Hester Davis writes: “When the food is good, the research interesting, and the weather fine, when the accommodations are adequate, the people compatible, and the diversions enjoyable, then living in an archaeological camp is an experience worth treasuring. And so it was at Awatovi.” And so it is in Remembering Awatovi, a nostalgic look back at the camp culture surrounding the Awatovi excavations of the 1930s.
Awatovi is one of the earliest villages along the Antelope Mesa on what are today Hopi lands. Occupied between A.D. 700 and 1700, the village went through numerous changes, integrating Keresan, Hopi, and katsina cultures around 1000 and suffering through the Spanish conquest during the 1600s. In 1700 the village was permanently abandoned, a casualty of the splintering effect that the Spanish missionary movement had upon the Hopi.
Remembering Awatovi focuses upon the people who participated in this remarkable archaeological expedition, and the important contributions this project made to the field of archaeology. Jam-packed with photographs, maps, and serigraphs, it is a visual delight, and the winner of the 2009 Independent Publisher Gold Award for Best Regional Non-Fiction. —Cynthia Martin
