The Core Zone

Extensive excavations by Charles Di Peso and the Joint Casas Grandes Project (Di Peso Reference Di Peso1974a) at Paquimé provide the baseline for comparisons to hinterland regions. Relevant material culture traditions include the following: domestic architecture elements such as raised adobe “sleeping” platforms, raised hearths, T-shaped doors, rectilinear rooms with numerous walls in esoteric shapes, and overbuilt (thick) adobe walls; communal architecture features in the form of I- and T-shaped ballcourts and variously shaped platform mounds; “storeroom” concentrations of millions of pieces of shell, hundreds of copper objects, and numerous minerals; distinctive aviculture methods for macaws and turkeys; and an elaborate polychrome tradition. The relative frequency of Ramos polychrome in decorated ceramic assemblages is a particularly valuable indicator of ascription to Paquimé religious traditions. The designs on Ramos polychrome frequently incorporate iconic images of macaws and other symbolically laden elements, and the type was likely made by specialist producers (Woosley and Olinger Reference Woosley, Olinger, Woosley and Ravesloot1993).

Di Peso (Reference Di Peso and Ward1983) argued that Paquimé was the capital of a mercantile system founded by Mesoamerican itinerant merchants. His claim developed into a world-systems theory perspective in which Paquimé operated as a semi-periphery of Mesoamerica, extracting valuable raw materials in exchange for locally produced rare goods. In subsequent decades, Whalen and Minnis (Reference Whalen and Minnis2001a, Reference Whalen and Minnis2009) questioned all major points of Di Peso's reconstruction, arguing instead that the trajectory of Paquimé reflected peer–polity dynamics. Once Paquimé emerged as a dominant center, it extracted subsistence goods from its hinterland in exchange for rare goods and ideological legitimization. Only the immediate surroundings of Paquimé were under direct political control, and only a modestly larger halo was enmeshed in regular economic exchanges. Revisionist critiques of the Whalen and Minnis model focus on the importance and scale of ideological influence exerted by Paquimé and the role of religion in its founding and maintenance. Although there are significant differences among active researchers (Lekson Reference Lekson2015; Rakita Reference Rakita2009, Reference Rakita, Minnis and Whalen2015; VanPool Reference VanPool2009; VanPool and VanPool Reference VanPool and VanPool2007, Reference VanPool, VanPool, Minnis and Whalen2015), most infer a greater degree of social complexity, reliance on religion as a mechanism of social control, and greater regional influence than suggested by Whalen and Minnis. For example, Mathiowetz (Reference Mathiowetz2018, Reference Mathiowetz2019, Reference Mathiowetz, Solar-Valverde and Nelson2020) argues not only for Mesoamerican inspiration of the religious traditions of Paquimé but also sustained contact with Mesoamerican agents, including expatriate Mesoamerican rulers. These critiques, however, do not question Whalen and Minnis's empirical data that demonstrate Paquimé is unmatched by near neighbors or more far-flung hinterland populations in regard to the consumption of rare goods, such as copper, macaws, and marine shell, or labor as indicated in architectural elements.

The Southern Zone

Research by Jane Kelley and colleagues in the Babícora Basin and the upper Santa María and Santa Clara Valleys demonstrates participation in Casas Grandes traditions from the earliest inception of the sequence. Their research focused on the Viejo period (AD 700–1200) but also recorded Medio period sites. These sites lack the architectural grandeur of Paquimé but do reflect basic core-zone construction methods with multiroom adobe pueblos. One early research effort reported T-shaped doorways and platform hearths (Carey Reference Carey1931) diagnostic of Casas Grandes domestic architecture, but these elements, as well as the distinct overbuilt features of Paquimé, are absent from most sites (Kelley and Phillips Reference Kelley, Larkin, Kelley and Phillips2017:73). Rare goods associated with Paquimé's political economy are also sparse. Researchers report only six or so cage stones, which are associated with macaw aviculture (Kelley and Phillips Reference Kelley, Phillips, Kelley and Phillips2017:62,70; Minnis et al. Reference Minnis, Whalen, Kelley and Stewart1993:272), and two copper bells (Kelley and Phillips Reference Kelley, Phillips, Kelley and Phillips2017:79). Ceramic assemblages include appreciable amounts of Casas Grandes polychrome, but Ramos polychrome is nearly absent (Kelley and Larkin Reference Kelley, Larkin, Kelley and Phillips2017). The Southern Zone also lacks evidence for public architecture, with the exception of one I-shaped ballcourt in the Santa Clara Valley (Kelley and Phillips Reference Kelley, Phillips, Kelley and Phillips2017:75).

