"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...

A family automobile tour of the cliff dwellings found in the Four Corners area of the Southwest, examining the ruins of skillful constructions and the culture they reveal. Includes a selection of photographs of the cliff dwelling remains found in Colorado, Utah, Arizona and New Mexico.

Discusses the civilization of the Anasazi people, who farmed the land of Mesa Verdi, a plateau in southwest Colorado, around 550 A.D. and dug their homes in the cliffs. The Anasazi people of the Southwest existed, as a culture, for about eighteen hundred years. They disappeared in about 1300, yet they have left enduring legacies. This book explains how Anasazi culture developed and examines the civilization at its height through the life of the people...