Review by Choice Review
Written by an art historian, this is primarily an art history of the "Anasazi," a name archaeologists have given to several interlinked prehistoric southwestern cultural traditions that have long been famous for spectacular landscape settings, decorated pottery and weaving, and apartment-house villages, including cliff houses. Brody, unlike many, avoids culture-bound esthetic theories and judgments. The closest he comes to a definition of Anasazi art is a casual midsentence phrase ("those parts of the material record that I classify as art"), wisely letting it go at that. After introducing the Anasazi and archaeological method, he describes the regional variations of selected Anasazi material culture for each major period of their development. The main theme is the evidence of cultural continuity through all the stages of prehistory to the present-day Pueblo peoples. By emphasizing the whole cultural context based on standard archaeological references, he provides a well-written, brief introduction to Anasazi prehistory. His choices of items to illustrate are broadly representative. Most of the photographs (many in color) are excellent, but they are poorly arranged and confusingly numbered in separate series as plates and figures for no apparent reason. All levels. -K. A. Dixon, California State University, Long Beach
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Booklist Review
The Ancient Ones of the southwestern U.S., who left behind them no written record of their existence and are known today through archaeological evidence and through the oral traditions handed down by the Pueblo Indians, are examined through the remnants of their culture. Specifically, Brody studies the ruins of Anasazi villages that were built into the sides of cliffs or as elaborate multi-story pueblo structures. The artifacts of Anasazi everyday life and religious ritual are also described and discussed in relation to daily activities and seasonal cycles. The major sites of Anasazi research at Mesa Verde, Chaco Canyon, and Canyon de Chelly are featured in an excellent series of color and black-and-white photographs. Bibliography, notes; index. ~--John Brosnahan
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Ancestors of the Pueblo Indians, the Anasazi peoples built spectacular cliff dwellings and multistoried sandstone pueblos in what is now New Mexico, Colorado, Utah and Arizona. Their kivas (ritual theaters) display structural elegance and superb masonry. Their mysterious rock art on massive cliffs features broad-shouldered humans with trapezoidal torsos and kachinas (deities impersonated by masked dancers). The early Anasazi lived in towns housing up to 30,000 people. Their irrigation technology and sophisticated geometrical pottery designs owe a debt to contacts with Mexico. Brody, an art historian at the University of New Mexico, notes that the Anasazi were never politically unified and spoke at least six different languages, yet an integral, vibrant personality of this diverse prehistoric population is everywhere evident in this magnificently illustrated, readable survey. (Aug.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
