Archaeologists are slowly peeling back the mysteries surrounding the Casas Grandes culture of Mexico, although most of that work has focused on the principal site of Paquimé and its immediate vicinity. In this volume, Jane Kelley and her colleagues probe the southern edge of the Casas Grandes culture area—an area little explored by archaeologists until now. The book provides the first solid foundation for research on prehistoric west-central Chihuahua. Readers will find descriptions of the southern branch of the pottery-making, village-dwelling farmers of the Casas Grandes culture and learn that, as Paquimé became the most complex site in the region, the southern Casas Grandes people mostly held back from the “Paquimé revolution.” The studies presented here confer a more nuanced understanding of the tremendous diversity within one of the region’s great prehistoric cultures, an area that extends unbroken from deep in Mexico north to central Utah.
A concise, thoughtful, and comprehensive summary of many years of field work and subsequent research. Kelley’s personal ruminations bring the reader insights and issues that enhance the volume and are, unfortunately, all too often missing in archaeological literature.
Michael S. Foster, archaeologist and editor of The Archaeology, Ethnohistory, and Environment of the Marismas Nacionales
The work is rich in details about different topics, including the botanic, the architecture, and the ceramic. The authors use not only American publications but also Mexican sources—a remarkable issue, because rarely do American or Mexican scholars quote their colleagues on the other side of the border.
Jose Luis Punzo Diaz, profesor investigador, INAH Michoacán
A tremendous contribution… I anticipate that well-thumbed versions of this volume will become a common feature on the desks of archaeologists interested in the prehistory of the Mexican Northwest and U.S. Southwest. The concise, accessible, data-driven chapters on over twenty years of fieldwork, when combined with Kelley’s insightful chapters and conversational writing style, make this volume a delight to read, and a terrific final contribution from one of the trailblazers of Northwest/Southwest archaeology.
New Mexico Historical Review
This volume provides a wealth of data on the southern margins of the Casas Grandes world and shows that there is much to be gained from investigating areas outside major centers. It is a very fitting tribute to the scholarship of Jane Holden Kelley and something that all participants in the PAC should take pride in.
Hispanic American Historical Review
About the Author
Jane Holden Kelley (1928–2016) joined the newly formed Department of Archaeology at the University of Calgary in 1968 and held multiple appointments there until (and after) her retirement in 1994.
David A. Phillips Jr. is the director of the Maxwell Museum of Anthropology and a research associate professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of New Mexico. Phillips has served as a principal investigator and program manager at the Museum of New Mexico and in the private sector.
