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When is a Kiva?: and other questions about Southwestern archaeology

1990; Association of College and Research Libraries; Volume: 28; Issue: 04 Linguagem: Inglês

10.5860/choice.28-2211

1943-5975

Watson Smith,

Archaeology and ancient environmental studies

Few figures in Southwestern archaeology inspire such respect and affection as Watson Smith, the Harvard trained lawyer turned archaeologist, who participated on some of the most significant archaeological projects of the century. In various capacities, Smith worked on the Lowry Ruin Excavation (1933), the Rainbow Bridge-Monument Valley Expedition (1935-1937), the Awatovi Excavations (1936), the Upper Gila Expedition (1949-1950), and the Hawikku Project (1956-1958). As of this writing, Smith has published over 89 articles, reviews, and monographs, all of which demonstrate his considerable flair for systematizing archaeological data and presenting them in a clear and understandable fashion, tinged with a liberal dose of wry humor. This volume is a paean to Smith's wide ranging contributions to Southwestern archaeology compiled by Raymond Thompson, Director of the Arizona State Museum and Fred A. Reicker Distinguished Professor of Anthropology at the University of Arizona. It consists of 10 of Smith's most important essays, many of which were originally published in the Papers of the Peabody Museum. With Smith's assistance, Thompson has organized and prefaced these essays with introductory commentaries valuable in their own right for providing a contextual understanding of the development of Southwestern archaeology. In addition, the volume includes a biographical essay prepared by Richard Woodbury, which nicely complements the more anecdotal observations penned by J. O. Brew (1952, 1972) and by Smith (1984) himself. Smith's essays are more or less equally divided between methodological and substantive contributions. The former include such classic works as When is a Kiva?; Extent of Ethnographic Studies Among the Pueblos; Schools, Pots, and Potters; and Jeddito School. Substantive contributions consist of descriptions of selected architectural features: 'The Kiva at Site 4 (a D-shaped kiva at Jeddito 4), Room 788 (the kiva beneath the Franciscan altar at Awatovi), and Mural Decorations from Ancient Hopi Kivas; and the stylistic analyses of particular motifs on ceramics: Feathers; Ceremonial Bowls; and Analysis of Hooks, Scrolls, and Keys. One theme uniting several essays is classification and taxonomy. In the chapter When is a Kiva? from which the volume takes its name, Smith directly confronts how archaeologists deal with ceremonial rooms commonly called kivas. As he puts it [t]here are many pitfalls for the unwary Southwesternist, but perhaps the easiest to fall into and the most difficult to climb out of is that of the