Navajo view of their past as well as archaeological data to better infer
past human behaviors that created the archaeological record. This is an
encouraging sign and one that I hope will continue.

The volume does not present a unified view of Navajo archaeology or
Navajo culture history and adaptation. There is no such consensus, and I
believe it is important for different viewpoints to be included in this "state
of the field" overview. Navajo archaeology is an exciting and dynamic
field, and the papers in this volume reflect that dynamism. Several of the
papers propose substantial, even radical, revisions of how we view the
Navajo past. I certainly believe that these papers will be a major source of
information for years to come; I doubt, however, that the conclusions in
the papers will remain unchanged for any substantial length of time. That
is, of course, how it should be.

Many people share the credit for this book. Several people presented
papers in the symposium that, for one reason or another, are not in the
book. This does not mean the papers were not good; quite the contrary,
the symposium was a success in its own right and the papers gave all of us
new insights. The authors in the volume receive my greatest respect and
gratitude. They put up with my constant hounding and nit-picking about
deadlines and such, usually when they were in the middle of field seasons
or under other outside pressures. I think all the papers are valuable contri-
butions and it was a pleasure to work with everyone involved. Editing and
compiling the volume was supported by a National Science Foundation
Grant (No. DBS-9002235) to the Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research,
University of Arizona. David R. Wilcox and Patrick Hogan read and com-
mented on earlier versions of the volume; their insightful comments and
thorough critiques provided valuable feedback to all the authors (and the
editor) and resulted in a much stronger volume. Finally, the staff at the
University of Utah Press, particularly Jeff Grathwohl, was extremely help-
ful and encouraging.

RONALD H. TOWNER

Tucson 1995

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