Chaco Culture National Historical Park - Books

The Chaco Handbook: An Encyclopedia Guide R. Gwinn Vivian From The Critics: BooknewsRespectively, former and current curators at the Arizona State Museum, Vivian and Hilpert provide a reference to information about the site of prehistoric habitation in northwestern New Mexico. The entries are intended to be accessible to visitors and general readers, but also to provide brief information for specialists. A history, an account of exploration and investigation, and an annotated bibliography are included. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com) Our Price: $17.95

The Chaco Meridian: Centers of Political Power in the Ancient Southwest Stephen H. Lekson From the Publisher: Southwestern archaeologists have long pondered the meaning and importance of the monumental 11th century structures in Chaco Canyon. Now, Stephen H. Lekson offers a lively, provocative thesis which attempts to reconceptualize the meaning of Chaco and its importance to the understanding of the entire Southwest.. "Lekson’s ground-breaking synthesis of 500 years of Southwestern prehistory - with its explanation of phenomena as diverse as the Great North Road, macaw feathers, Pueblo mythology, and the rise of kachina ceremonies - will be of great interest to all those concerned with the prehistory and history of the American Southwest. List Price: $$26.95 Our Price: $25.60

Lost World of the Anasazi: Exploring the Mysteries of Chaco Canyon Peter Lourie Annotation: Presents, in text and photographs, a journey to Chaco Canton, New Mexico, examining ruins, culture, and theories of why the Anasazi abandoned the region. From The Critics: Children’s Literature - Beverley Fahey Everyone likes a good mystery, and Lourie’s concise and informative photo essay takes readers on a journey to discover the Anasazi among their ruins. Archaeologists have been drawn to northwestern New Mexico since the mid-1880s to search among the fantastic stone structures, the broken pottery shards, and the pictographs drawn on walls. Of particular interest is Chaco Canyon, and with archeologist Gwinn Vivian as guide, readers learn there is much disagreement about the disappearance of these forebearers of the Hopi and Zuni tribes. Intricate water systems, ancient roads and elaborate kivas (houses) and plazas for ceremony, trade, and daily life were abandoned in the mid-13th century after 400 years of habitation. Where they went and why have many theories, and Vivian offers some insight. The lively text is supported with dramatic color photos that bring to life a barren land that seems to whisper with the voices of an ancient people. The book is a blend of fascinating facts and intriguing suppositions woven into an engaging narrative. 2003, Boyds Mills Press, Ages 10 to 12. School Library JournalGr 4-6-Gorgeous full-color photographs of the many ruins found in Chaco Canyon in northwestern New Mexico enhance this book, which details Lourie’s personal journey to this sacred site. In the clear, interesting text, the author describes the stone buildings and relates information gleaned from his guide, Gwinn Vivian, a local archaeologist. One brief section discusses the work of Richard Wetherill, the first person to undertake excavations at Chaco and also, with his brothers, the first to do archaeological work at Mesa Verde. Lourie has taken care to relate what is known about the structures and the people who built them and to point out that much about this culture remains a mystery. The list for further reading cites current sources, but no Web sites. Written for a slightly younger audience, David Petersen’s Chaco Culture National Park (Children’s, 2000) is also very informative.-David Pauli, Hillsboro Public Library, OR Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information. Kirkus ReviewsSuddenly abandoned around 1300 c.e., and still only about 10 percent excavated, the thousands of D-shaped Great Houses and other sites in or around New Mexico’s Chaco Canyon constitute a fertile field for archaeological investigation and speculation. Here, squired by a local researcher, veteran traveler Lourie does both, touring the rocky, sunburned area, offering awed descriptions of major sites, historical background on their modern rediscovery, accounts of current theories about Anasazi-or "Ancestral Puebloan People," to use a less judgmental moniker ("Anasazi" means "ancestors of the enemy" in the Navajo language)-lifeways, and plenty of sharply focused color photos, to which he adds historical portraits and landscapes. The author’s enthusiasm gives this handsome travelogue an inviting immediacy; readers will come away with a clear sense of how little is known, and how much remains to be discovered, about this mysterious civilization. (index, skimpy bibliography) (Nonfiction. 10-12) Our Price: $19.95

Puebloan Society of Chaco Canyon Paul F. Reed From the Publisher: Chacoan society endured for more than two hundred years, evolving and changing in the period from A.D. 950 to about 1150. Undoubtedly, many leaders came and went during these hundred years. But we have no written records to name these leaders. However, the archaeological record does offer some secrets which have helped scholars reconstruct much of the history of this fascinating society. Following a narrative history, thematic chapters guide readers to the emergence of Chacoan society, its cultural and environmental settings, and the Pueblo people. Information about the discovery and investigations of Chacoan society by Europeans and Americans is also provided. An annotated timeline, biographical sketches of the people who have formed our thoughts about and approaches to Chacoan society, and 20 annotated excerpted primary and secondary documents walk readers through Canyon related material. A glossary of terms, illustrations, maps, and recommended sources for further inquiry round out the volume. Our Price: $45.00

