This beautifully produced book of essays is for all archaeologists and anthropologists whose lives have been touched by Linda S. Cordell. Not only was Linda a giant in the field of Southwest archaeology, but each of the contributors follows her in that pathbreaking tradition. They read like a who's who in the archaeology of the US Southwest—each one influenced in profound ways by Cordell's life and career, and by the friendships among Cordell and a great many Southwest archaeologists.
In her history of Cordell's life, Maxine E. McBrinn notes that Linda's mother, with a PhD in anthropology, was Linda's role model as Linda became one of the earliest female archaeologists commanding leadership positions in field schools, departments, and museums. Cordell was introduced to archaeology through the 1964 field school at Sapawe Pueblo in New Mexico, which Theodore R. Frisbie argues was a transformative experience. Nancy J. Parezo and Catherine S. Fowler detail the history of female archaeologists from the 1870s through the 1930s who worked as part of a couple or solo, paving the way for those who followed, including Linda.
Tijeras Pueblo research spanned Cordell's life from field school through analyses. Carla R. Van West examines Cordell's and her own use of dendrochronology at this fourteenth-century village in New Mexico showing growth, decline, and depopulation. Judith A. Habicht-Mauche's Tijeras Pueblo Ceramics Project was inspired by Linda's invitation to female archaeologists—the “Ceramic Slumber Party”—to visit archaeological sites in the Rio Grande Valley each summer, thereby fostering collaboration and research.
Several authors focus on how their specific site research was inspired by Linda. Karin Larkin's work in the Casas Grandes culture area of northern Mexico demonstrates how Cordell's broad vision of understanding large sites through supporting communities could be applied there. Cordell encouraged Toni S. Laumbach and Karl W. Laumbach to do radiocarbon dating and DNA testing of charred corn cobs and neutron activation analysis, petrography, and lead isotope analysis of ceramics from the Cañada Alamosa Project in New Mexico. Suzanne L. Eckert and Deborah L. Huntley's research at Goat Spring Pueblo in New Mexico originated with Cordell's urging. In later years they expanded their analysis of three enriched deposits using a materiality approach where objects of memory are viewed as evoking emotions of associated events. Joseph Traugott expands ways of thinking about ceramic designs through conversations with Linda initially about a bowl from Chaco Canyon. He weaves art, art history, and perceptual psychology to understand Pueblo artists who created optical duality in their pottery designs.
Many of the chapters address the larger themes of aggregation, migration, abandonment, community organization, leadership, and ritual performances. Matthew A. Peeples and Gregson Schachner's own decades-long research on variability in aggregation is highlighted in their comparison of three portions of the Zuni region—all grounded in Cordell's work on forces of aggregation and disaggregation. Stephen H. Lekson and Catherine M. Cameron frame their discussion of migration through Cordell's textbook editions, where the concept abandonment is replaced by migration. They then argue that Pinnacle Ruin in west-central New Mexico provides a “missing link” in understanding migration differences in Kayenta and Rio Grande regions. Kelley A. Hays-Gilpin, George J. Gumerman III, Dennis Gilpin, and Lisa C. Young's research shows how the anthropomorphic images of handholding in ceramics and rock art—many compiled by Cordell—illustrate the social dynamics of early Pueblo communities. Richard H. Wilshusen argues that leadership can be identified in the Mesa Verde and Chaco regions through community centers, where the control of information is the currency of power rather than material capital. He extends his thoughts on leadership to Cordell by recognizing and valuing her knowledge, intellect, and scholarship. Benjamin A. Bellorado and Barbara J. Mills's chapter charts the legacy of Cordell's student (Mills) through Mills's student Bellorado, both working at Cedar Mesa. Through an analysis of building murals over time, they demonstrate their uses “as backdrops for ritual performances, as solar calendars, and as templates for ceremonial regalia” (p. 122).
Lindsay Anne Randall provides the history of Cordell's long-term involvement with the Robert S. Peabody Institute of Archaeology through the Pecos Pathways program, through which she brought high school students to the School for Advanced Research (SAR; formerly the School of American Research), thereby making connections for the students to their ancestors’ works held in the collections. Sheila Goff, Leigh Kuwanwisiwma, and Dody Fugate shed light on Cordell's impact on and by the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act as “a person who felt a strong ethical responsibility to the people whose ancestors she studied” (p. 139).
The book closes with Jun Sunseri and Charles Carrillo reflecting on being Cordell's first and last students: “Ours are dream stories, stories that could have never been scripted. They center on a remarkable woman who seemed to know how to promote an individual's abilities so completely that she even tricked us into believing in ourselves” (p. 159).
I urge you to read this sumptuous book in its entirety, rather than picking and choosing chapters based on your research interests. You will gain a richer and broader perspective on the development of Southwest archaeology through the eyes of these stellar scholars who expand on all that Linda Cordell offered to them through her life.
