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Reconsidering the Size and Structure of Casas Grandes, Chihuahua, Mexico

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Michael E. Whalen ,
A. C. MacWilliams  and
Todd Pitezel
Michael E. Whalen
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Tulsa, Tulsa, OK 74104
A. C. MacWilliams
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology, University of Calgary, T2N-1N4, Canada
Todd Pitezel
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721
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Abstract

The site of Casas Grandes (or Paquimé) in northwest Chihuahua, Mexico, originally was estimated to contain some 2,300 rooms, placing it at the top of known prehispanic pueblo sizes. Its rooms were seen as arranged in blocks of as many as five stories, forming a vast, U-shaped pueblo. This room count and configuration are cited often in the past and present literature. We contend that Casas Grandes originally was interpreted in the most liberal terms. We reexamine it with a more conservative approach, and a different characterization emerges. The U-shaped configuration cannot be supported. Instead, we see a central, linear room block, a small part of which contained three stories. It was flanked on the west by well-known ritual architecture and surrounded on all sides by small, scattered, contemporary, one-story room units. The original room count estimation is reduced by about 50 percent, as is the concomitant estimate of nearly 5,000 residents. This has implications for extant models of the internal and regional organization of Casas Grandes.

Resumen

Resumen

El sitio de Casas Grandes (que también se llama Paquimé), ubicado en el noroeste de Chihuahua, México, tiene una estimación original de 2,300 cuartos. A este tamaño Casas Grandes sería mas grande que otros conocidos pueblos prehistóricos. Según la reconstrucción original los 2,300 cuartos fueron agrupados en bloques de hasta cinco pisos. Estos bloques fueron colocados alrededor de una plaza formando un enorme pueblo en forma de "U." Esta reconstrucción se cita constantemente en la literatura. Ahora re-examinamos el sitio con una perspectiva mas conservativa que lo original. El resultado es una caracterización del sitio que es diferente que la tradicional. Reducimos por 50 percentaje la estimación de 2,300 cuartos y la figura concomitante de casi 5,000 habitantes. El arreglo de los bloques de cuartos en forma de "U" ya no es soportable. Por lo que veamos el centro del sitio fue formado por un gran bloque linear y de hasta tres pisos. Este bloque fue flanqueado al oeste por arquitectura ritual y fue completamente rodeado por todos lados por dispersados y pequeños bloques de cuartos de solo un piso, los cuales fueron contemporáneos con el gran bloque central. Hasta con estas modificaciones, el sitio de Casas Grandes queda una de las comunidades más impresionantes del suroeste de los E.U. o del noroeste de México. El estudio tiene implicaciones para los modelos existentes de la organización interna y regional de Casas Grandes.

Type
Articles
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 75 , Issue 3 , July 2010 , pp. 527 - 550
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 2010

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