Reframing Paquimé

Community Formation in Northwest Chihuahua

Michael E. Whalen, Paul E. Minnis

• Publisher: University of Arizona Press
• Year: 2025
• Print ISBN: 9780816554669
• eBook ISBN: 9780816554676
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Archaeology
• Index: Social Sciences

Reframing Paquimé: Community Formation in Northwest Chihuahua is a groundbreaking reinterpretation of the Casas Grandes region by scholars Michael E. Whalen and Paul E. Minnis. This final installment in their comprehensive study challenges the dominant view of Paquimé as a hierarchical society founded by outsiders, presenting instead a compelling case for a largely locally organized society with Mesoamerican and Puebloan characteristics. Drawing on twenty-five years of extensive survey and excavation data, the authors offer a fresh perspective that reframes our understanding of this remarkable archaeological site.

Whalen and Minnis bring forth significant new data that illuminates the cultural and ecological history of Paquimé and its neighboring communities. The book features more than fifty new radiocarbon dates, hundreds of analyzed archaeobotanical and faunal samples, plus tens of thousands of other artifacts. The data reveal a network of settlements characterized by corporate and ritual-based authority, challenging traditional models of the center's rise, collapse, and subsequent regional abandonment and arguing that aspects of the Paquimé culture continued to exist up to the Spanish Colonial period.

Reframing Paquimé is poised to become an essential reference for archaeologists interested in Northwest Mexico and the U.S. Southwest. By addressing the complex dynamics of community formation and dissolution, Whalen and Minnis provide invaluable insights that will ignite scholarly debate and inspire future research. This meticulously researched volume, authored by leading experts with decades of fieldwork experience, is a vital addition to any collection on the archaeology and ethnobotany of ancient North American societies.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• List of Illustrations
• Acknowledgments
• 1. Understanding Paquimé and Its Neighbors: Concepts, Progress, and Concerns
• 2. Settlement Patterns Reexamined
• 3. The Inner Core Zone Excavation Project: Sites and Chronology
• 4. The Architecture of the Core Zone
• 5. Medio Period Ceramics of the Core Zone
• 6. Medio Period Lithics of the Core Zone
• 7. Exotic and Ritual Items and Facilities in the Core Zone
• 8. Floral and Faunal Remains: Domestic and Community Food Economy and Ecology
• 9. Paquimé and Its Neighbors: Community Formation and Fragmentation
• References Cited
• Index