Customer Reviews

The Magic of Bandelier

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I first discovered ruins of the Anasasi Indians in 1972 during a trip to Mesa Verde National Monument. Since then I have spent many hours exploring Anasasi sites including Bandelier, Canyon De Chelly, Chaco Canyon and scores of less known sites. I have read several books trying to understand who these people were, why the left their homes, and what happened to them. All of these books have been informative, but most have left me still confused. Now I have found a great book, "The Magic of Bandelier" by David E. Stuart. Mr. Stuart has written an interesting and detailed book about the Anasasi Indians who lived in and around Bandelier National Monument. He paints a clear picture of where these prehistoric people came from, what their daily lives would have been like, and why they migrated between the deserts, mesas and river valleys of the Southwest. He has taken complicated information, and presented it in a clear and concise manner. "The Magic of Bandelier" explains why and when different type of living shelters were developed, from pit houses to cliff dwellings to the huge stone and mud pueblos found in most of the national monuments. It also contains excellent information about the pottery made by these people, the remaining shards of which can still be seen at most sites. I think that lay persons, as well as those searching for scholarly information about the Anasasi Indians, will find "The Magic of Bandelier" to be both informative and stimulating. Now if I can only find my back pack and the time to explore more of these magical sites.

I would recommend this small book to anyone who is interested in southwest archaeology. Written by an archaeologist, it resonates with solid science. But equally as notable is its readability. You laymen looking into southwest archaeology should enjoy this. Also those travelling in the area will appreciate all of the background provided in so few words .

I wish to convey how this little poetic volume, The Magic of Bandelier, gave me a new and even deeper level of understanding of these special peoples, the Anasazi, who I have studied through different filters for the past 47 years or so, and how with such ease it posited probable answers to those incessant questions of "where did they go and why," and "what and how did they become?"

A civilization this grand did not culminate in Chaco, or in Salmon, Aztec or the other outliers, or even in the caves of Mesa Verde. Rather, they lead to the founding of the Rio Grande Pueblos, the inheritors of which Coronado's entrada would "first discover" and Onate "conquer" four centuries later.

Professor Stuart demonstrates how the Chacoan Anasazi continued to transcend, by evolution and devolution, peopling the Pajarito Plateau in and around his beloved Bandelier National Monument. Of particular note, these cultures were multi-layered, with pit-houses simultaneously being constructed nearby the great block pueblos, and their survival skills adapted over time to the changes of time, in ebbs and flow, a song of survival against adversity.

Unlike many other academics I have encountered, Professor Stuart unabashedly allows one to feel his passion for the poetic mysteries involved. And, without his laying claim, Bandelier is assuredly a Center-Place, and exquisitely magical.

This is an author of whom I shall read more, and who I wish shall not be soon forgotten.