An Introduction to the Study of Southwestern Archaeology (The Lamar Series in Western History)

By Alfred Vincent Kidder

Book Overview

Alfred Vincent Kidder's Introduction to the Study of Southwestern Archaeology, a classic of New World archaeology, was the first regional synthesis and remains unsurpassed as a summary of Pueblo archaeology. It provides an excellent guide to historic and prehistoric sites of the Southwest, as they were known at the time, as well as a preliminary account of Kidder's exemplary excavation at Pecos. Kidder was one of the pioneers of the technique of stratigraphy; he also broke new ground in approaches to the study of pottery and in the application of ethnological data to the interpretation of archaeological remains. In a new introduction to the book, Douglas W. Schwartz discusses the history of Pecos Pueblo, the development of southwestern archaeology, and the enduring significance of Kidder's work.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0300082975
• ISBN13: 9780300082975
• Release Date: July 2000
• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Length: 400 Pages
• Weight: 1.01 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.5" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

A. V. KIDDER REVIEW

This book, being written in 1924, is NOT an introduction to MODERN Southwestern Archaeology but, it is a classic. If you are at all interested in the development of SW Archaeology this is the book. Kidder was the person with the most influence on development in this area. He was not the first person to use pottery seriation, stratigraphic methods, dendrochronology, and sound research design but he brought these and other scientific methods to the forefront of American Archaeology. He introduced multidisciplinary approaches to the field and transformed SW Archaeology from simple artifact gathering for museums into the organized empirical science it is today. In this book you can see it being done. You will see terms such as Basket Maker, Post Basket Maker, pre-Pueblo being developed. The introductory essay by Douglas Schwartz alone is worth the price of the book. He outlines the work done by five other major researchers (There were several more) in the region before Kidder. These five had an impact on Kidder's work. Schwartz takes us beyond 1924 thru the Pecos Conference of 1927, called by Kidder to, among other things, develop a standard nomenclature system which still stands today (Basketmaker I-III and Pueblo I-V). The annual Pecos Conference has been held every year since 1927.