Ancient Puebloan Southwest traces the evolution of Puebloan society in the American Southwest from the emergence of the Chaco and Mimbres traditions in the AD 1000s through the early decades of contact with the Spanish in the sixteenth century. The 2004 book focuses on the social and political changes that shaped Puebloan people over the centuries, emphasizing how factors internal to society impacted on cultural evolution, even in the face of the challenging environment that characterizes the American Southwest. The underlying argument is that while the physical environment both provides opportunities and sets limitations to social and political change, even more important evolutionary forces are the tensions between co-operation and competition for status and leadership. Although relying primarily on archaeological data, the book also includes oral histories, historical accounts, and ethnographic records as it introduces readers to the deep history of the Puebloan Southwest.

An introduction to the history of the Puebloan Southwest from the AD 1000s to the sixteenth century, first published in 2004.

About the Author
John Kantner is the Vice President for Academic and Institutional Advancement at the School for Advanced Research and formerly an Associate Professor of Anthropology at Georgia State University. A native of New Mexico, he earned his BA from Colorado College and his Ph.D. from the University of California, Santa Barbara. His early research was on Spanish Colonial ethnohistory of the Southwest, and he has also conducted archaeological investigations in Costa Rica, the US Plains, and the US Rocky Mountains. Over the past several years, Dr Kantner's research has focused on the archaeology of the prehistoric Southwestern United States, with a particular interest in the development of sociopolitical complexity of the Chaco Anasazi. Dr Kantner currently directs the Lobo Mesa Archaeological Project, which focuses on prehistoric Anasazi groups who inhabited the Red Mesa Valley of northwestern New Mexico between AD 850 and 1200. The goal of this research is to identify the processes by which complex social and political regional institutions emerge from communities of comparatively simple horticulturists. Principles of human behavioral ecology and evolutionary theory provide the theoretical foundation for these investigations, while the analysis of prehistoric ceramics and regional spatial patterning provides the methodologies needed to interpret the archaeological remains. Publications by Dr Kantner can be found in Human Nature, the Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, the Journal of Archaeological Research and Historical Archaeology, and he coedited the 2000 book Great House Communities Across the Chacoan Landscape, published by the University of Arizona Press. Dr Kantner also continues his explorations of the use of new media both for enhancing public education and facilitating professional interaction.

Reviews
"It makes the very complex and abundant archaeological record of thsi culture area accessible. It successfully melds processualist approaches to data collection adn analysis with a contingent view of cultural change. It shows how competing hypotheses move interpretation foward. Perhaps most importantly, it is a case study of region that does not have a clear unilineal trajectory from band to state and it forces us to think about how human societies organize themselves in the absence of materially visible hierarchies." Canadian Journal of Archaeology Jonathan Driver, Simon Fraser University



Book Information
ISBN 9780521788809
Author John Kantner
Format Paperback
Page Count 338
Imprint Cambridge University Press
Publisher Cambridge University Press
Weight(grams) 480g
Dimensions(mm) 226mm * 152mm * 20mm