Sierra Madre Occidental

Several researchers have investigated the small communities of the foothills and upper elevations of the Sierra Madre Occidental. Naylor (Reference Naylor and Reyman1995) recorded ballcourts in the foothills of northwest Chihuahua at the Camposanto and Las Palmas sites. The former site presents many clear parallels to Casas Grandes domestic architecture. Architectural elements such as T-shaped doorways and distinctive adobe floor platforms are common in cliff sites of the upper Bavispe watershed, but there are also architectural parallels to non-Casas Grandes traditions (Bagwell Reference Bagwell2004). Researchers make generalized inferences of Casas Grandes affiliation for the Papiogochic and other tributaries of the Río Bavispe that stretch into western Chihuahua (Di Peso Reference Di Peso1974b; Gamboa Carrera and Mancera Valencia Reference Gamboa Carrera, Mancera Valencia, Webster, McBrinn and Carrera2008). Many T-shaped doorways are present in these cliff dwellings (Gamboa Carrera and Gutiérrez Vacío Reference Gamboa Carrera, Vacío, Cruz-Antillón and Maxwell2017), but reported ceramic assemblages rarely include substantial amounts of polychromes (Di Peso et al. Reference Di Peso, Rinaldo and Fenner1974a:Figures 243–5, 244–5; Lister Reference Lister1958:70). Farther west, work at the small open-air-pueblo Bavispe site revealed T-shaped doorways, floor platforms, a modest number of Ramos polychrome sherds, and greater numbers of the Casas Grandes types Carretas and Huerigos (Martínez-Ramírez and Pérez Jaramillo Reference Martínez-Ramírez and Jaramillo2013). These areas are apparently completely devoid of the rare goods found at Paquimé.

Animas/Bootheel

Far southwestern New Mexico and southeastern Arizona include several sites with clear Casas Grandes affiliations, most notably Joyce Well, 76 Draw, and Pendleton Ruin. Joyce Well presents the strongest parallels to Paquimé of any hinterland settlement. The site includes an I-shaped ballcourt and a substantial adobe pueblo room block (Skibo and Walker Reference Skibo, Walker, Skibo, McCluney and Walker2002). Architectural features include T-shaped doorways and platform hearths. Ramos polychrome dominates the painted assemblage and was possibly made locally (McCluney Reference McCluney, Skibo, McCluney and Walker2002). The site of 76 Draw presents many of the same material connections: Casas Grandes polychromes dominate the assemblage but with less abundance of Ramos (Rakita et al. Reference Rakita, VanPool, VanPool, Sterling and Landreth2011:57). The site may include a low cross-shaped mound similar to a feature at Paquimé (Rakita et al. Reference Rakita, VanPool, VanPool, Sterling and Landreth2011:43). The limited published data from the 1940s excavations of Pendleton Ruin (Kidder et al. Reference Kidder, Cosgrove and Cosgrove1949) make comparisons difficult, but the site shows architectural similarities to Paquimé with adobe room blocks, central plazas, and two equivocal T-shaped doorways, as well as a predominance of Ramos polychrome in the small painted assemblage. Rare goods from across this region include an appreciable amount of shell at Joyce Well but no macaws or copper objects.

Implications of Shared Casas Grandes Traditions

A core issue of this discussion hinges on the significance of shared attributes in various classes of material culture and their relevance to shared aspects of identity and ultimately social boundaries (Stark Reference Stark and Stark1998). NW/SW archaeologists often approach the delineation of shared identity through the concept of communities of practice (e.g., Cordell and Habicht-Mauche Reference Cordell and Habicht-Mauche2012; Crown Reference Crown2014; Duwe and Neff Reference Duwe and Neff2007; Hegmon et al. Reference Hegmon, Nelson and Ennes2000; Mills Reference Mills2004). This perspective weds insights derived from studies of situated learning (Lave and Wenger Reference Lave and Wenger1991; Wenger Reference Wenger1998) to the concepts of technologies of style and chaînes opératoires (e.g., Dietler and Herbich Reference Dietler, Herbich and Stark1998; Leroi-Gourhan Reference Leroi-Gourhan and Berger1993). One of the central goals of these applications is to explain how socially close individuals come to produce similar material culture. In the NW/SW, this approach has been particularly fruitful in inferring ceramic manufacturing apprenticeship relationships that correspond to social identities shared in migrant communities. We borrow heuristically from this perspective but note that our analysis is applied in data-poor contexts relative to the earlier cited studies and is focused on a broader temporal scale and a more inclusive list of material culture, including ceramic type frequencies, rare goods, and architectural attributes.

