Title: Anasazi, Ancient People of the Rock by David Muench, Donald G. Pike
Abstract: 82 Western American Literature areas of the work that have remained darkened too long by critical antagon ism or simple ineptitude. ARTHUR B. COFFIN, Montana State University, Bozeman Anasazi, Ancient People of the Rock. By David Muench and Donald G. Pike. (Palo Alto: American West Publishing Company, 1974. 191 pp., $18.50.) Like many ancient cultures which left assorted monuments to mystify and intrigue modem man, the Anasazi culture is shrouded with secrets we may never learn. Even their name, which means the ancient ones, was given to them by the Navajo who came later. And yet, what is known makes fascinating reading. For instance, these people were using acid to draw relief pictures on shells 50 years before Europeans had similar techniques and for over half a century, Chaco Canyon held the largest multi-family dwelling in North America. Historian Donald Pike and photographer David Muench have merged an intriguing story with captivating pictures to resurrect a little known piece of America’s history. A book of this caliber deserves to be seen for it can only be truly appreciated firsthand. David Muench’s photographs are individual works of beauty. Viewed as a whole, they capture a feeling of what life was like among the rocks and canyons of the southwest. It’s done by using not only photographs of the great dwellings and religious kivas but with pictures of the vegetation, pottery, pictographs and scenery which were all part of the life of the ancient ones. In many of Muench’s photographs, such as the one on the dust jacket, you actually expect to see people moving about perform ing the daily chores of life in the 1200’s. Pike’s writing covers most of what is known about the Anasazi and the tribes with whom they mixed and mingled. He traces the evolution of their pottery making, their stonework, even their farming not so much from a historical perspective as from a human one. Pike fashions the life of the ancient ones as vivid and alive as words can make it. A person with no background and perhaps no interest in the Anasazi will become engrossed in both the questions raised and the answers given. Of course, all questions are not answered. Why, for instance, did the people leave their beautiful dwellings in the 13th century never to return? Pike discusses many of the theories including enemies and drought and dramatically calls the reason “the dark wind.” For the Anasazi it undoubt Reviews 83 edly was a dark wind that drove them from their homes. This book could definitely be classed with those high-priced coffee table models which are displayed to impress people. But it is much more. Besides being beautiful, the photographs tell a story. The narration also tells a story and either pictures or text could stand alone. Together they become an adventure through time that is well worth the cost. CLIFFORD CAHOON, Utah State University The Last West: A History of the Great Plains of North America. By Russell McKee. (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1974. 312 pages, illus., appendix, biblio., and index, $8.95.) In The Last West Russell McKee provides readers with “a book of stories about people and their response to an unusual landscape.” The unusual landscape is the Great Plains, that strange and often misunderstood chunk of America which has been the touchstone for a variety of myths and emotions. McKee, in telling the story of the Plains from their geologic formation down to the present, employs a fresh and vibrant style, picturing details with the eye of a novelist. It should be understood that The Last West is a work of popular history aimed at general readers interested in the West. As popular history, narration and description take precedence over interpretation. Specialists in the field of Western American history will find little new here, yet those who are not professionally committed to a study of the West will find an interesting and well-written overview of the history of a very significant portion of North America. Though McKee stresses the relevance of the Plains as a region, he does not fall into the trap of regarding the...
Publication Year: 1975
Publication Date: 1975-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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Cited By Count: 1
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