The Salinas region is home to majestic ruins of Spanish mission churches and historic pueblos, such as those seen at Abo, Quarai, and Gran Quivira in Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument. Much less is known of the earlier, smaller native settlements of the area.
In this volume, Alison Rautman tells us how archaeologists use the material culture to reconstruct what life in the Pueblo world of central New Mexico was like over a period of 1,000 years. She finds they used their built environment—be it in the form of pithouses, jacal structures, unit pueblos, or plaza-oriented pueblos—to emphasize the unity of the village. Drawing on 20 years of research, she illuminates this part of the Southwestern culture, thus adding to our understanding of the entire region. —Mark Michel