From the author of Soul of Nowhere and The Way Out comes a sensitive look at one of the biggest mysteries of the American Southwest, the abrupt disappearance of the Anasazi. As a naturalist and avid hiker, Childs brings a wealth of backcountry experience and personal observations to the archaeological evidence as he pursues the ancient mystery. These vanished people converged upon Chaco Canyon in the eleventh century A.D. and raised up enigmatic cultural centers. Multiple kivas, white-faced great houses and room upon room filled with spectacular pots, feathers from bird species found in a 1,000-mile radius, precious stones and surprisingly few burials leave researchers struggling to make sense of it all. That so much of the culture was invested in a site where the structures were apparently precisely aligned to the celestial and yet was never fully occupied remains a huge part of the mystery of the Anasazi. Evidence based on tree ring dating indicates sites around Cedar Mesa, Utah were the first to be abandoned followed closely by Mesa Verde and ten years later Kayenta for reasons that are only now coming to light.
Childs breaths life into the dry, dusty desert with his thoughtful travelogues while tying in the latest archaeological interpretations to his observations made on the ground so to speak. Vivid imagery leaves the reader with a real sense of being there while the first rays of the sun touch the ancient stone ruins, tracking around the walls to fill carefully placed niches with light. This is a thoroughly enjoyable piece of history and mystery rolled into one.
Pat BMar 25th, 2007 - 16:38:39
I personally found the book fascinating. I am familiar with many of the place talked about, as I live in the Four Corners (near Mesa Verde) area of Colorado. I thought the theories expounded made much sense - at least from the viewpoint of the writer!
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