The Native Americans we know today in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah are primarily descended from the culture known as Anasazi, which "settled" in the region about 2,000 years ago. Explore their lives, culture and dwellings in this book.
An exuberant, hands-on fly-on-the-wall account that combines the thrill of canyoneering and rock climbing with the intellectual sleuthing of archaeology to explore the Anasazi. David Roberts describes the culture of the Anasazi—the name means “enemy ancestors” in Navajo—who once inhabited the Colorado Plateau and whose modern descendants are the Hopi Indians of Arizona. Archaeologists, Roberts writes, have been puzzling over the Anasazi for more than a century, trying to determine the environmental and cultural stresses that caused their society to collapse 700 years ago. He guides us through controversies in the historical record, among them the haunting question of whether the Anasazi committed acts of cannibalism. Roberts’s book is full of up-to-date thinking on the culture of the ancient people who lived in the harsh desert country of the Southwest.
When this book first appeared in 1996, it was “Pottery 101,” a basic introduction to the subject. It served as an art book, a history book, and a reference book, but also fun to read, beautiful to look at, and filled with good humor and good sense. After twenty years of faithful service, it’s been expanded and brought up-to-date with photographs of more than 1,600 pots from more than 1,600 years. It shows every pottery-producing group in the Southwest, complete with maps that show where each group lives. Now updated, rewritten, and re-photographed, it's a comprehensive study as well as a basic introduction to the art.
According to archaeologist Stephen H. Lekson, much of what we think we know about the Southwest has been compressed into conventions and classifications and orthodoxies. This book challenges and reconfigures these accepted notions by telling two parallel stories, one about the development, personalities, and institutions of Southwestern archaeology and the other about interpretations of what actually happened in the ancient past. While many works would have us believe that nothing much ever happened in the ancient Southwest, this book argues that the region experienced rises and falls, kings and commoners, war and peace, triumphs and failures. In this view, Chaco Canyon was a geopolitical reaction to the "Colonial Period" Hohokam expansion and the Hohokam "Classic Period" was the product of refugee Chacoan nobles, chased off the Colorado Plateau by angry farmers. Far to the south, Casas Grandes was a failed attempt to create a Mesoamerican state, and modern Pueblo people--with societies so different from those at Chaco and Casas Grandes--deliberately rejected these monumental, hierarchical episodes of their past. From the publisher: The second printing of A History of the Ancient Southwest has corrected the errors noted below. SAR Press regrets an error on Page 72, paragraph 4 (also Page 275, note 2) regarding "absolute dates." "50,000 dates" was incorrectly published as "half a million dates." Also P. 125, lines 13-14: "Between 21,000 and 27,000 people lived there" should read "Between 2,100 and 2,700 people lived there."
Puebloan Ruins of the Southwest offers a complete picture of Puebloan culture from its prehistoric beginnings through twenty-five hundred years of growth and change, ending with the modern-day Pueblo Indians of New Mexico and Arizona. Aerial and ground photographs, over 325 in color, and sixty settlement plans provide an armchair trip to ruins that are open to the public and that may be visited or viewed from nearby. Included, too, are the living pueblos from Taos in north central New Mexico along the Rio Grande Valley to Isleta, and westward through Acoma and Zuni to the Hopi pueblos in Arizona. In addition to the architecture of the ruins, Puebloan Ruins of the Southwest gives a detailed overview of the Pueblo Indians' lifestyles including their spiritual practices, food, clothing, shelter, physical appearance, tools, government, water management, trade, ceramics, and migrations.
Treasury of 250 copyright-free images, drawn from authentic motifs on Hopi ceremonial dress, Zuni shields, Anasazi pottery, Navajo jewelry, rugs and sand paintings, Pueblo pottery, and many more. Clearly drawn in detail, easily reproducible, these motifs represent a highly useful resource for a myriad of art and craft projects.
Perhaps the most fascinating chapter in Southwest history is the tale of the mysterious, "vanished" Anasazi Indians. Their tremendous achievements can be found in many places, including the spectacular cliff dwellings of Mesa Verde National Park. But the crest of the Anasazi wave was in Chaco Canyon, a shallow, windswept wash in northwest New Mexico. Here, 1,000 years ago, strange and unexplained events unfolded; events which continue to intrigue scientists and visitors today. During the years 850-1150 AD, multi-story buildings comparable in size to the Roman Coliseum were constructed. Advanced astronomy, water works, and agriculture flourished. Exotic artifacts from Central America were traded over routes spanning thousands of miles. And after 300 years, they carefully sealed everything up, left, and never returned. The Anasazi of Chaco Canyon offers insight into the unknowns of the "Chaco Phenomenon," including the story of Kyle's journey of discovery. In addition, it draws on the latest research, personal experiences, and interpretations of oral traditions, leading the reader to a startling conclusion. Influenced by the writings of Edward Abbey and James Michener, Kyle Widner is a desert wanderer, amateur Anasazi ruins hunter, and internet business expert in his spare time. He lives in Boulder City, Nevada with his wife Jean, two golden retrievers, and two cats. This book is the companion guide to an educational video game and 3D computer simulation of Chaco Canyon for Mac and PC computers. Learn more at Shadowplay.com.