View of Paquimé and the Mound of the Offerings, photo courtesy of the Amerind Foundation

On Thursday, October 15, 2026, Old Pueblo Archaeology Center’s “Third Thursday Food for Thought” online presentation will feature “Defining the Main Plaza and Ritual Use of Space in the Ceremonial Precinct at Paquimé” by archaeologist Michael D. Mathiowetz, Ph.D. This free online Zoom presentation will be held from 7:00-8:30 pm, ARIZONA/Mountain Standard Time (same as Pacific Daylight Time).

The development of plaza-oriented pueblos across Arizona and New Mexico by the late thirteenth century was part of significant socioreligious and political changes across the region. The rise of the Casas Grandes tradition during the Medio period (1200–1450 CE) coincided with these changes, although its role in these social transformations remains poorly understood. Advances in the modeling of social, religious, and political organization at Paquimé and its regional hinterlands allow us to examine the use of public and private space at the paramount center. In this presentation Michael Mathiowetz identifies a previously unrecognized “Main Plaza” in Paquimé’s ceremonial precinct that may have served as a locus of public dancing linked to solar and maize ritualism in feasting contexts. If this interpretation is correct it provides a model for the development of plaza-pueblo ritualism in the Pueblo world of the Southwest. Dr. Mathiowetz has engaged in field surveys, excavations, and museum and archival research on the Casas Grandes and Aztatlán traditions of Northwest Mexico for two decades.

To register for the Zoom webinar go to https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_w73hqmngToCIR5cIU_VQcw. For more information contact Old Pueblo at info@oldpueblo.org or 520-798-1201.

Flyer: 20261015(v1)ThirdThursday_ MichaelMathiowetz_RitualSpaceAtPaquimé