Adolph Bandelier (1840-1914) has long been recognized as one of the most significant figures in the early history of anthropology and archaeology, not only in the American Southwest but also in Mexico and South America. With almost no formal education, Bandelier succeeded in painting a rich picture of prehistoric American Indian life - a truly unique accomplishment for his day.

Because of his extensive work on the Frijoles Canyon Anasazi complex, Bandelier National Monument, between Santa Fe and Los Alamos, carries his name.

Bandelier presents a picture of a man who was an explorer in every sense of the word. From his early years as the child of Swiss immigrants in Illinois through his travels around the Southwest, Mexico, then Peru and Bolivia, Bandelier followed his interests wherever they led, counting as his influences Lewis Henry Morgan and the German naturalist Baron Alexander von Humboldt.

This accessible biography places Bandelier at the juncture of two eras: the old, in which antiquarians could call themselves archaeologists, and the new, in which archaeology began to establish itself as a science.