Casas Grandes

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. The significance of the Tarahumara, Pima and Apache cultures for the history of Casas Grandes remains uncertain. Some historians believe that the Apaches were responsible for Paquimé's demise, probably in around 1450 when the town was burned down and abandoned. Remains of pottery workshops and others for producing artefacts in turquoise and shell, suggest that Casas Grandes must have been an important centre for both manufacture and trade. Parrot feathers from captive birds are believed to have been bartered for turquoise from the north. Semi-subterranean dwellings, very old pottery, and underground cult chambers called kivas, all dating from the early period, have been uncovered in the archaeological zone. Finds from the middle period include remains of multi-storeyed adobe houses, stairways and irrigation channels. In addition to Anasazi pottery, Toltec Mexican-style buildings (ball courts, platforms, remains of pyramids), some decorated with Quetzalcóatl motifs, have been discovered dating from the late period. Some items found are displayed in the Museo de las Culturas del Norte.

Housed in three rooms the exhibits portray the history of the region, archaeological and ethnological finds, and illustrate the lives of the earlier and present inhabitants.