Casas Grandes (also called Paquimé) in Chihuahua flourished from about AD 1200 to 1450 as a center of ritual and commerce, closely related activities. This vessel appears to depict a figure carrying a pack supported by a tumpline across the forehead. Such traders traveled along trails that stretched from Paquimé for hundreds of miles in every direction. Characteristic Casas Grandes pottery is red and black on buff polychrome. Forms include bowls, jars, and distinctive human and animal effigy vessels.