Located in the mountains of east-central Arizona, Grasshopper Pueblo is a prehistoric ruin that has been excavated and interpreted more thoroughly than most sites in the Southwest: more than 100 rooms have been unearthed here, and artifacts of remarkable quantity and quality have been discovered. Thanks to these findings, we know more about ancient life at Grasshopper than at most other pueblos. Now two archaeologists who have devoted more than two decades to investigations at Grasshopper reconstruct the life and times of this fourteenth-century Mogollon community. Written for general readers—and for the White Mountain Apache, on whose land Grasshopper Pueblo is located and who have participated in the excavations there—the book conveys the simple joys and typical problems of an ancient way of life as inferred from its material remains. Reid and Whittlesey's account reveals much about the human capacity for living under what must strike modern readers as adverse conditions. They describe the environment with which the people had to cope; hunting, gathering, and farming methods; uses of tools, pottery, baskets, and textiles; types of rooms and households; and the functioning of social groups. They also reconstruct the sacred world of Grasshopper as interpreted through mortuary ritual and sacred objects and discuss the relationship of Grasshopper residents with neighbors and with those who preceded and followed them. Grasshopper Pueblo not only thoroughly reconstructs this past life at a mountain village, it also offers readers an appreciation of life at the field school and an understanding of how excavations have proceeded there through the years. For anyone enchanted by mysteries of the past, it reveals significant features of human culture and spirit and the ultimate value of archaeology to contemporary society.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Review
"An outstanding success as a non-technical introduction to a prehistory of a portion of the American Southwest and to archaeology in general." —SAS Bulletin "A rounded and readable account." —Antiquity "Anybody who has even remotely heard of the Grasshopper field school will greatly enjoy the fond descriptions of the area and the stories of life in the field school. And anyone who is interested in archaeology at all will enjoy being allowed to glimpse the romance and fun, as well as the frustrations, of everyday life on an excavation and will incidentally learn a great deal about two very different cultural groups: the inhabitants of the prehistoric pueblo and the archaeologists who came to Grasshopper to study them." —Journal of Anthropological Research "Nowhere else is there such a succinct descriptions of the Grasshopper region, or Grasshopper Pueblo itself. . . . A clear overview of the region both ecologically and archaeologically." —North American Archaeologist
--This text refers to the
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From the Inside Flap
Located in the mountains of east-central Arizona, Grasshopper Pueblo is a prehistoric ruin that has been excavated and interpreted more thoroughly than most sites in the Southwest: more than 100 rooms have been unearthed here, and artifacts of remarkable quantity and quality have been discovered. Thanks to these findings, we know more about ancient life at Grasshopper than at most other pueblos. Now two archaeologists who have devoted more than two decades to investigations at Grasshopper reconstruct the life and times of this fourteenth-century Mogollon community. Written for general readers—and for the White Mountain Apache, on whose land Grasshopper Pueblo is located and who have participated in the excavations there—the book conveys the simple joys and typical problems of an ancient way of life as inferred from its material remains. Reid and Whittlesey's account reveals much about the human capacity for living under what must strike modern readers as adverse conditions. They describe the environment with which the people had to cope; hunting, gathering, and farming methods; uses of tools, pottery, baskets, and textiles; types of rooms and households; and the functioning of social groups. They also reconstruct the sacred world of Grasshopper as interpreted through mortuary ritual and sacred objects and discuss the relationship of Grasshopper residents with neighbors and with those who preceded and followed them. Grasshopper Pueblo not only thoroughly reconstructs this past life at a mountain village, it also offers readers an appreciation of life at the field school and an understanding of how excavations have proceeded there through the years. For anyone enchanted by mysteries of the past, it reveals significant features of human culture and spirit and the ultimate value of archaeology to contemporary society.
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Southwestern prehistory in brief,
By
This review is from: Grasshopper Pueblo: A Story of Archaeology and Ancient Life (Paperback)
The Mogollon people, along with other ethnic groups, flourished at Grasshopper Pueblo in the Arizona mountains for an astonishingly brief few generations from around 1300 to 1400. This followed the Great Drought of the late 1200s, an event which changed prehistoric life in the American southwest. Authors Reid and Whittlesey conceived of their book as a popular synthesis, distilling for a general audience 30 yrs of archaeological research at Grasshopper Pueblo. And the book is certifiably general, often frustratingly so. Practically every page includes some reference to life at Grasshopper Pueblo that could/should have been amplified. Here are random examples:* The authors describe the period prior to the founding of Grasshopper Pueblo as being characterized by "elaboration of the mountain adaptive pattern and by the continuation of regional differences" (p. 17). Which is a rather dry way to describe the intriguing notion that archeology can infer evolution and variation in life style of a mobile people inhabiting only several hundreds of square miles -- a notion many readers will want to hear more about and, perhaps, need to know about, in order to understand the meaning and value of southwestern archeology. * "The 1300s mark a special time in Mogollon prehistory when the mountains of Arizona experienced the largest year-round population ever" (p. 62). But doesn't the current population of the region (at least) deserve to hear the authors' estimate of what the largest population might have been? or to be given a statistic on the region's current population, as a benchmark for appreciating prehistory? * "The threefold division of the main pueblo into room blocks and plazas continued throughout the Aggregation period and was accompanied by distinctions in architecture, use of fuel wood, diet, and other differences, indicating that the people living in each room block maintained particular ways of doing things that may have been a product of their different origins or affiliations" (p. 116). Wow -- How could the authors *not* explicate the methodology, data and alternative interpretations pertaining to every facet of that prehistoric pluralistic society? is anything like it seen among historic puebloan people? The authors restrain themselves throughout the book, presenting only the broadest sketch of their and other's findings. Also problematically, the authors unconvincingly apply the archeological concepts of aggregation and abandonment to the history of the University of Arizona Field School, which convened each summer at Grasshopper Pueblo for 30 yrs. And lastly, the text is maddeningly repetitive, as if paragraphs were independently written and then collated, without regard to the duplication of material -- Where was the editor? Overall, the book provides an introduction to the archeology of Grasshopper Pueblo. Many readers will be intrigued by the cohabitation of Mogollon and Anasazi peoples and by the peoples' remarkably poor health, but I suspect only introductory readers of southwestern prehistory will benefit greatly from most of the book's narrative. Bob Niles
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent text book,
By
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This review is from: Grasshopper Pueblo: A Story of Archaeology and Ancient Life (Paperback)
This book provides an introduction to the archeology of Grasshopper Pueblo. Introductory readers of southwestern prehistory will benefit greatly from most of this book's narrative. I took an anthropology course from the author of this book, while a student at the University of AZ (I'm a 2008 graduate with a BFA from the College of Fine Arts). Dr. J. J. Reid is an excellent instructor, especially since he has done a dig at the Grasshopper Pueblo. Interesting book and I would recommend it to anyone interested in anthropology. B. Best.
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