Desert Days

"Celebrated by his colleagues in the Americas, Europe, and Africa as a brilliant innovator who made significant advances in archaeological method and theory, Fred Wendorf has been a dominant figure in American and North African archaeology in an extremely productive career spanning nearly six decades. His engaging autobiography chronicles his personal and professional lives--warts and all."--Don D. Fowler, Mamie Kleberg Distinguished Professor of Anthropology Emeritus, University of Nevada-Reno

"Fred Wendorf is an archaeological Midas. He and his collaborators have written the prehistory for vast swaths of the Sahara, work that involves adventure, decades-long persistence, and the ability to piece together seemingly irreconcilable small pieces of a very large jigsaw puzzle."--John Yellen, president of the Paleoanthropology Society and for many years an excavator in Kenya, Ethiopia, and the Congo

"Wendorf's rousing good story of archaeological adventures in harsh desert environments demonstrates that real archaeological adventures are only made possible by good planning, sound organization, scientific discipline, and hard work."--Raymond H. Thompson, Riecker Professor of Anthropology Emeritus, University of Arizona, and Director Emeritus, Arizona State Museum

"Fred Wendorf's memoir is unique in the literature of American archaeology. A fascinating read."--Lewis Binford, University Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Southern Methodist University

Archaeologists know that Fred Wendorf's expeditions produced most of what we know about the stone age prehistory of northeastern Africa. They also realize that he contributed centrally to the archaeology of the American Southwest before he focused his talents on Africa. They know he's consistently reported his research in timely, thorough, and lucid monographs. In this book, they'll discover he can also describe, with modesty and candor, the circumstances that shaped his extraordinary career."--Richard Klein, Professor of Biology and Anthropology and Bass Professor in Humanities and Sciences, Stanford University

Fred Wendorf, Henderson-Morrison Professor of Prehistory Emeritus, Southern Methodist University, grew up in Terrell, Texas, was wounded as a lieutenant serving in Italy during World War II, received his Ph.D. from Harvard, and spent more than sixty years as a field archaeologist in this country and in Africa. In 1987 he was elected to the National Academy of Sciences.