Description: This volume is a major ethnobotanical study for the ancient U.S. Southwest and northwestern Mexico. The results reorient our perspective in the rise of one of the most impressive communities in the international region.
Review Quotes: "The Prehispanic Ethnobotany of Paquimé and Its Neighbors is an essential book that fills a void in knowledge of prehispanic food production and economy in northern Chihuahua."--Michael W. Diehl, American Antiquity
"Ultimately, Minnis and Whalen's data and ideas create a strong foundation for continued research in this region. More broadly, their work serves as an example for scholars of other regions to look for inspiration in their own explorations of socioecological relationships. Specifically, scholars should heed their call for human-environment studies to move beyond long-plaguing biases toward single taxa or uses."--Rebecca Friedel, Ethnoarchaeology "Based on decades of research, Minnis and Whalen expertly and effectively explore prehistoric plant use, agriculture, and human-plant interrelationships that formed the economic basis at Paquimé (Casas Grandes) and neighboring communities in northwestern Chihuahua, Mexico. This work represents a significant contribution to the prehistory of northwestern Mexico, an understudied region that witnessed the rise of an elaborate society with far-reaching networks during the Medio Period (AD 1200-1450)."--J. Kevin Hanselka, Archaeobotanist, U.S. Southwest and Northern Mexico "Minnis and Whalen have produced the definitive book on the paleoethnobotany of the Casas Grandes Region. [This] is certain to be a desk reference of choice for future generations of archaeologists working in Chihuahua."--Jerimy J. Cunningham, University of Lethbridge