Byron Cummings, known to students and colleagues as "The Dean," had a profound influence on the archaeology of Arizona and Utah during its early development. An explorer, archaeologist,
This book is filled with interesting stories of Cummings' life that will keep you reading and reading till the book is done.
—Dirtbtorhers.org
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anthropologist, teacher, museum director, university administrator, and state parks commissioner, Cummings was involved in many important discoveries in the American Southwest over the first half of
the twentieth century and was a pioneer in the education of generations of archaeologists and anthropologists. This book presents the first comprehensive examination of Cummings' life, offering
readers a greater understanding of his trailblazing work. Todd Bostwick elucidates Cummings' many intellectual and cultural contributions, investigates the controversies in which he was embroiled, and
describes his battles to wrest control of Arizona archaeology from eastern institutions that had long dominated Southwest archaeology. Cummings saw the Southwest as an American wilderness where
the story of cultural development revealed by the archaeologist and anthropologist was as important as it was in Europe. Bostwick's meticulous account of his life reflects his great reverence for the
region and pays tribute to a man whose dedication, mentoring, and friendship have forever sealed his place as The Dean.
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