The archaeology and pottery of Nazca, Peru : Alfred L. Kroeber's 1926 expedition /

Kroeber (1876-1960), a famous and prolific American anthropologist, is known for his pioneering fieldwork in Andean archaeology, including excavations in Peru's coastal Nazca Valley in 1926. Following his death, Collier (1911-95), curator at Chicago's Field Museum, continued the study; Carmichael completed the research and edited the volume. This is the only comprehensive analysis and chronological seriation of Nazca polychrome ceramics, and completes Kroeber's series of publications on Peruvian pottery. There are essays on the history of research, an assessment of the research area and archaeological sites, and descriptions of the excavations. The volume's focus is a 161-page detailed analysis of Nazca pottery (c. 360 whole vessels) through eight chronological phases. Also included are brief reports on adobe architecture, burials, and organic remains (particularly textiles). Katharina Schreiber reassesses the sites and places the work in the context of contemporary scholarship in her ten-page afterword. The book is superbly illustrated (423 figures and 32 plates) and contains a preface, 13 chapters, an appendix, several bibliographies (87 references), and five different indexes. This specialized study honors the memory of two distinguished anthropologists and provides a valuable reference tool for Andean scholars, especially archaeologists and art historians. Upper-division undergraduates and above. C. C. Kolb National Endowment for the Humanities