Assembly Lines or Handicrafts: How Things Were Made at Paquimé

Many visitors to the ancient ruins at Paquimé are understandably impressed by the enormous size of the site, the breadth of the walls, the size of the colossal wooden beams, and the variety of different rooms, platform mounds, ball courts, and other structures. It is no wonder that the site earned the name Casas Grandes. But if Paquimé were simply a big empty site, then it would not have attracted so much attention from archaeologists and the general public. Equally intriguing are the things that were found in and around the community’s ruins. Richly painted pottery vessels, turquoise beads, copper bells, turkeys, macaws, and rooms full of vast quantities of shells—these are the things that make all of us gape in astonishment. Understanding how these various commodities were produced and used is an important part of shedding light on the lifeways of the ancient Paquiméans.