IN SEARCH OF THE OLD ONES

Rating:
Summary: A very readable book
Review: A very readable book that tells as much about anthropologists as ancient inhabitants of the southwest! In place shocking, it is not the Park Service ranger's Mesa Verde. After visiting the areas discussed many times I had no idea of the extent of the ancient culture hidden there. Anyone considering a career in anthropology should read this - not for the history from centuries ago but for the history of research in the last century.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent source of up-to-date thinking on the Anasazi
Review: An extremely readable, even exciting, account of the Anasazi presented from a personal point of view. I found it excellent - - I even gave my father a copy for father's day. Even though I can't agree with Robert's in his disdain for Lake Powell, I can't argue with his passion and knowledge of his subject. After reading several books on the Anasazi for a project I found this book to be the best source for my needs. It is full of interesting facts and lore. As an example, I have visited Moki Canyon on Lake Powell by boat many times, but Robert's chapter on the canyon opened up my views considerably ( I had always wondered what lay along its dry, barren stretches, far from the lake) and I when I go back this summer it will be with an entirely different attitude

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding book....a very thought-provoking read
Review: Can't add much more to the above reviews other than to say Roberts does a great job presenting varying theories on the Anasazi mystery and also credits many exceptional resources throughout his book.

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Summary: Adventuring Back in Time!
Review: David Roberts has done the almost impossible for the reader: actually taking you with him on an adventure into the past. Blending archaeology, scholarship and canyoneering, Roberts makes this anything but dry reading. In fact, I could literally feel the canyons under my feet and smell the air, while investigating nooks and crannies holding fascinating remnants of the various Anasazi cultures. These remaining treasures are fragile and in need of protection. This book explores in depth the philosophies and issues surrounding this often "hot topic". Highly recommended to anyone interested in the ancient past of the Americas. Nancy McDowell, Editor, "Canyon Spirits E-Journal",

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Summary: First person account of a journey thru mystical Anasaziland.
Review: David Roberts has the wonderful ability to capture and transmit the spiritual quality of his wanderings thru the land of the Anasazi. He further provides updated archaeological facts about these ancestral and prehistoric desert dwellers, their artifacts and homes, and how they established their culture by working within the parameters of what resources were available eons ago. This book is for all who love the great Southwest, prehistory, nature, and/or those who want to escape the daily pressures of life and drift into the beautiful canyons, mesas, washes, and mystical aspect of the desert. Reading this journey just made me feel better. I wanted to jump up and go out into the desert and enjoy Mother Nature and her flor and fauna. My only disappointment is, at least for the present, there won't be a Part II.

Rating:
Summary: The starter book for the Mesa traveler
Review: I concur with most reviewers here. This is a great book for backpackers.

Roberts writes in an easy informal style that weaves together information on history of (Hopi, Acoma etc) pueblos and their relationship to the Anasazi, the archeology of the Southwest and its controversies and the thrill of chancing upon an artefact or building that has been constructed a thousand years ago and perhaps not seen by a living human for as many years. Roberts provides a great intro into Anasazi history, including rise of early villages with their subterranean kivas, watching towers and jacals, grand pueblos such as that of the Chaco system and discusses at length the theories trying to explain the sudden depopulation of the Southwest which occurred after ~AD 1250. He also shows quite clearly that, in some way, Anasazi are still here - his Hopi informants were able, just by looking at Pueblo Bonito ruins, to predict the location of nearby shrines... as well as to interpret rock paintings and petroglyphs within the context of Hopi myths and oral traditions. For me this was yet another (if subtle) proof of the amazing treasures (historical, spiritual) guarded for so many centuries on the Hopi mesas.

The book also captures the beauty of the remote canyonlands in the northern Arizona and southeastern Utah, including the Mesa Verde and the awesome Grand Primitive Gulch, the conversations with the rangers and native guides, hiking expeditions with lamas, and above all, the magic that envelops people who visit this beautiful corner of the planet - magic that never lets go. The magic that stimulated rangers, renegade archeologists and visitors to start with the idea of a "natural museum" where you leave the artefacts where you found them, rather than report them to the Park Service (which will repatriate them to some dusty museum) or take them home (an instinctual reaction which harms both the artefact and its environment, as well as all travelers who would have enjoyed it in its natural setting).

I recommend this book to anyone interested in traveling to the Southwest or learning more about the Mesas, pueblos and their original (and current) inhabitants. This is, in my opinion, the book to start the journey with.

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Summary: I AM the Sucked Out Orange!
Review: I heard David Roberts tell parts of this story for several years before I read the book. We flew over Mokee Canyon after his decent, loaded llama panniers before his hike into Grand Gulch, poured over maps in our lobby. He has stirred up quite a discussion here in Southeast Utah over the "peaceful" Anasazi, the lack of management by the BLM and even the backcountry museum. I respect his research and loved his descriptions since I live here. Stop by and lets hash it out when you are in Bluff, Utah. Jim at Recapture Lodge.

Rating:
Summary: A reviewer from Maryland
Review: I picked this book up in preparation for a recent trip to the Four corners region, and found it to be a highly readable account of one man's search for answers as to what did happen to the Anasazi. While Roberts raises more questions than he answers, this is still an entertaining way to learn more about the area and I would recommend it for anyone who has an interest in the cliff dwellings and general aura of the area.

Rating:
Summary: A very good overview of the world of the Anasazi
Review: I picked this book up in preparation for a recent trip to the Four corners region, and found it to be a highly readable account of one man's search for answers as to what did happen to the Anasazi. While Roberts raises more questions than he answers, this is still an entertaining way to learn more about the area and I would recommend it for anyone who has an interest in the cliff dwellings and general aura of the area.

Rating:
Summary: Finding the Old Ones
Review: In Search of the Old Ones is one of the best books I have ever read about the Anasazi in the Southwest. David Roberts does a wonderful job and made me want to go to the deserts of Utah and Arizona and track them down myself. I have read many books about this area and I have backpacked several of the canyons he describes. This book can be used as a guide if you decide to search for the 'Old Ones' yourself. I'm waiting for the sequel.