Rock Art and Ancient Cultures

[big_load]

I recently finished reading Indian Rock Art of the Southwest by Polly Shaafsma, which I found very helpful and informative. It describes rock art styles as a function of location and time, and it associates those styles with the commonly defined phases of the major cultures of the Southwest. It has a multitude of charts and diagrams to help sort things out, which helped answer some of the question I had about the relationships between them. However, I feel like I'm just getting started toward understanding what is currently known about those cultures and there artifacts. What else do folks here recommend? (I don't mind reading academically oriented material, by the way).

[PaleoRob]

That is a great book to start with. I'd also recommend Rock Art of Utah, by her as well.

[Randal_Schulhauser]

Couple of "staples" in my home library are;


1. "A Field Guide to Rock Art Symbols of the Greater Southwest" by Alex Patterson.

2. "Landscape of the Spirits - Hohokam Rock Art at South Mountain Park" by Todd W. Bostwick and Peter Krocek.

The first book is dog-eared indicative of plenty of use! Second book is special to me because I can walk into South Mountain Park from my door step. That being said, this is a comprehensive, readable, reference to South Mountain Hohokam rock art and Hohokam rock art in general.


Rob recommended to me "Tapamveni - Rock Art Galleries of the Southwest" by Patricia McCreery and Ekkehart Malotki when we were on a trek through Petrified Forest. To me, this book has the best photography, best layout, and most readable of any rock art book I've seen -- hands down. Don't be misled by the title, the subject is focused on rock art centered near the Petrified Forest...

[big_load]

Thanks guys! I'm also interested in the timelines of development and migration and the relationships between the various peoples.

[Hoffmaster]

Tapamveni is great. Even here in Ohio I have it on my coffee table.

[PaleoRob]

Yeah, Tapamveni is A-1 grade for sure.
It is a little harder to find decent rock art books as opposed to architecture or pottery books. Try looking into back issues of Kiva and in the arch section of Bookmans...generally have something there worth my $$$ when I drop in.

[drterry]

Thanks guys! I'm also interested in the timelines of development and migration and the relationships between the various peoples.

In my opinion there is no one book that deals excellently with "the timelines of development and migration and the relationships between the various peoples." However,, the following books do address some of these pretty well and may be helpful?

Ancient Peoples of the American Southwest by Stephen Plog
Ancient Puebloan Southwest (Case Studies in Early Societies) by John Kantner
The Archaeology of Ancient Arizona by Jefferson Reid

[big_load]

In my opinion there is no one book that deals excellently with "the timelines of development and migration and the relationships between the various peoples.

Thanks for the suggestions! I'll have to check them out. The fairly recent "A History of the Ancient Southwest" by Stephen H. Lekson comes pretty close to what I was looking for. I posted some comments on it not long ago: viewtopic.php?f=11&t=6368&start=0

[Alston_Neal]

Mr. Load is right, that is a very good book. Informative, yet a wee bit entertaining. So not bone dry.

[big_load]

Informative, yet a wee bit entertaining. So not bone dry.

I like how he flags which points are less settled, who will disagree, and why.