Customer Reviews

Remembering Awatovi: The Story of an Archaeological Expedition in Northern Arizona, 1935-1939 (Peabody Museum)

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For years I've been trying to find accounts of those legendary field camps in the Southwest. I'm much more interested in what people experienced than in what was found (although there's nothing wrong with that.) Finally, there is "Remembering Awatovi" about a 1935-1939 field camp run by Harvard in a long-deserted Hopi village. It is well-documented with lots of photos and ephemera and quotes from letters and journals. The people and the great times they had really come alive. I especially appreciated that the author mentioned her own efforts to find books on this topic--she didn't find much either, so the value of this book is clear. I was also able to see the accompanying exhibit at the Peabody Museum at Harvard (winter, 2009)so I got to see some of the actual pottery and artifacts they found. I couldn't put this book down and it's also got great notes and references.

Fascinating memoir of a specific archaeological field school prior to World War II...and the archaeologists', volunteers' & visitors' personalities, experiences, comments, and commitment.