Prehistoric Casas Grandes Pottery Fish

Pre-Columbian, Northern Mexico, Chihuahua, Mogollon culture, Casas Grandes or Paquime, ca. 1130 to 1450 CE. A charming pottery vessel in the form of a fish featuring a bulbous body with a lizard-like head projecting from one side and a bifurcated tail at the other. Sitting on a rounded base, the bulging body attenuates to a slightly corseted neck and an annular rim, all enveloped in creamy beige-colored slip with nested spiral motifs hand-painted in sienna and black around the exterior. The rim has been pierced with 4 drill holes, allowing the jar to be suspended. 9"L x 6.6"W x 5.5"H Casas Grandes (Spanish for “Great Houses” also known as Paquime) is a prehistoric archaeological site in the northern Mexican state of Chihuahua. Casas Grandes is one of the largest and most complex Mogollon culture sites in the region. Settlement began after 1130 CE and would see the larger buildings developed into multi-storied dwellings after 1350 CE. The community was abandoned approximately 1450 CE. Casas Grandes is regarded as one of the most significant Mogollon archaeological zones in the northwestern Mexico region, linking it to other sites in Arizona and New Mexico, and exhibiting the expanse of the Mogollon sphere of influence.