We most closely follow Mills (Reference Mills, Roddick and Stahl2016) in that we deviate from prior applications by focusing on high-visibility attributes, eschewing a reliance on the low-visibility attributes that reflect routinized aspects of production practices acquired through periods of prolonged situated learning. The low- versus high-visibility distinction shares parallels with other categorizations of style such as active versus passive (Carr Reference Carr, Carr and Neitzel1995) or isochrestic versus iconological (Sackett Reference Sackett1985) but does not overtly specify intentionality (Mills Reference Mills, Roddick and Stahl2016). High-visibility attributes are manifestly apparent in finished forms and thus could be adopted to denote real or aspirational membership in groups that may or may not align with other social boundaries. Reliance on high-visibility attributes entails an implicit shift of focus from shared patterns of production to shared patterns of consumption (Mills Reference Mills, Roddick and Stahl2016), although both would be implicated in our architectural evidence. The specific architectural attributes and features we discuss are claimed by previous scholars (Bagwell Reference Bagwell2004; Cameron Reference Cameron and Stark1998; Harmon Reference Harmon, VanPool, VanPool and Phillips2006) to reflect intentional acts of affiliation to denote particular social identities. Painted ceramics in the NW/SW are widely accepted as reflecting overt secular and religious statements of affiliation (e.g., Crown Reference Crown1994; Gilman et al. Reference Gilman, Thompson and Wyckoff2014; Mathiowetz Reference Mathiowetz2018). The consumption of rare goods also has an obvious potential to indicate shared social identity.

From this succinct review, we can begin to reconstruct the facets of social identity shared across the Casas Grandes region. The Southern Zone clearly participated in the Casas Grandes tradition but does not reflect strong ties with Paquimé during the Medio period. Instead, this region developed in parallel, eschewing many of the ideological changes that occurred coincident with the political and economic fluorescence of Paquimé (Kelley et al. Reference Kelley, Stewart, Garvin, Phillips, Kelley and Phillips2017). This inference is based on a lack of public architecture, Ramos polychrome, and most rare goods. The less symbolically laden Babícora polychrome was common in this region, as were general architectural similarities, but again domestic elements that reflect overt connections such as T-shaped doorways and raised hearths are largely absent. Highly variable and likely aspirational participation in Casas Grandes traditions characterized the small communities of the Sierra Madre Occidental. Public architecture is constrained to lower elevations closer to Paquimé. Yet domestic architecture in the form of T-shaped doorways and floor platforms provides strong evidence for Paquimé emulation. There are few rare goods: these objects obviously cannot be easily replicated and must entail actual social connectivity to facilitate consumption. Casas Grandes polychromes such as Carretas or Huerigos dominate ceramic assemblages, with the symbolically laden Ramos appearing in appreciable numbers in only a few sites. The Animas/Bootheel region provides the clearest evidence for social identities shared with core regions: multiple forms of public architecture, a predominance of Ramos among consumed polychromes, and the use of distinctive domestic architecture embellishments. Evidence of relevant rare goods consumption is absent, with the exception of shell, which was not necessarily procured through Paquimé. This region may have most faithfully emulated the full suite of Paquimé's ideological traditions. In the next section, we demonstrate that the Fronteras Valley also participates in facets of the identity shared across the Casas Grandes region. In our discussion section, we return to the question of what shared consumption practices imply about social identity in the Casas Grandes region.

Ojo de Agua

This site has been heavily disturbed by modern activity, but a relatively well-preserved portion remains along a low sloping terrace. Our investigations focused on excavations of three visible mounds that rise 0.5–1.5 m above the terrace. In 2018 we focused on the southern mound (Mound 1), exposing a large portion of what may be a room with an eccentric rectilinear form (Figure 4). Surface exposure of walls indicates adjoining rooms to the south and possibly to the west. A doorway was in the exterior eastern wall near its juncture with the northern wall. The walls were notably thick, about 0.5 m, which is substantial for a single-story structure and is near the range associated with an “architecture of power” at Paquimé (Whalen and Minnis Reference Whalen and Minnis2001b:Table 1). Although it was disturbed, there appeared to be a platform hearth in front of the doorway. Wall heights were not sufficient to evaluate doorway shape. Casas Grandes and textured polychromes were common, including several polychromes clearly in contact with the plastered floor (Table 1). A section of a possible pithouse outline was present in the southwest corner.

