Deadly Landscapes presents a series of cases that advance the rigorous examination of war in the archaeological record. The studies encompass examples from the Hohokam, Sinagua, Mogollon, and Anasazi regions, plus a pan-regional study of iconography covering the Colorado Plateau and the Rio Grande Valley. All of the cases focus on the narrow time frame from AD 1200 to the early-1400s, during which evidence for warfare is most pervasive.

Contributors to this volume present varying definitions of warfare and use differing types of data to test for the presence of warfare. These detailed case studies give clear demonstration of a pattern of significant warfare in the late prehistoric period that will alter our understanding of ancient Southwestern cultures.

Glen E. Rice is emeritus professor in the School of Human Evolution and Social Change at Arizona State University and a partner in Rio Salado Archaeology, Tempe.

Steven A. LeBlanc is director of collections for the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology and is the author of Prehistoric Warfare in the American Southwest (The University of Utah Press, 1999).