A Study of Southwestern Archaeology

by Stephen H Lekson

In this volume Steve Lekson argues that, for over a century, southwestern archaeology got the history of the ancient Southwest wrong. Instead, he advocates an entirely new approach—one that separates archaeological thought in the Southwest from its anthropological home and moves to more historical ways of thinking.
     Focusing on the enigmatic monumental center at Chaco Canyon, the book provides a historical analysis of how Southwest archaeology confined itself, how it can break out of those confines, and how it can proceed into the future. Lekson suggests that much of what we believe about the ancient Southwest should be radically revised. Looking past old preconceptions brings a different Chaco Canyon into more than an eleventh-century Pueblo ritual center, Chaco was a political capital with nobles and commoners, a regional economy, and deep connections to Mesoamerica. By getting the history right, a very different science of the ancient Southwest becomes possible and archaeology can be reinvented as a very different discipline.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Archaeology, Anthropology, Science

480 pages, Paperback

Published December 21, 2018

Reviews

[Captain Sir Roddy, R.N. (Ret.) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely superb philosophical discussion revolving around Stephen Lekson's perspectives about the history and current state of american anthropological archaeology in the southwestern U.S. His overarching thesis, in my opinion, is that we need to get the history right before we can fully understand and appreciate the science. Lekson is one hell of an entertaining author, humorous as well as thoughtful; and he challenges the reader constantly to think outside-the-box.

If you're interested in southwestern archaeology, this is a must read.

[Krista Marson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I came across this book at the library and started to thumb through it. I saw the word "Chaco" mentioned several times, so I decided to bite. (Disclaimer: I'll read anything about Chaco!) To say that this book took a "different" angle on Chaco doesn't even describe it...this book took a look at Chaco through a prism.

Author Lekson is tired of Chaco being imprisoned in "Pueblo Space," (i.e.: an idealized concept created by Western imaginations) and aims to release it back to the time from whence it sprung. The author believes that the standard interpretation of Chaco is all wrong despite it being one of the most researched sites in all of North America. He uses terms such as Glass Ceiling, the Iron Curtain, and Pueblo Space as something we can escape. According to Lekson, "If you want to decolonize archaeology, decolonize your head. Identify and control old colonial biases and colonial content. That way lies new knowledge about the past." The idea that America has never had kings is an American bias and places Chaco into "Pueblo Space" according to the author.

Lekson argues that archaeology ignores history. "Archaeology is not indigenous," Lekson claims. "It is a Western phenomenon." The reinforcing of Pueblo Space gets Southwestern Archaeology all wrong. "Corn, beans, squash, and spirituality. Boring. Heritage? History? What is the difference?" Lekson wonders.

So, with that premise, the author argues that Chaco is wrongly treated as an anomaly, and rarely gets compared to its predecessors, contemporaries, or those that came after. Chaco wasn't like Athena who arose from Zeus' head -- there had to be a pre-history, but no one seems interested in researching that story.

The author posits that the Southwest was part of the greater Mesoamerican world, not merely confined within "Pueblo Space." Was Chaco a secondary Mesoamerican state? "First, what is a state?" Lekson wonders. States were composed of layers of hierarchy, including rulers and social classes. "So, what is a secondary state?" Lekson asks. It was "a state that was formed or caused or inspired through interaction with an existing state." He declares that there were states north of Mexico. Lekson encourages the study of cycles and, consequently, collapse.

Lekson wonders if Chaco was the infamous White House of Pueblo legends. A place that was grand and glorious but somewhere that became corrupt and ripe for a correction. Did people vote with their feet when they abandoned Chaco and left for greener pastures?

Overall, this book was an interesting read, albeit a strange one. The author has strong opinions and doesn't mince his words, which was both bizarre and refreshing. Lekson definitely possesses an original mind and one that I would love to pick. This book is not for the casual reader, but more for those who are desperate to get down to the truth about Chaco and Southwestern history in general. Reading this book has made me want to learn more.

[Gregory Brokaw · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book if this is your thing. Turns out, it’s my thing. This book is about as “inside baseball” as any book gets for an academic field. Lekson is at the end of his career and he lets loose with everything he thinks about his field, the good, the bad, the ugly. For someone like me who has a very basic amateur interest in Southwest Archaeology it is probably overkill, but honestly I loved it. If only every field had a book like this! From this foundation I feel like I have a good mental map of where to go next…

[Kirk Astroth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating. The curmudgeon comes through. This is an irreverent, whimsical book in some ways. Lots of ellipses, veiled references, inside jokes, and literary illusions that will fly right by most people. Here’s just one example. In talking about socially sanctioned violence he remarks: “If you’re lighter than a duck, all must admit: It’s a fair cop.” Huh?

You get it all here—Star Trek, Star Wars, Harry Potter Próspero, Sam Spade, Dragnet and much more as Lekson peppers up his narrative to entertain. The main point is valid: Chaco was a state and we need to quit living in Pueblo Space and supporting the Pueblo Mystic. He advocates for more history in archaeology and perhaps less science. Tell the story so our important audiences understand why archaeology matters.

[Edward Nugent · Rating 5 out of 5]

This, by his own account, is Stephen Lekson's, iconoclastic professor and archaologist--think Chaco Cañon--last treatise, and he pulls out all the stops, disecting and questioning Southwestern Archaeology's origins and influences, questioning it's assumptions, proposing new methodologies and areas for inquiry and study, and proposing a new direction for making the studies relevant.
I enjoyed his discussion of audience as he asks, "Who do we write for." Academics, Native Americans, Southwest affeciandos. I am solidly the latter, and as such, felt like the kindergartner in a college seminar.
The book is a heavily annotated and footnoted academic treatise. Yet readable and mostly comprehendible by someone like me--a testiment to Lekson's communication skills.

[GJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nobody uses punctuation like this guy. I like his attitude and his use of humor. And the comparison of low density agrarian urbanism with Angkor in Cambodia and the provocation that Hohokam could be seen as one continuous sprawling city.

[Joellen Dickey · Rating 5 out of 5]

***** great