Figure 4.

Excavation results from 2018 at Ojo de Agua (photo by Matthew Pailes and map by Edson Cupa and Matthew Pailes).

Table 1.

Types and Selected Sub-types as a Percent of the Total Decorated Count.

In 2021 we focused efforts on Mound 3, which is 55 m to the east–northeast of Mound 1 (Figure 5). This effort exposed approximately two-thirds of a large room. A set of coursed adobe walls built in parallel for a total width of about 60+ cm comprised at least three exterior walls. The floor was plastered but poorly preserved. In the central portion of the room, there were outlines of wall foundations parallel to the long axis of the room, presumably representing earlier architectural configurations. The west end of the room contained a variety of internal features, including adobe platforms and small rooms with low walls. The adobe platforms employ construction elements reminiscent of Paquimé. Features similar to the small low-wall rooms are reported from some Southern Zone sites. No doorways were present, but they may be found in the unexcavated portion of the structure. The overall architectural plan of this mound is not overtly Casas Grandes in character, but the repertoire of elements used in its construction draws heavily from this tradition.

Figure 5.

2021 Excavation results from 2021 at Ojo de Agua (photo by Matthew Pailes and map by Edson Cupa and Matthew Pailes).

The room contained very few artifacts in the fill and none on the floor, suggesting an organized cessation of use in which materials were removed. The fill was composed of laminated alluvial adobe melt and included Casas Grandes polychromes and textured wares, as well as several majolica sherds. These associations indicate that historic period occupation occurred while the walls of this structure were still partially standing, such that their subsequent erosion entrained the majolica sherds. The ¹⁴C date from this context dates the early fill and not the use of the structure (Table 2).

Table 2.

Chronometric Dates Obtained from Fronteras Valley with Contextual Information.

Mound 2 was located 25 m to the north of Mound 3. In 2021, we tested this mound in hopes of discovering another Casas Grandes room block. The immediate discovery of cow bone quickly indicated an historic age to the structure, as did the eventual discovery of several majolica sherds. Given its historic age, we only excavated the initial test trench that revealed the tops of adobe walls and a 2 × 2 m test unit. A burned floor was revealed in the test unit that produced substantial faunal material. Notably, the walls were formed through the traditional practice of coursed adobe. The proximity to what would have been a visible set of ancestral ruins using the same construction methods suggests that the room block's placement was intended to denote continuity with earlier occupations.

Approximately 2.5 km to the south at the site of Badehuachi, we excavated a test pit into an architectural mound, revealing another historic structure that also included substantial faunal remains and an ash layer on the living surface but with adobe brick walls. A luminescence date from Badehuachi indicates eighteenth-century occupation. Adobe brick architecture was also used in the seventeenth-century presidio (fort) and missions present in the valley. The coursed adobe of Mound 2 presumably represents an overt choice to use Indigenous techniques.

Thirteen historic ceramics were collected at Ojo de Agua in 2021, five from Mound 3 and eight from Mound 2, including several surface finds. Identifiable specimens include four Puebla Blue on White (AD 1650–1830), one Galera Ware (AD 1725–1850), and one Aranama Polychrome (AD 1750–1850). The Indigenous ceramics from Ojo de Agua include Casas Grandes polychromes and textured wares (Table 1). The most common textured ware is Cloverdale Corrugated, which is common in the Animas region (Douglas Reference Douglas1987). The overall frequency of Casas Grandes wares, particularly Ramos, is low. The Casas Grandes typology is notoriously variable in application (Di Peso et al. Reference Di Peso1974a), but it is noteworthy that uncommon attributes such as true glazes and bowls painted on both sides are represented in the sample (Figure 6). These oddities possibly indicate attributes that developed late in the sequence.

Figure 6.

