Digging in the Southwest

Ann Morris defines archaeology as a "rescue expedition sent into the far places of the earth to recover the scattered pages of man's autobiography. Buildings of carved stone, rudely dug caves, carefully woven blankets, bits of pottery, all have their tale to tell, when the scattered paragraphs are arranged in order." And this stupendous arrangement may prove as absorbing a pastime as any detective ever put his wits to. It is like the solving of some enormous cryptogram, this arranging of the sequence of cultures in America's past - the Basket Weavers; the Pottery People; the rovers of the plains; the cliff dwellers' the earliest members of the Navajo and Sioux Indian tribes and their impenetrable present-day descendants; the Missing Links which have been forged into place by the most unexpected turns of fate - or a spadeful of earth!