The University of North Florida & University of Missouri
Joint Archaeological Field Project
to the Casas Grandes Region of
Chihuahua, Mexico

June 18th – July 17th, 2006

Click here for Pictures from the Field

In the summer of 2006 a collaborative, archaeological field research project will be conducted by Archaeologists from the University of North Florida and the University of Missouri. The purpose of the project will be to explore the prehistoric Casas Grandes culture of northern Chihuahua, Mexico. The area selected for examination is the region surrounding the town of Janos approximately 60km north of Casas Grandes and 75km south of the U.S. – Mexico international boundary. The purpose of this initial archaeological reconnaissance will be to explore and identify archaeological sites for future study. UNF students are encouraged to apply to participate in this project.

With generous support from a UNF – College of Arts & Sciences Dean’s Leadership Council Faculty Fellowship, I and several UNF students will be able to participate in the initial (Summer of 2006) phase of this research. During a four-week period, we and my colleagues from the University of Missouri will conduct extensive surveys of the Janos area in northwestern Chihuahua. The purpose of these surveys will be to collect preliminary data on the nature of archaeological remains in the region, collect samples of ceramic fragments for thermo-luminescence dating and chemical analysis (to be funded by the University of Missouri), and most importantly identify archaeological sites suitable for future excavation.

The data and ceramic samples collected during this period will also provide us with useful information for understanding the relationship between Casas Grandes and the Janos region. Subsequently, I and my colleagues from the University of Missouri will be submitting a National Science Foundation (NSF) Senior Research grant proposal for funding of a three year intensive exploration of the archaeological remains in the Janos region.

Student Involvement

The funding provided by the Dean’s Leadership Council Faculty Fellowship will help off-set some of the cost of travel, room and board, and equipment for me and the UNF students during the Summer 2006 field season. Student participation in this field expedition will be essential to the successful completion of the research. Moreover, the involvement of students in this research project will provide them with a unique and transformational learning experience. Students will be exposed to and will actually be able to participate in archaeological site survey and data collection. This will give them hands-on experience

in this process and will train them in skills that are useful both within Archaeology and outside of the discipline. Students will also be exposed to and indeed immersed in a new and different cultural world; providing them with an exciting new perspective on their own culture and society. Students interested in anthropology, sociology, history, urban studies, societal development, community health, civil planning, and a variety of other disciplines are all encouraged to apply.

The Casas Grandes Culture

The desert region of western North America, despite its natural aridity and environmental desolation, was the setting for a number of complex prehistoric cultures. One of these societies developed around an urban center called Casas Grandes (Spanish for “big houses”) in Chihuahua, Mexico. To date, the region within the Casas Grandes cultural zone has received extremely little archaeological attention.

Casas Grandes is an incredibly impressive site. It was founded at the beginning of the thirteenth century A.D. and persisted for over two hundred years. At its height, it encompassed 120 acres and was inhabited by several thousand people. The archaeologists who excavated the site found skillfully carved stone artifacts, intricately decorated multi-color ceramics, platform and effigy mounds, ball courts, a canal system that included an underground walk-in well, altars and other ceremonial spaces, copper bells, millions of pieces of shell, and thousands of pieces of turquoise, as well as evidence that the ancient people of Casas Grandes raised colorful macaws and turkeys. While small by contemporary standards, Casas Grandes represents the prehistoric equivalent of a dynamic, urban community.

Casas Grandes was an incredibly complex community. However, there has been a great deal of discussion among archaeologists as to the exact nature of that complexity and the site's relationship with surrounding regions. Furthermore, as a preeminent example of the emergence of a complex human society, the site itself has been the focus for investigations of socio-cultural change and transition. In essence, the Casas Grandes region of Chihuahua is a natural laboratory for the exploration of how and why human cultures develop more complex socio-political systems and communities.

Informal examinations of sites and materials from the Janos area indicates that the prehistoric peoples from this region participated in the cultural, economic, and religious sphere of influence of Casas Grandes. However, the exact nature of that participation is not currently known. Some scholars have suggested that Casas Grandes did not exert direct influence over the Janos region; while others argue for greater Casas Grandes control over the Janos area. In essence, our question is how the emergence of Casas Grandes as a major urban center in the region impacted the surrounding area.

Involved researchers

My research focuses on the development of complex urban communities in the American Southwest and northern Mexico. By examining the process of prehistoric population aggregation, changing health and demographic variables, social evolution, religious systems, the bio-cultural dimension of urbanity and community collapse, I hope to provide greater insight into modern urban systems. For this project, I am working in collaboration with two colleagues from the University of Missouri. Todd L. VanPool is an archaeologist trained in the analysis of stone tools and prehistoric cultures of the American Southwest and Northern Mexico. Christine S. VanPool is an archaeologists specializing in ceramic analysis and prehistoric religious organization. These scholars helped organize and lead a collaborative U.S. – Mexico archaeological field project in the Casas Grandes region from 1994 to 2002; Todd VanPool as Field Director and Christine VanPool as Laboratory Director. The VanPools and I have extensive field experience in northern Chihuahua, Mexico and in the American Southwest (with a combined total of over 30 years of experience in these regions). Each of us have conducted Ph.D. dissertation research in the region and are intimately familiar with the scholarly and logistical process of conducting field research (with students) in the area.

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