The Ancient Cliff Dwellers of Mesa Verde [Paperback]

Caroline Arnold (Author), Richard R. Hewett (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 21, 2000

Discusses the Native Americans known as the Anasazi, who migrated to southwestern Colorado in the first century A.D.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 4-6-- Sharply focused and dramatic full-page, full-color photographs are an outstanding feature in this book on the Anasazi people of the American Southwest. Mesa Verde serves as the backdrop and focal point. Photos of the spectacular cliff dwellings can be found throughout, but there are also pictures of archaeologists at work and many of the artifacts that have been found there. Chapters include a description of the discovery of the area by ranchers in the late 19th century and the development of the area into a national park. Readers will also see how painstaking archeology has re-created the probable scenario of how people lived when the area was at its height of development and various theories concerning the fate of the Anasazi. An engrossing introduction to the culture, the place, and the time, and how we have learned about them. --David N. Pauli, Missoula Pub . Lib . , MT
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Kirkus Reviews

From roughly A.D. 550 until A.D. 1300, communities flourished in the region where Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado now meet. One of the largest was at Mesa Verde, now on the edge of the Ute Mountain Indian Reservation. Called Anasazi- -``ancient ones''--by present-day Navajos, these pastoral, pueblo-dwelling people reached a peak of several thousand and then moved away, leaving cliff dwellings, pots, and the detritus of generations; who they were, where and why they went, and what became of them are mysteries, only slowly yielding to research. Drawing on sources here and abroad, Arnold provides an overview of current knowledge and speculation about the lives and culture of these early people. Aided by Hewett's detailed, beautiful color photos of sites, researchers, and artifacts, she describes their dwellings, tools, crops, and daily living patterns, carefully separating fact from speculation. Attractive and useful. Glossary; index. (Nonfiction. 9+) -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Paperback: 64 pages
• Publisher: Sandpiper (August 21, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 061805149X
• ISBN-13: 978-0618051496
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 8 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #951,277 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Caroline Arnold is the author of more than 100 books for children. She writes both fiction and nonfiction and recently has illustrated some of her books with striking cut paper art. To see prints and cards of her illustrations, go to www.etsy.com/shop/CarolineArnoldArt. Recent nonfiction titles include A Polar Bear's World, A Bald Eagle's World, Global Warming and the Dinosaurs, A Panda's World, Giant Sea Reptiles of the Dinosaur Age, Super Swimmers, and Easter Island. Her recent fiction books include Wiggle and Waggle, a collection of five stories for beginning readers, and The Terrible Hodag and the Animal Catchers, a tall tale.
Her books have received awards from the American Library Association, the National Science Teachers Association, P.E.N., and SCBWI. Recently she received the Washington Post/Children's Book Guild Nonfiction Award for her body of work, the Leo Politi Award from California Readers, and from the Children's Literature Council of Southern California, the Best Written and Illustrated Suite of Nonfiction for children.
Caroline's interest in animals and the out-of-doors began when she was a child growing up in Minneapolis, Minnesota. After majoring in art and literature at Grinnell College in Iowa, she received her M.A. in art from the University of Iowa. Some of her new books are illustrated with her own art. Caroline lives in Los Angeles and teaches part-time in the Writer's Program at UCLA Extension.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Nothing new here, April 9, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Ancient Cliff Dwellers of Mesa Verde (Hardcover)

This book is a quick, interesting read for a grade-school kid, but it's coverage of both the history of Mesa Verde and the Anasazi people who lived there is shallow and sheds little light on the subject. Few of the assertations in the book (for example, that the male members of the community built the cliff dwellings and that the kivas were used for ceremonial purposes) are backed up with any documentation or reasoning. The photos are just average in quality, and the reader finishes the book not knowing much more about the cliff dwellers than when she started. Even kids want more info than this!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Ancient Cliff Dwellers of Mesa Verde, August 21, 2008

By 

Donald B. Shields (McAlester, OK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Ancient Cliff Dwellers of Mesa Verde (Paperback)

I am fascinated by the Anasazi people and have visited Chaco Canyon in New Mexico in 2005. I visited Mesa Verde in June of 2008. Although the park rangers who led tours provided a lot of information about the people of Mesa Verde, I wanted to know much more. This book provided much useful information. It was written in language that was easy to understand and any archeologist words used were defined. It was illustrated with frequent high quality photographs.

5.0 out of 5 stars Quick glimpse., September 29, 2011

By 

G. Haskel "gloriaglen" (Michigan) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Ancient Cliff Dwellers of Mesa Verde (Paperback)

Fantastic for a quick glimpse or to whet your appetite before a trip. Very informative also at a level that would please most people.