In this book there is a brief mention of the modern day characters who are more fully fleshed out in the Anasazi Mysteries as they examine an unusual pair of skeletons and associated artifacts found at a dig in New York.
This discovery is used as a springboard to tell the story of Iraquoian villages trying to figure out how to survive in proximity to one another.
The authors appear to romanticize the Indian cultures but not to the point where I'm rolling my eyes and going "oh, really!" (Anyone who as read an "Indian Romance" knows what I am talking about.) They do their usual good job of presenting the Native Americans as they would appear to one another. For instance a tall person is decribed as being so many hands high. A hand is about four inches. A quick calculation and you realize that the "tall" person would be considered quite short today. By using a method of measuring that many of their readers may not be familiar with, they are able to give accurate information without breaking the willing suspension of disbelief.
In addition the authors present the differences in their way of life and thought without sensationalizing or demonizing things that many readers would find distasteful in the culture such as the exposure of unwanted children after birth or the use of torture.
All in all, well worth reading.