Paquimé, Chihuahua, was the ceremonial center of the Medio period (AD 1200 to 1450) Casas Grandes world, and the focus of regional pilgrimages. We use a relational perspective to explore the connections that were created and expressed during the pilgrimage. We propose that Paquimé was considered a living city, and that pilgrims actively supported its vitality through offerings of marine shells and other symbolically important goods. A region-wide network of signal fires centered on Cerro de Moctezuma, a hill directly overlooking Paquimé, summoned pilgrims. Ritual negotiations also focused on the dead and may have included at least occasional human sacrifice. While the pilgrimages focused on water-related ritual, they also included community and elite competition as reflected in architectural features such as the ball courts. Central to the pilgrimage was negotiation with the horned serpent, a deity that controlled water and was associated with leadership throughout Mesoamerica and the Southwest. The horned serpent is the primary supernatural entity reflected at the site and in the pottery pilgrims took with them back to their communities. Thus, the pilgrimages were times when the Casas Grandes people created and transformed their relationships with each other, religious elites, the dead, the landscape, and the horned serpent. These relationships in turn are reflected across the region (e.g., the broad distribution of Ramos Polychrome). This case study consequently demonstrates the potential that the relational perspective presented throughout this issue has for providing insight into the archaeological record and the past social structures it reflects.

中文翻译：

---

参观有角蛇的家：帕奎梅作为北美西南朝圣地的关系分析

奇瓦瓦州的帕奎梅（Paquimé）是Medio时代（公元1200年至1450年）卡萨斯格兰德斯（Casas Grandes）世界的礼仪中心，并且是朝圣之地。我们使用关系视角来探索朝圣过程中创建和表达的联系。我们建议帕基梅（Paquimé）被认为是一座有生命的城市，朝圣者通过提供海洋贝壳和其他具有象征意义的重要商品积极支持其生命力。一个区域性的信号火网络集中在Cerro de Moctezuma（一座俯瞰Paquimé的山丘）上，它召唤了朝圣者。仪式谈判也集中在死者身上，可能至少包括了偶尔的人类牺牲。虽然朝圣集中在与水有关的仪式上，但其中还包括社区和精英竞赛，这体现在球场等建筑特色上。朝圣的中心是与有角的蛇进行谈判，有角的蛇控制着水，并与整个中美洲和西南部的领导层有联系。角蛇是现场反映的主要超自然实体，在朝圣者的陶器中带回了他们的社区。因此，朝圣之时就是卡萨斯·格兰德人创造和改变彼此之间，宗教精英，死者，风景和有角蛇之间的关系的时候。这些关系又反映在整个区域中（例如，Ramos Polychrome的广泛分布）。因此，本案例研究证明了贯穿本期的关系视角具有提供对考古记录及其所反映的过去社会结构的洞察力的潜力。