Ancient Mogollon City
Paquime, Chihuahua Mexico
Photo by Jennifer Bjarnason December 2018
"It has been said that in Chihuahua there is no green and burgeoning Eden; that it is a kingdom of yellowing plains: eroded, dry and desolate; a land of high rugged mountains shot through narrow passes. The scarce and torrential rain when it falls forms stagnant pools in the desert bowls, which later evaporate or hurl themselves down among the rocky canyons. The sun blisters and cracks, the wind burns, the winter scourges. The inhabitants of Chihuahua throughout the ages, whether miners, farmers or priests, have always been warriors. And this is because their environment has demanded of them a little more than their best efforts, not just in terms of courage, but tenacity of spirit and strength of character." - Lester and Lester 1979
When I arrived in Casas Grandes, I expected a lot of tourists - but if tourism is a thing of this town, I came at just the right time. I paid my entrance fee and ventured down the groomed gravel path under a blinding desert sun, soon to realize I had wandered into this desolate ancient city completely alone. It's amusing, albeit ironic, how my mind tends to embrace atheism, except in the presence of certain ancient spaces where my soul can feel the memory of a powerful and sometimes sinister presence. As I slowly crept closer to these old mud walls, I sensed the gruesome scene of lifeless bodies that once lay scattered across the sands in the aftermath of a terrible war, which only served to heighten my ghostly fears.
Paquime is both powerful and haunted. The eerie winds whispered like spectral voices, occasionally morphing into a soft, mournful whistle. The bugs crawling across the arid grasses were so large, I heard their footsteps. These ancient places are full of enchanted magic and wonderful songs, laughter and love, the creation of life, and peaceful death - but if you listen closely, you will feel what I experienced here, as though from some form of collective memory.
Paquime may have flourished for two blissful centuries, but in the end, the people of this dominant trade centre suffered deeply.
Ancient Mogollon City Paquime
Casas Grandes, Chihuahua Mexico
Photo by Jennifer Bjarnason December 2018
What caused the violent surmise of this successful and central power is the subject of much debate and intrigue, as is just how expansive their trade branched out. One of the most surprising finds at Paquime was evidence that the people here successfully bred macaws, which are tropical birds from the southern reaches of Mesoamerica, far from a desert climate. Along with parrots and macaws from Maya territories, came Cacao. There is speculation of extensive trade with the Pùrepecha, due to the discovery of many copper items here including small bells. Some archaeologists have theorized that Paquime operated as a large factory for trade goods, but regardless of whether or not that is true, the archaeological record shows the vendors dealt in "corn, beans, chili, fish, rabbit, venison, turkey, macaw, ceramics, fabric, sandals and objects made from copper, turquoise, shells and wood...as well as stones for milling and a wide variety of utensils made from local and foreign materials." (INAH) They also traded salt from the Samalayuca desert, which is nearby, among other goods they procured from their close neighbours such as raw clay and grains.
The caches of turquoise found here are assumed to have come from the Chaco Canyon area, north of Paquime. Interesting to note, archaeologists mark 600 CE as the settlement date for Paquime, which is about 100 years before the rise of a trade network fondly called The Turquoise Road, as for many years historians believed all turquoise in Mesoamerica had arrived from Oasisamerica. A 2018 study of lead and strontium isotopes of Toltec and Mixeca turquoise artefacts indicated otherwise. That isn´t to say the turquoise found at Paquime isn´t from Chaco Canyon, as Paquime is actually considered to be in the southernmost region of Oasisamerica, which at its height expanded west and north from Chihuahua to include Sonora, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and Colorado, as well as small regions of California, Baja California and Texas.
Ancient Adobe House with the Sierra Madre Occidental Mountains
Paquime, Chihuahua Mexico
Photo by Jennifer Bjarnason December 2018
The Mogollon culture of Paquime was directly connected to the Pueblo of the Southwestern US, and are possibly the direct ancestors of the Zuni, Hopi and Rararmuri (Tarahumara). Aside from a well-worn trade route that extended north-west and south, an important path was also inscribed along an arduous journey through the Sierra Madre Occidental to cave dwellings in the Huapoca Canyon and through Sonora to California`s coast. The trade, in its entirety, was important enough to be featured on outstanding ceramics found here, with depictions of parrots and also an effigy vessel of a man wearing a head-sling with a sack, who is thought to represent a travelling merchant.
It should be noted that among the Hopi, common motifs seen amidst geometric designs on their ceramics include land creatures, such as bear, lizard, and deer, as well as depictions for migration patterns and eagle feathers. Zuni pottery often features tadpoles, frogs, a supernatural "rain" bird, flowers and deer. Raramuri ceramics are often plain, but covered with hide. It seems when the Mogollon culture split into smaller groups that disbursed and evolved, they left behind their traditional zoomorphic motifs from the southern cultures, such as parrots, macaws and the feather-plumed serpent deity, all of which hail from Toltec and Maya territories.
