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A History of the Ancient Southwest

Stephen H. Lekson

2009. 452 pp., 88 illustrations, notes, references, index, 7 x 102009. 452 pp., 88 illustrations, notes, references, index, 7 x 10

According to archaeologist Stephen H. Lekson, much of what we think we know about the Southwest has been compressed into conventions and classifications and orthodoxies. This book challenges and reconfigures these accepted notions by telling two parallel stories, one about the development, personalities, and institutions of Southwestern archaeology and the other about interpretations of what actually happened in the ancient past. While many works would have us believe that nothing much ever happened in the ancient Southwest, this book argues that the region experienced rises and falls, kings and commoners, war and peace, triumphs and failures. In this view, Chaco Canyon was a geopolitical reaction to the “Colonial Period” Hohokam expansion and the Hohokam “Classic Period” was the product of refugee Chacoan nobles, chased off the Colorado Plateau by angry farmers. Far to the south, Casas Grandes was a failed attempt to create a Mesoamerican state, and modern Pueblo people—with societies so different from those at Chaco and Casas Grandes—deliberately rejected these monumental, hierarchical episodes of their past.

Read The New York Times story featuring Steve Lekson:
“Scientist Tries to Connect Migration Dots of Ancient Southwest.”

From the Publisher
The second printing of A History of the Ancient Southwest has corrected the errors noted below.
SAR Press regrets an error on Page 72, paragraph 4 (also Page 275, note 2) regarding “absolute dates.” “50,000 dates” was incorrectly published as “half a million dates.” Also P. 125, lines 13-14: “Between 21,000 and 27,000 people lived there” should read “Between 2,100 and 2,700 people lived there.”

Awards

2010 New Mexico Book Award
Winner, Anthropology/Archaeology/Science category
2010 Southwest Books of the Year
Notable Book

Contributors: Stephen H. Lekson

View the Table of Contents

Download an excerpt (PDF, 363 KB).

Read Reviews

“In Southwestern archaeology, a mind like Steve Lekson’s comes along once in a generation. This is his magnum opus—a highwire act that strings hundreds of bold ideas into a dazzling new synthesis.”
—David Roberts, author of “In Search of the Old Ones”
“Stephen Lekson has written among the most provocative and forward-looking books in archaeology today…. If you’ve never read a Lekson book, start here. You’ll find an archaeology that doesn’t take itself too seriously, written with literary flair, wit, and a dash of sarcasm as only Lekson can.”
—Timothy Pauketat, University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana
“...the story of the ancient Southwest and those who study its history makes for a fascinating tale. Recommended.”
—M. W. Graves, University of New Mexico, Choice, vol. 47, no. 9, May 2010
“About once in a generation, a writer...seeks to overturn established notions, and Stephen H. Lekson is this generation's heretic laureate....a book that is both provocative and fun....Lekson turns Southwest archaeology into a series of tales, beguiling readers instead of lecturing them....this one is worth picking up.”
—David A. Phillips Jr., New Mexico Historical Review
“This...is a magnificent summary of what we know about our prehistory. Each two-part chapter...tries to describe both the key players (i.e., archaeological interpreters, past and present) and the cultures they interpret and/or argue about. Lekson does not hesitate to name names when analyzing views he sees as sometimes intentionally wrong-headed and, as you might imagine, he has some strong opinions about what is good in the field as well as what is bad.”
—Southwest Books of the Year Best Reading 2010
“Lekson does address the intellectual history of some of the most intriguing archaeological questions in the Southwest....He challenges some of the more widely accepted interpretations of these events, however, and offers new hypotheses regarding social interaction and the impetus behind the development of Chaco Canyon and Casas Grandes.”
—SMRC Revista, Spring/Summer 2010
“This study weaves together two parallel narratives into a very provocative and highly original tour de force, a big-picture political history of the pre-Hispanic American Southwest and a critical intellectual history of southwestern archaeology. This book is a groundbreaking study....This book matters.”
—Stephen L. Black, Southwestern Historical Quarterly, April 2011
“This book is a hoot to read. There are big ideas. There are new ideas. It is stimulating, idiosyncratic, brash, and exciting. There are analyses, syntheses, and descriptions of prehistoric periods as well as historic and recent archaeological practices, paradigms, and theories. There are imaginative speculations, and erudite discussions. There are also well developed arguments and startling conclusions.... Our profession could use more books like this one. Lekson makes us think.”
—Marc Thompson, NewsMac—New Mexico Archaeological Council

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Add to Cart $39.95, Paper, 978-1-934691-10-6

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A History of the Ancient Southwest

Stephen H. Lekson