1985 "First Edition" stated; Atheneum publishers, New York; hardbound with red boards and lucid blue lettering and decor on cover and spine; stamped "Not For Sale" on bottom edge (although it was sold at estate sale); very good condition, appears unread; dust jacket quite good.
 
Plot -
It was not as if Evan had chosen to join his father.  The last thing he wanted was to spend the summer at some little place in the desert.  But his mother had sent him off, when other plans fell through.  An now here he was, in the middle of nowhere, unwanted, and with nothing to do.  His father still thought of him as a little kid.  So he wasn't allowed to help the archaeology students who were digging up stuff in a place where Indians lived five thousand years ago...