The prehistoric Casas Grandes culture centered at the large town known as Paquime in northwest Mexico spanned today's international border and combined elements typical of both ancient Mexico and ancestral Puebloans in the U.S. Southwest. Under the direction of Dr. Suzanne K. Fish, Todd A. Pitezel will conduct excavation at Cerro de Moctezuma (Moctezuma Hill) in the Casas Grandes region and subsequent analyses of archaeological materials. Cerro de Moctezuma is unique for having El Pueblito, the only recorded instance of a habitation on a hill among many hundreds of valley sites during the Medio period, ca. A.D. 1200-1450. A variety and quantity of features uncommon for Medio period settlements are found at El Pueblito including adobe architecture, masonry architecture, and rock alignments. A circular rock enclosure unparalleled in size among Medio period examples surrounds the hill summit 200 m above El Pueblito. Qualitative differences between types of features suggest distinguishable functions. Excavation is directed toward the recovery of data from these features that will clarify the role of Cerro de Moctezuma and El Pueblito's inhabitants during the Medio period and why people chose to establish a substantial community inconveniently away from water and food.
Work at Cerro de Moctezuma is important because of its potential for understanding the ritual components within the social organization centered at Paquime. Social scientists recognize the importance of ritual, or any community activity, as a mechanism for collective cooperation and maintenance of identity. Moreover, ethnographic research among societies of divergent levels of complexity documents the use of promontories and features found on them as important elements of ritual systems. When group activities are performed on or in relation to elevated landforms, those landforms become conspicuous and meaningful daily reinforcements of the collective ideas expressed in performances. Cerro de Moctezuma's conspicuous presence at the intersection of three heavily populated valleys and proximity to the regional center Paquime would have positioned El Pueblito's inhabitants as potentially crucial players in the Casas Grandes ritual system. Analyses of materials (e.g., ceramics, stone tools, nonlocal goods) from different features can illuminate the ways in which Cerro de Moctezuma was used. Additionally, the data obtained from analyses can verify or reject the initial evaluation of Cerro de Moctezuma as a ritually charged component of the Casas Grandes regional system.
A significant outcome of the research will be the strengthening of ties among Mexican and U.S. institutions, professional communities, and university students. A binational team of Mexican and United States archaeology students will be assembled for the field research. Archaeology in northern Mexico is relatively unknown compared to the more famous southern counterpart of Mesoamerica. This research advances awareness of northern Mexico's cultural heritage. Finally, as a locally well-known archaeological site, work at Cerro de Moctezuma will introduce local residents to current methods and outcomes of archaeological research through guided tours during excavation and subsequent exhibits and education programs at the Museo de las Culturas del Norte (Museum of the Northern Cultures) at the site of Paquime.
