Examines the history, culture, and architecture of the legendary Anasazi people in an attempt to discover who they were and why they abandoned their civilization more than seven centuries ago.

"The crumbling Victorian had been abandoned long before Jane ever discovered it as a child. It was painted a sweet violet color, and the gingerbread trim was blue and green, but inside was shambles--broken glass, a dollhouse ravaged by mice, bedsheets twisted as though someone had left in a hurry. Still, the house became a hideaway whenever Jane needed to escape her volatile mother. Twenty years later, now a Harvard archivist, she returns home to...

"Rachel Morgan's frank and incisive history begins with Richard Wetherill's "discovery" of Mesa Verde in Colorado in 1888. Subsequent expeditions by amateurs, looters, and budding professional archaeologists abetted the devastation of Indigenous sites throughout the Southwest. These expeditions became the proving grounds for different conceptions of what archaeology should be and how it should be practiced. Ultimately, revulsion at the work of nineteenth-century...

Photographs and descriptions of all extant, accessible Anasazi ruins of the Southwest. Many aerial views showing the interrelationships of the structures and the intrinsic beauty of the settings. Emphasis on the sites of Mesa Verde, Chaco Canyon, Canyon de Chelly, and Kayenta. Current research and presentation of contradictory theories.

This third edition of David Grant Noble's indispensable guide to archaeological ruins of the American Southwest includes updated text and thirteen newly opened archaeological sites. From Alibates Flint Quarries National Monument in Texas to the Zuni-Acoma Trail in New Mexico, reader will be provided with old-time favorites and new treasures. In addition to descriptions of each site, Noble provides time-saving tips for the traveler, citing major highways,...