Reading List for Students

Young archaeologists will find lots of interesting information in these books about American Indians, archaeology, and the Southwest.

Arnold, Caroline
1992 The Ancient Cliff Dwellers of Mesa Verde. Clarion Books, New York.

Let this tour of Mesa Verde National Park introduce you to the mysteries of the ancestral Pueblo Indians (also called the Anasazi) who inhabited this part of Colorado until A.D. 1300.

Baylor, Byrd
1975 The Desert is Theirs. Scribner, New York

This ode to the desert and the people, plants, and animals that live there gives you a new appreciation for the beauty and variety of the natural environment of the Southwest.

Goodman, Susan E.
2000 Ultimate Field Trip 2: Digging into Southwest Archaeology. Aladdin Paperbacks, New York.

Follow a group of eighth graders during their week at Crow Canyon as they visit sites, learn about artifacts, and assist in the construction of a model pithouse.

Roessel, Monty
1995 Songs from the Loom: A Navajo Girl Learns to Weave. Lerner Publications, Minneapolis.

Meet Jaclyn, a Navajo girl who learns how to weave from her grandmother—and in the process learns about the rich heritage of her people.

Swentzell, Rina
1991 Children of Clay: A Family of Pueblo Potters. Lerner Publications, Minneapolis.

See how pottery-making is a Pueblo family tradition, with knowledge passed from one generation to the next.

Trimble, Stephen
1987 The Village of Blue Stone. McMillan, New York.

Learn about the daily life and ceremonial activities of the ancestral Pueblo people—what was life like in a Pueblo village hundreds of years ago?

Warren, Scott S.
1991 Cities in the Sand: The Ancient Civilizations of the Southwest. Chronicle Books, San Francisco.

Through this collection of photographs and drawings, follow the development of the Anasazi, Hohokam, and Mogollon cultures from ancient times to the fifteenth century A.D.