Casas Grandes 
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The most remarkable of all the pre-Columbian ruins in northern Mexico is found on the outskirts of "old" Casas Grandes, a small town 8km/5mi south of the ''new", modern, agricultural town of Nuevo Casas Grandes (about 335km/208mi north-west of Chihuahua; 1600 m (5251 ft); population: 80,000). The site, also known as Casas Grandes (Paquimé; Náhuatl: "big town"), shows affinities with the cultures of the area now encompassed by the south-western U.S., the influence of Meso-America on northern Mexico having been relatively small.
Casas Grandes is classed as one of the so-called oasis cultures, the most notable of which are Casa Grande (Arizona), Mesa Verde (Colorado) and Pueblo Bonito (New Mexico). Little has come down to us about its builders or their times. Probably first settled from the north between the 7th and 8th centuries AD, Casas Grandes experienced an initial flowering about AD 1000. More recent finds suggest that in the 13th and 14th centuries it came somewhat more under the influence of the central Mexican highlands, though later indications point to renewed ties with the north, principally the Anasazi culture.
Casas Grandes is classed as one of the so-called oasis cultures, the most notable of which are Casa Grande (Arizona), Mesa Verde (Colorado) and Pueblo Bonito (New Mexico). Little has come down to us about its builders or their times. Probably first settled from the north between the 7th and 8th centuries AD, Casas Grandes experienced an initial flowering about AD 1000. More recent finds suggest that in the 13th and 14th centuries it came somewhat more under the influence of the central Mexican highlands, though later indications point to renewed ties with the north, principally the Anasazi culture.
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