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Overview
New Mexico, northwestern corner. Here, amidst the greasewood bushes and clouds of dry, sandy soil, are the silent ruins of colossal mud and wooden houses, a mysterious remnant of an ancient civilization. In Chaco Canyon, readers learn about the discovery of these amazing structures and follow generations of archaeologists as they uncover the secrets of the canyon's past. A veritable early Native American detective story, the book includes numerous sidebars on archaeological techniques, timelines, related sites, photographs and illustrations of the sites and artifacts, and a fascinating interview with archaeologist Gwinn Vivian who grew up in the canyon.
Series copy: Buried treasure, high adventure, lost civilizations--Join archaeologists as they dig for the past at exciting sites around the world. From the first excitement of the original find to the excavation and scientific breakthrough, these richly illustrated books team professional archaeologists with established science writers to bring the fascinating world of the archaeological process to life.
Relates the nineteenth-century discovery of cliff dwellings in the Chaco Canyon of northwest New Mexico, the excavations of the ancient ruins, and what the artifacts reveal about the civilization of the ancient Pueblo Indians.
Synopsis
New Mexico, northwestern corner. Here, amidst the greasewood bushes and clouds of dry, sandy soil, are the silent ruins of colossal mud and wooden houses, a mysterious remnant of an ancient civilization. In Chaco Canyon, readers learn about the discovery of these amazing structures and follow generations of archaeologists as they uncover the secrets of the canyon's past. A veritable early Native American detective story, the book includes numerous sidebars on archaeological techniques, timelines, related sites, photographs and illustrations of the sites and artifacts, and a fascinating interview with archaeologist Gwinn Vivian who grew up in the canyon.
Series copy: Buried treasure, high adventure, lost civilizations—Join archaeologists as they dig for the past at exciting sites around the world. From the first excitement of the original find to the excavation and scientific breakthrough, these richly illustrated books team professional archaeologists with established science writers to bring the fascinating world of the archaeological process to life.
School Library Journal
Gr 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.