Part of the Irrigation System
Paquime, Chihuahua Mexico
Photo by Jennifer Bjarnason December 2018
One distinctive difference between Paquime and her southern trade partners in Mesoamerica is the absence of step-pyramids. The construction material was vastly different, as instead of having limestone or volcanic rock at their disposal, the architects of Paquime used mud to create a labyrinth-style city from adobe. Beginning in 600 CE, the first structures here were pit-houses dug into the ground. By 1200 CE, an extensive irrigation system was implemented to draw water to the fields for agricultural ease.
Archaeologists believe It was the invention of this irrigation system that prompted the architectural advances necessary for constructing large and spacious, multiple level homes above-ground, some with as many as four floors and dozens of rooms. These facilities "included large houses with rooms to accommodate the most prestigious clans. These dwellings had storerooms, meeting rooms, courtyards, bedrooms, dining rooms, living rooms, hallways and porches for accessing each house." (INAH) The labyrinth style design of these colossal but singular structures was a deciding aspect of determining Paquime a UNESCO World Heritage Site on December 2, 1998.
Large Adobe House
Paquime, Chuihuahua, Mexico
Photo by Jennifer Bjarnason December 2018
Another technological advancement at Paquime was the invention of a hydraulic system that brought drinking water to the city itself from a man-made canal system that extended for nearly 5 kilometers (3 miles) from the north. Later, the city`s engineers implemented yet another useful system to drain black water away from the houses. One can imagine a life of surprising comfort, despite Paquime`s isolated location and harsh desert surroundings.
Much like the other cultures of Oasisamerica and Mesoamerica, the Mogollon of Paquime held a deep spiritual reverence for animals, astronomy and the gods. "They built temples honoring their deities...represented in the ceremonial mounds in the shape of birds, Venus, the Great Serpent" (INAH), all of which are featured on ancient pottery found here. There is also a collection of mounds thought to be an observatory, with a cross-shaped platform representing the four directions surrounded by four circular stages. Archaeologists believe these five mounds were used to study equinoxes and other astronomical wonders.
Nude Woman Effigy
Artefact from Paquime
Photo by Artemis Gallery
Mata Ortiz pottery is possibly the most famous and collectible pottery of Mexico, rivalled only by the exceptional Petatillo of Tonala Jalisco, and exquisite Talavera of Puebla. The modern movement of the Mata Ortiz style was led by a passionate artist named Juan Quezada who collected, studied and experimented for many years to recreate masterpieces based on antique pottery shards he would find while clearing vegetation from railroad tracks in his youth. What makes Mata Ortiz pottery so desirable for enthusiasts of history and archaeology is its roots in the polychromatic ceramics of the ancient Mogollon.
Polychrome pottery of the Mogollon was derived from clay mixed with sand, then formed into shape using the most ancient coil and scrape technique. Unlike vessels thrown on a wheel or formed using a mold, coil pots are created with a base and a separate piece of clay rolled into a long noodle that is then coiled around the base. The base and bottom coil are pinch-fused together, and as coils are added to raise the walls of the vessel, they are pinch-bonded and scraped to create a smooth surface. This process also helps thin the walls of the vessel as it expands and takes form.
The term polychrome refers to the use of 3 or more mineral pigment slips that are used to ornament the piece. The base colour of the clay can count as one of the 3 mandatory colours, as is seen on the effigy and wedding vessel pictured here. These sculptures include blonde clay with red and black paint, which is quite typical of Mogollon ceramics.
Wedding Vessel with Parrots
Artefact from Paquime
Photo by Artemis Gallery
Archaeologists surmise the city of Paquime was a thriving central power for about two centuries, enjoying steady relationships with merchants and traders from all directions and possibly as a manufacturer of artisan goods. They also believe this city met a violent end, marked not only by the fact that the city had long been abandoned by the time the Spanish stumbled across it during their exploits north in the 1560`s, but also due to clear evidence that the entire city was razed around the mid 1350`s CE, when it is believed Paquime`s powerful legacy met a fairly abrupt end. The residual population slowly declined over the next 125 years, until Paquime was completely abandoned around 1475 CE.
Drought and famine figure strongly among theories about Paquime`s demise, though another includes an unexpected end of trade with the Pùrepecha, whose empire dominated parts of central Mexico. This would suggest the Paquime must have heavily relied on the Pùrepecha for valuable trade items if such a loss could crash their economic system. Others believe there were nomadic warriors from the north who descended on Paquime, possibly out of desperation to survive during a time of inclement conditions.
Cross-Shaped Mound Observatory
Paquime, Chihuahua Mexico
Photo by Jennifer Bjarnason December 2018
Perhaps a combination of reasons are why this once-powerful society failed, why it´s buildings were set ablaze, why her southern-inspired pottery motifs were never adopted into other related cultures and why her citizens retreated into the unknown, like a true vanishing race that was never to be seen from or heard from again.
As I shivered nervously beneath the relentless desert sun, imagining vivid glimpses from these many scenarios, I could picture dust billowing from the trampled and bloodied soil, fires thundering beneath the cries of loved ones being mourned, steam rising from the blackened irrigation ditches, the shadow of a stone-bladed battle-axe hurdling across the smokey sky...
I suddenly felt a sense of relief - for two archaeologists had entered the site, and my wild imagination and I were no longer alone...
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Archaeologists have arrived
Paquime, Chihuahua Mexico
Photo by Jennifer Bjarnason December 2018
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