Rock Art in New Mexico

Rating:
Summary: Ambitious book is a big disappointment
Review: First let me say that I am reviewing this as a person who likes to visit rock art sites and thus bought this book to help me in a trip to New Mexico. In that regard it failed miserably. Many archeologists feel the need to protect rock art sites from us "tourists" and probably think we should be confined to the national parks and monuments. While I acknowledge that there are some jerks out there who do not respect these ancient sites, if you are going to take the time (and my money) to write a book on New Mexico rock art, wouldn't it be logical that you would want others to appreciate it as well? Apparently not. To be fair, this book is more like a textbook and may be useful to someone in a graduate class doing a paper on Rock Art. It is a large format book althouth it is not hardcover. It has numerous black and white photographs which will entice the reader to want to learn more but the vaque descriptions and overly technical writing, will ultimately result in disappointment. Perhaps Mrs. Schaafsma should read books by Grant Noble and Dennis Slifer to get a better idea on how to write for the masses. Until then, I would recommend finding a good web-site on New Mexico art versus buying this book.

Rating:
Summary: Ambitious book is a big disappointment
Review: First let me say that I am reviewing this as a person who likes to visit rock art sites and thus bought this book to help me in a trip to New Mexico. In that regard it failed miserably. Many archeologists feel the need to protect rock art sites from us "tourists" and probably think we should be confined to the national parks and monuments. While I acknowledge that there are some jerks out there who do not respect these ancient sites, if you are going to take the time (and my money) to write a book on New Mexico rock art, wouldn't it be logical that you would want others to appreciate it as well? Apparently not. To be fair, this book is more like a textbook and may be useful to someone in a graduate class doing a paper on Rock Art. It is a large format book althouth it is not hardcover. It has numerous black and white photographs which will entice the reader to want to learn more but the vaque descriptions and overly technical writing, will ultimately result in disappointment. Perhaps Mrs. Schaafsma should read books by Grant Noble and Dennis Slifer to get a better idea on how to write for the masses. Until then, I would recommend finding a good web-site on New Mexico art versus buying this book.