and its far-reaching connections. It also considers influences on the Hohokam of Arizona and the peoples of west Mexico, positing the existence of a vast sphere of Casas Grandes cultural influence.
Curtis Schaafsma is curator of anthropology, Laboratory of Anthropology, Museum of New Mexico, Santa Fe. Carroll Riley is emeritus distinguished professor of anthropology, Southern Illinois University, and now resides in Las Vegas, New Mexico. Among his books are Rio del Norte: People of the Upper Rio Grande from Earliest Times to the Pueblo Revolt and The Kachina and the Cross: Indians and Spaniards in the Early Southwest, both available from the University of Utah Press.
"This volume will be a standard reference used by students and scholars for years to come."--David Kirkpatrick, Human Systems Research, Las Cruces "Schaafsma is the right person to pull this material together because of his important early work in the upper Chama Valley, which defined the Piedra Lumbre phase, and because of his extensive knowledge of the ethnohistorical (Spanish) literature."--Robert Preucel, University Museum, University of Pennsylvania. "A major contribution in that it presents much new data that will provide scholars with many research questions for years to come."--The Albuquerque Archeological Society "A marvelous antidote to our lack of understanding of the crucial importance of the Casas Grandes culture center as an intermediary between the Anasazi centers of the American Southwest and northern Mexico cultures."--The Telluride Watch "An important contribution to the current redefinition of Paquime studies in international scholarly thought."--Latin American Antiquity "Essential addition to collections in the archeology of the region."--CHOICE "Necessary reading for those interested in learning about Casas Grandes as well as for those who wish to prepare themselves before visiting the site."--Colonial Latin American Historical Review "There is much valuable informational here. A valuable contribution to the archaeological literature on Casas Grandes, northern Mexico, and the southern U.S. southwest. Includes useful syntheses and presentation of new data."--American Antiquity
