Presents an examination of the geographic, cultural, and human landscape of the Americas before the arrival of Columbus in 1492, and includes information from historical and archaeological perspectives that offers a new view of pre-Columbian America.

When this book first appeared in 1996, it was "Pottery 101," a basic introduction to the subject. It served as an art book, a history book, and a reference book, but also fun to read, beautiful to look at, and filled with good humor and good sense. After twenty years of faithful service, it's been expanded and brought up-to-date with photographs of more than 1,600 pots from more than 1,600 years. It shows every pottery-producing group in the Southwest,...

Thousands of years before Europeans first colonized North America, other cities were here. They grew up, flourished and eventually disappeared in the same places that modern cities would later appear. You will find the astonishing story of how they grew from small settlements to booming city centers--and then crumbled into ruins.

"Most people are familiar with the famous Precolumbian civilizations of the Aztecs and Maya of Mexico, but few realize just how advanced were contemporary cultures in the American Southwest. Here lie some of the most remarkable monuments of America's prehistoric past, such as Chaco Canyon and Mesa Verde. Visitors marvel at the impressive ruined pueblos and spectacular cliff dwellings, but often have little idea of the cultures that produced these...