The Mesa Verde World
Explorations in Ancestral Pueblo Archaeology Edited by David Grant Noble Mesa Verde, with its stunning landscapes and cliff dwellings, evokes all the romance of American archaeology. It has intrigued researchers and visitors for more than a century. But “Mesa Verde” represents more than cliff dwellings—its peoples created a culture that thrived for a thousand years in Southwestern Colorado and southeastern Utah. Archaeologists have discovered dozens of long-buried hamlets and villages spread for miles across the Great Sage Plain west and north of Mesa Verde. Only lately have these sites begun to reveal their secrets. In recent decades, archaeologists have been working intensively in the Mesa Verde region to build the story of its ancestral Pueblo inhabitants. The Mesa Verde World showcases new findings about the region’s prehistory, environment, and archaeological history, from newly discovered reservoir systems on Mesa Verde to astronomical alignments at Yellow Jacket Pueblo. Key topics include farming, settlement, sacred landscapes, cosmology and astronomy, rock art, warfare, migration, and contemporary Pueblo perspectives. 2006. 182 pp., 142 black-and-white and 21 color illustrations, 2 maps, chronology, reading list, index, 8 x 11 Contributors: Karen R. Adams, Julie Bell, David A. Breternitz, Catherine M. Cameron, Mona Charles, Sally J. Cole, Alden C. Hayes, Winston Hurst, Timothy A. Kohler, Kristin A. Kuckelman, Richard W. Lang, William D. Lipe, J. McKim Malville, Tessie Naranjo, David Grant Noble, Larry V. Nordby, Scott G. Ortman, Jonathan Till, Mark D. Varien, Richard H. Wilshusen, Kenneth R. Wright Awards: 2007 New Mexico Book Award Finalist Download an excerpt.“This beautiful, well written, and informative book is the most recent offering of the SAR (School for Advanced Research) Press within its popular Southwest Archaeology series … Although the book is written to engage a nonprofessional audience, the career archaeologist will also find this collection useful because it gathers together in a single publication what researchers active in the Mesa Verde region believe to be the most important topics and contemporary interpretations about this archaeological area… David Grant Noble’s gift for anticipating what interested readers want and need to know … clearly shines forth in this collection.”
—Carla R. Van West, Kiva Vol. 72, no. 4 (Summer 2007)
- Through the Looking Glass: The Environment of the Ancient Mesa Verdeans Karen R. Adams
- The Earliest Mesa Verdeans: Hunters, Foragers, and First Farmers Mona Charles
- The Genesis of Pueblos: Innovations between 500 and 900 CE Richard H. Wilshusen
- The Mesa Verde Region during Chaco Times William D. Lipe
- Turbulent Times in the Mesa Verde World Mark D. Varien
- “We Came from the South, We Came from the North”: Some Tewa Origin Stories Tessie Naranjo
- Craft Arts of the Mesa Verde Richard W. Lang
- Simulation and Imagination Fistfight in the Mesa Verde Timothy A. Kohler
- Mesa Verdean Sacred Landscapes Winston Hurst and Jonathan Till
- The Cosmic and the Sacred at Yellow Jacket Pueblo and Mesa Verde J. McKim Malville
- Imagery and Tradition: Murals of the Mesa Verde Region Sally J. Cole
- Ancient Pottery of the Mesa Verde Country: How Ancestral Pueblo People Made It, Used It, and Thought about It Scott Ortman
- Understanding Mesa Verde’s Cliff Dwelling Architecture Larry V. Nordby
- Fire and Archaeology on Mesa Verde Julie Bell
- Water for the Mesa Verdeans Kenneth R. Wright
- Ancient Violence in the Mesa Verde Region Kristin A. Kuckelman
- A Hopi Story about Castle Rock Ernest Ingersoll
- Leaving Mesa Verde Catherine M. Cameron
- Mesa Verde: A Century of Research Alden C. Hayes
- Mesa Verdean Archaeology since the Mid–1960s David A. Breternitz
There are no working papers for this book at the present time.