Casas Grandes Ruin, Paquime Ceramics, Chihuahua, Mexico
Paquime is also called Casas Grandes (Large Houses) similar to the nearby town of the same name and the modern town Nuevo Casas Grandes.
Casas Grandes (Great Houses) is located 35 miles south of Janos and 150 northwest of Chihuahua. This is
an area about 100 miles south of the US Border.
First class buses stop at the town of Nuevo Casas Grandes and from there you can take a 70 pesos cab ride
to Viejo Casas Grandes where the ruin and museum is located. Local bus service also makes the trip.
Pequime was built beginning around 1130 AD and enlarged in the 14th Century by the Mogollon Culture
according to some researchers. The settlement had ties to the Arizona Hohokam Culture and the Anasazi
Culture of Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, and Colorado.
In the mid 1300s Paquime consisted of multi-story dwelling of adobe and stone, primarily
sun baked adobe that had been built up by hand. The influence from Mesoamerica to the
south is evident in the pottery and in the vestiges of three Mesoamerican-style ball courts,
one an I-shaped court.
The figure, left, is similar to those found on southern Mexico's
Pacific Coast while the figures with geometric designs of black and white are common to Pueblo pottery found in the southwestern US particularly along the Rio Grande River at pueblos such as Acoma.
Paquime manufactured ceramic trade goods that have been found in the southwestern
United States as far north as Colorado. They also manufactured copper bells, shell trade
goods, and turquoise jewelry.
Researchers estimate that 2500 people once lived at Pequime before the settlement was
abandoned in the 1400s about one hundred years before the Spanish arrived in Mexico.
Paquime Ruin Site, Chihuahua State has yielded pottery that shows influence
from both the pueblo cultures of the southwest Rio Grande and the cultures to the
south in Mesoamerica.
Pequime, commonly called Casas Grandes, is located 150 miles north of the
City of Chihuahua. Pottery was traded from the 10th Century settlement of
Paquime on the trade routes to the north and south.
Paquime Ruin site Mexico is also called Casas Grandes after the multi story houses found by the first
Spanish to visit the area. The large settlement of adobe buildings was abandoned 100 years before the
The residents of Paquime raised birds in cages within the complex, possibly
the scarlet Macaw and the domestic turkey. The large settlement of adobe
buildings was abandoned 100 years before the Spanish arrived. Early Spanish
settlers found multi-story houses still standing, thus the name Casas Grandes.
Casas Grande, Paquime, Pottery was influenced by being on a trade route between Mesoamerica to the
south and the Rio Grande Pueblo culture to the north. Turquoise came from the southwest USA in trade with the Anasazi pueblo people while tropical birds and feathers along with anthropomorphic designs on pottery came from the southern regions of Mexico.
Casas Grandes Ruin's Paquime Ceramics from Chihuahua,
Mexico are unique to Casas Grandes Ruin and show diverse
influences from both Mesoamerica to the south and to the Rio
Grande Pueblo culture to the north.
Casas Grandes Ruin's Paquime Ceramics from Chihuahua, Mexico are Unique to Casas Grandes Ruin and
show Diverse Influences from both Mesoamerica to the south and the Rio Grande Pueblo culture to the north.
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