Chaco Canyon R. Gwinn Vivian From The Critics: School Library JournalGr 5 Up-This is not so much about the canyon as it is about the archaeological finds in the Four Corners area of northeastern New Mexico between 1823 and 1971. Its emphasis is on the scientists, their discoveries, their lives, and their techniques, with information about the Chacoan civilization for those researchers who are willing and able to ferret it out. Complete with maps, history charts, and information on related sites, the book has a clean, spacious format. Its four chapters highlight mysteries of Chaco Canyon: a house with 800 rooms; clues in floors, walls, and rafter; and 30-foot-wide highways. The small, full-color pictures focus on the archaeologists working rather than on the canyon itself. Most of them are museum collection or National Park Service photographs, and they do little to aid an understanding of the subject. Eleanor H. Ayer’s The Anasazi (Walker, 1993) offers more detailed information for reports on the ancient people and good diagrams that make for better understanding of the architecture, while Susan E. Goodman’s Stones, Bones, and Petroglyphs (Atheneum, 1998) has great photos. Sprinkled with personal anecdotes and experiences, Vivian and Anderson’s book is interesting, but it’s an additional purchase.-Susannah Price, Boise Public Library, ID Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information. Our Price: $21.95

Chaco: The Anasazi Mystery Jane Bendix Our Price: $9.95

Chaco Culture National Historical Park David Petersen Annotation: Describes the landscape, history, wildlife, and activities available for visitors at Chaco Culture National Park in New Mexico. Our Price: $24.00

The Chaco Meridian: Centers of Political Power in the Ancient Southwest Stephen H. Lekson From the Publisher: Southwestern archaeologists have long pondered the meaning and importance of the monumental 11th century structures in Chaco Canyon. Now, Stephen H. Lekson offers a lively, provocative thesis which attempts to reconceptualize the meaning of Chaco and its importance to the understanding of the entire Southwest.. "Lekson’s ground-breaking synthesis of 500 years of Southwestern prehistory - with its explanation of phenomena as diverse as the Great North Road, macaw feathers, Pueblo mythology, and the rise of kachina ceremonies - will be of great interest to all those concerned with the prehistory and history of the American Southwest. Our Price: $72.00

People of Chaco: A Canyon and Its Culture Kendrick Frazier From the Publisher: In northwestern New Mexico’s Chaco Canyon lies a spectacular array of ruins. Like Stonehenge, they are both a monument to our prehistory and a cryptic puzzle. We know that in Chaco Canyon, one thousand years ago, there arose among the Pueblo people a great and culturally sophisticated civilization. But many questions remain: Just what function did Chaco Canyon fulfill? How great was its extent and influence? Why did its culture collapse? First published in 1986 and now updated with the latest archaeological and anthropological evidence, People of Chaco is an essential book for the general reader on Chaco’s culture and ruins. From The Critics: Library JournalThe intermittent Chaco Wash has cut a broad canyon through northwestern New Mexico. Its natural beauty is surpassed only by the many prehistoric ruins it contains, which were built by the Chacoan Anasazi, the ancestors of the modern Pueblo Indians. About 1000 years ago, the Chacoans constructed multistory residences, established an extensive road system, exercised cultural hegemony over a large region in the southwestern United States, and then suddenly left. Frazier skillfully recounts the fascinating story of Chaco Canyon. He describes its discovery and exploration, its role in the development of American archaeology, and the clues it contains about a unique cultural system. This thorough, balanced, and engrossing work is a delight for all students of the prehistoric Southwest. Gordon C. Tucker, Jr., Nickens and Assocs., Montrose, Col. BooknewsUpdating the 1997 Norton edition with new findings (including the cannibalism controversy) about the Anasazi civilization that peaked ca. 1000 AD, an Albuquerque writer summarizes research conducted by the Chaco Center at the U. of New Mexico. Includes maps, bandw photos, and a glossary of place names. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com) List Price: $$17.00 Our Price: $15.30

Pueblo Bonito: Center of the Chacoan World Michael E. Goulding From the Publisher: Pueblo Bonito is the largest and most famous ruin in New Mexico’s Chaco Culture National Historical Park. Built by the ancestral Puebloan people some 1000 years ago, the ruin testifies to one of the oldest and most complex societies ever discovered in North America. Study of the large corpus of data continues to generate new ideas about the people who lived there and their way of life.This extensively illustrated volume commemorates the recent centennial of the first large-scale excavations at Pueblo Bonito, with leading experts writing on various aspects of the site, including its setting, construction sequence and labor requirements, possible astronomical orientations and related rituals, and burials. The book probes deeply for answers to several perplexing questions: How were the people of Pueblo Bonito organized socially? What exactly was the vast structure used for? At four stories tall with as many as 800 rooms, was it a residential structure for an elite population, a ceremonial center, or both? Finally, how many people inhabited this magnificent edifice and what can that tell us about the Chacoan society as a whole? Our Price: $45.00