The ruins of Paquimé, in a broad valley with panoramas to distant mountains, contain the mazelike adobe remnants of northern Mexico’s most important trading settlement. Paquimé was the center of the Mogollón or Casas Grandes culture, which extended north into New Mexico and Arizona and over most of Chihuahua. The site’s impressive, meticulously detailed Museo de las Culturas del Norte (included in the admission cost) has displays about Paquimé and the linked indigenous cultures of northern Mexico and the southwest USA.
The site was sacked, perhaps by Apaches, around 1340. Excavation and restoration began in the 1950s; Unesco declared it a World Heritage site in 1998. Plaques, in Spanish and English, discuss Paquimé culture: don’t miss the clay macaw cages and the distinctive T-shaped door openings. The Paquimé people revered the scarlet macaw and some structures here represent this beautiful bird, which has never been native to northern Mexico and is evidence of Paquimé’s far-reaching trade network.
The Paquimé people were great potters and produced striking cream-colored earthenware with red, brown or black geometric designs; some amazing original examples are on display in the museum, as well as modern reproductions for sale.
