Alfred Vincent Kidder's Introduction to the Study of Southwestern Archaeology, a classic of New World archaeology, was the first regional synthesis and remains unsurpassed as a summary of Pueblo archaeology. It provides an excellent guide to historic and prehistoric sites of the Southwest, as they were known at the time, as well as a preliminary account of Kidder's exemplary excavation at Pecos. Kidder was one of the pioneers of the technique of stratigraphy; he also broke new ground in approaches to the study of pottery and in the application of ethnological data to the interpretation of archaeological remains.

In a new introduction to the book, Douglas W. Schwartz discusses the history of Pecos Pueblo, the development of southwestern archaeology, and the enduring significance of Kidder's work.