Join us in celebrating the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center’s 50th anniversary through the stories, knowledge, and voices found in 50 special books from the IPCC Library collection. This curated selection features titles for readers of all ages and interests, offering meaningful ways to explore, honor, and celebrate Pueblo culture.
Each week, for the remainder of 2026, we will spotlight one or two featured titles. The selected books are available to view in the IPCC Library Tuesday through Saturday, 9 a.m.–5 p.m.
Color in the Ancestral Pueblo Southwest
Edited by Marit K. Munson & Kelley Hays-Gilpin
University of Utah Press, 2020
Have you noticed that new certain crispness in the air as fall takes its first few tentative steps into New Mexico? It's in the breeze. There's been a subtle shift from the oven-dry gusts that give little relief from our summer sun. In the morning, the turquoise sky remains painted overhead as the last of our monsoon clouds continue to build castles in the sky, their tops shining bright white throughout the morning while their bottoms slowly turn charcoal gray during the afternoon with the promise of much-hoped-for rain.
Maybe you have felt this seasonal shift: a wisp of cool air playfully tapping you on the shoulder before darting away. The cottonwoods know this change before we do, their leaves already trading the greens of summer for pale golds and yellows. Visitors to our state can be surprised by the ferocity of color in our technicolor sunsets, watermelon-doused mountains, and golden-flanked highways, as the cottonwoods and aspens throughout our state announce that we need not worry; fall still intends to come. Perhaps there is a mistaken belief that the Southwest has a limited palette of colors.
This week’s highlighted book offers a deeper look at the role of color in the Pueblo world. Published by The University of Utah Press, the book starts with an exploration of color through the archaeological record and the practice of acquiring pigments to create paint.
“This volume explores museum collections and more than a century of archaeological research to create the first systematic understanding of the many ways Ancestral Pueblo people chose specific colors through time and space to add meaning and visual appeal to their lives.” (Cover copy)
Beginning with primary colors and extending to blacks, shades of pink, and sparkling metallics, this book examines pigments found at archaeological sites and the many tools used to grind, mix, and prepare colors. Later chapters explore the colors of Ancestral Pueblo pottery and rock paintings from approximately AD 1000–1600, as well as the sacred colors and materials used in Ancestral Pueblo jewelry.
Using archaeological evidence, the editors of this book provide an in-depth but still accessible discussion of the variations of color use and meaning across and within Ancestral Pueblo communities and examine not only how “chosen colors became meaningful, in a general sense…but also how these meanings changed over time.” (p. 123)
We invite you to take some time to take note of the many different variations of colors and hues that can be seen across our fair state and then join us to learn more with this fantastic book. Come discover your next favorite read in the IPCC Library!