Barbara J. Roth is professor of anthropology at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Her numerous publications include Late Holocene Research on Foragers and Farmers in the Desert West (co-editor), Engendering Households in the Prehistoric Southwest (editor), and Early Formative Adaptations in the Southern Southwest (editor). Her research has long focused on hunter-gatherer adaptations to arid environments and the transition from hunting and gathering to agriculture.

Roth synthesizes wide-ranging CRM and academic data to explore the factors that led to plant cultivation in the American Southwest and how the adoption of agriculture in turn affected the ancient peoples of the region.

Chapter 1 - Understanding Agricultural Beginnings in the American Southwest
Chapter 2 - How We Think about Agricultural Origins
Chapter 3 - Foraging Behavior and Agricultural Beginnings
Chapter 4 - The Northern Southwest
Chapter 5 - The Southern Southwest
Chapter 6 - Exploring Agricultural Beginnings