Diagnostic ceramics from the Fronteras Valley (produced from photos by Matthew Pailes). (Color online)

El Estadio

Today there is a gap of about 850 m between the excavated mounds of Ojo de Agua and the southernmost mounds that correspond to the proto-colonial architectural features at El Estadio. A test trench in the northern margin of Ojo de Agua indicates that Fronteras II aged deposits continue to the location of proto-colonial occupation. This later occupation is denoted by low architectural mounds located on four distinct mesas created by erosion of the terrace. Our excavations focused on the largest mesa in 2018 and 2021, which includes three distinct mounds and a plaza.

The 2018 effort exposed one entire room and demonstrated conjoined rooms extended to the north and east (Figure 7). Doorways could not be identified due to the low preserved wall height. Fragments of copper sheet, apparently recycled from a colonial origin, were located underneath a river cobble set into the floor. The minimal floor assemblage included two iron artifacts, a large bent nail, and an unidentifiable object. The context of the copper clearly reflects a ritual deposition. A test pit to the immediate east of the excavated room indicated deposits extending at least 70 cm below the floor level. To the north, a test unit revealed many overlapping wall segments, suggesting frequent remodeling of the structures.

Figure 7.

Excavation results from 2018 at El Estadio (photo by Matthew Pailes and map by Edson Cupa and Matthew Pailes).

The 2021 effort explored a large mound to the west of the 2018 excavation. An initial trench revealed several walls of coursed adobe that were subsequently exposed, indicating a room block of seven to nine rooms (Figure 8). Two rooms were excavated completely. Plastered floors were preserved in portions. Several groundstone artifacts and one very well-made biface were in situ on the floor. One internal doorway was plugged with a broken metate. Only the lower portion of the doorways was preserved, but the narrowness of the sealed doorway is commensurate with a T-shape. Several presumed cow bones were present in the fill.

Figure 8.

Excavation results from 2021 at El Estadio (photo by Matthew Pailes and map by Edson Cupa and Matthew Pailes).

The ceramic assemblage is particularly interesting. Surface collections produced six Casas Grandes and one Mimbres sherd, the latter indicating occupations as early as AD 1000. We denote the most common painted type with the label of Sonoran Polychrome (Figure 6). These sherds have a durable white slip and black geometric designs of mostly parallel lines. White slips are often present on both sides of the sherd, which excludes identification as defined Casas Grandes types. There is, however, a clear similarity to the Casas Grandes tradition, with the closest parallels to Huerigos. Occasionally, small red elements are present, some of which are outlined in black, following the Ramos rule of design (Phillips Reference Phillips, Cordell and Habicht-Mauche2012). Black-line hachure widths are mostly under 2 mm (n = 36, mean = 1.5, std = 0.50). This is in the range (<1.4 mm) of diagnostically late Medio (post-AD 1300) Casas Grandes polychromes (Whalen and Minnis Reference Whalen and Minnis2012). One black-on-white specimen was found on the floor of the 2021 excavation, a clearly proto-colonial context. Examples of Sonoran Polychrome are also known from the Moctezuma Valley, Mexico, predominantly from the site of Teonadepa where luminescence dates indicate use from AD 1300 to the 1500s. SEM analysis of a sample indicated that the black paints are subglazes, similar in composition to Casas Grandes subglazes (Pailes Reference Pailes2017b:86–88). Although Sonoran Polychrome is relatively rare and represented only by sherds, we believe that it reflects the continuation of Casas Grandes traditions into the colonial period.

From the 2018 materials, we selected one small sherd for luminescence dating that we thought was a Sonoran Polychrome based on context. The sherd was quite small, precluding definitive typological identification, and it was only slipped and painted on the interior. It produced a date of AD 1000 (Table 2), indicating it is, in fact, another type (likely Mimbres or Huerigos). Although not useful for defining the age range of Sonoran Polychrome, this date does indicate a lengthy occupation at the site that is otherwise imperceptible from the surface architecture.

