Paquime Ruin Site, Chihuahua, Casas Grandes Mexico

Paquime Ruin Site, Chihuahua, Casas Grandes Mexico

Paquime Ruin Site, Chihuahua is commonly called Casas Grandes and is
located 150 miles north of the City of Chihuahua. The 10th Century
settlement of Paquime on the trade routes was influenced by northern and
southern cultures.

Paquime is also called Casas
Grandes which is also the name
of the nearby town. The
spanish colonist gave the
settlement the name after the
large houses they found

Casas Grandes (Great Houses) is
located 35 miles south of Janos and
150 northwest of Chihuahua. First
class buses stop at 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,
hand applied. The influence from Mesoamerica to the south is evident in the pottery and in the vestiges of the
I-shaped Mesoamerican ball court.
Paquime manufactured ceramic trade goods that shipped to the southwestern United States as far north as
Colorado. They also manufactured copper bells and shell trade goods.
Paquime had extensive reservoir systems for water storage and delivery still evident on the surface and sewer
systems. Researchers estimate that 2500 people once lived at Pequime. The settlement was abandoned in
the early 1400s with evidence of conflict resulting in the abandonment.

Paquime Ruin Site, Chihuahua State is commonly called Casas Grandes. The ruin 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.