The Shaman-Priests of Casas Grandes

by Christine S. VanPool, Ph.D.

Casas Grandes, or Paquime, in northern Chihuahua, Mexico, was home to a religious system that swept across northern Mexico and the southern United States between AD 1200 and 1450. It was a world centered on shamanic practice and shamans wielded immense power and influence. The shamans journeyed into the spirit world on behalf of the community; called upon horned serpents to bring rain, the lifeblood for farmers living in the Chihuahuan desert; and performed important rituals to perpetuate water and fertility. These findings challenge long-held beliefs about Southwestern religion and force a reconsideration of the importance of shamanism in the development of social differentiation in societies around the world. Read the article in American Antiquity or the book Signs of the Casas Grandes Shamans, VanPool's scholarly evaluation of recovered artifacts.