Site Locations

Recorded sites are almost invariably close to the river's edge, a pattern common throughout eastern Sonora (Doolittle Reference Doolittle1988). Several sites in the Fronteras Valley are located on lower landforms. This contrasts with the Río Sonora and Serrana regions where sites are located on steep-sided Plio-Pleistocene terraces that rise 10 m or more above the floodplain. A pattern of sites on low first terraces or floodplains is characteristic of core Casas Grandes traditions. The excavated portion of El Estadio is located on a high terrace about 10 m above the floodplain, but unexcavated loci are found on landforms only 1–2 m in height. Ojo de Agua is located on a gently sloping terrace. The site of Tevidehuachi, on the east side of the valley, occupies a similar landform. Surface collections from this site included Casas Grandes polychromes. Las Hormigas, a tested site with much apparent adobe architecture and Casas Grandes polychromes, is located on a sloping terrace only a few meters above the floodplain. The site of Turicachi Viejo at the southern end of the valley is once again on a landform more than 10 m above the floodplain, which conforms to Río Sonora traditions. There is a gradual transition in site placements from north to south. This gradation of diagnostic landform use parallels changes in architectural techniques, with a transition from purely coursed adobe (Casas Grandes) to mostly jacal and thin-walled adobe (Río Sonora) at Turicachi Viejo. The consumption of Casas Grandes ceramics is more variable, with Turicachi Viejo exhibiting slightly more consumption of Casas Grandes types than Las Hormigas (Table 1).

Historic Site Juxtapositions

Accepting the Casas Grandes connections of these sites, we turn to the matter of continuity. The clear spatial juxtaposition of near sequential / partially contemporaneous domestic space at Ojo de Agua makes the case for continuity on a microscale, but it is also apparent at the intersite level. Five mission contexts are present in the valley, four of which were investigated. The site of Cuquiarachi is too disturbed by modern construction for useful comparison. The colonial mission forerunner of modern Fronteras (Corodehuachi) was constructed as a component of a presidio. Archaeological materials are essentially continuous from Ojo de Agua to El Estadio to the presidio, with only intervening arroyo bottoms lacking materials. The mission sites of Cuchuta and Teuricachi provide the clearest contexts in which to explore relationships of continuity. In both cases, mission architecture is located on large mesas with signs of Indigenous habitation immediately adjacent but sequestered to one end of the landform. It was common practice for missionaries to require neophytes to live close to the mission. Large precolonial sites are present immediately adjacent to both mission-site landforms across small arroyos (Figure 3). For Cuchuta, the neighboring site is Las Hormigas; for Turicachi, the neighboring site is La Puente de Turicachi. Las Hormigas was tested in 2018 and 2021 and has clear Casas Grandes affiliations. La Puente de Turicachi was surface-collected in 2018, producing Casas Grandes polychromes and a Mimbres sherd. It is inconceivable that these site pairings are a coincidence. Instead, the consistent relationships suggest an intentional effort to locate mission contexts immediately adjacent to existing population centers, which include exemplar sites for which we can infer Casas Grandes affiliation.

Date Distributions

Figure 9 depicts the distribution of all post-Archaic dates, and Table 2 provides further details on numerical ages and archaeological contexts and associations. Note that some contexts were dated more than once, so some information is repeated. Given the admittedly small sample size (n = 19) and the vagaries of the radiocarbon curve with wiggles/plateaus at AD 1300–1400 and AD 1500 to the present, we could hardly hope for a clearer record of continuous occupation that aligns with a record of gradual changes in material culture patterns and site placements. Also note that the project avoided ¹⁴C dating contexts of proto-colonial age, such as El Estadio, where there is additional clear evidence of continuity. Available data provide no basis for a chronological division equivalent to the Paquimé Medio and Tardio periods denoted by radical demographic and economic realignments. In the Fronteras Valley, the traditions of Fronteras II (Medio-period equivalent) continue well into the colonial period. Figure 2 presents our tentative chronology for the valley. The division between Fronteras I and II is tentative and reflects the earliest dates associated with both Casas Grandes polychromes and Rio Sonora textured wares at the site of Las Hormigas. The colonial period begins with the known founding of mission sites.

Figure 9.

Date distributions obtained from Fronteras Valley; one Archaic date is omitted for clarity.

Di Peso (Reference Di Peso1974b:832–837) in his original monograph noted the likely continuation of Medio period patterns in the Sierra Madre Occidental region of Tres Rios, which included one ¹⁴C date (Haynes Reference Haynes1966:17) on a post at 300 ± 90 that produces a modern calibration of AD 1434–1696 (74% of distribution). Widespread rejection of Di Peso's dendrochronological sequence, unfortunately, led to a complete dismissal of all his chronometric interpretations, including those not based on tree rings. Our results confirm that components of Casas Grandes identity are still evident at the far northwestern corner of the Sierra Madre Occidental after AD 1450 and likely well after AD 1550; this is likely also true of many highland communities.