Books With Flair

A thorough study of the ancient civilizations of the Aztecs, Maya, Olmecs, and others, complemented by information from the very latest research in the field, is presented in a chronological framework to better illustrate the fascinating history of the region.

First Published in 2001. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

This is the definitive textbook on the archaeology and history of Mexico and Central America, written by an expert and leading academic in the field. In 2005 the first edition won the Society for American Archaeology book award. This third edition includes new special features and boxes on Figurines, Mesoamerican Culture Traits, Language, Maya Royal Tombs, Tikal and Tenochtitlans Population; thoroughly revised chapters on the Aztecs and the chronology of the period; and updated references that address the major new publications since the second edition.

Mexico and the Central American states are home to many indigenous peoples, each of whom speaks their own language and lives according to their own customs. The loving god Olocupinele creates the world of the Cuna of Panama, while the goddess Nakawe' destroys and then remakes the world of the Huichol of Mexico.

Explore the fascinating diversity of the myths and legends from two of the world's most ancient cultures - the Aztecs and the Maya. In an accessible A-Z format, this book provides concise, easy-to-locate entries on over 200 key characters and religious sites.

Archaeology of Northern Mesoamerica comprises the tenth and eleventh volumes in the Handbook of Middle American Indians, published in cooperation with the Middle American Research Institute of Tulane University under the general editorship of Robert Wauchope (1909–1979). Volume editors of Archaeology of Northern Mesoamerica are Gordon F. Ekholm and Ignacio Bernal. Gordon F. Ekholm (1909–1987) was curator of anthropology at The American Museum of Natural History, New York, and a former president of the Society for American Archaeology. Ignacio Bernal (1910–1992), former director of the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Mexico, was director of the Museo Nacional de Antropología in Mexico and also a past president of the Society for American Archaeology. Volumes 10 and 11 describe the pre-Aztec and Aztec cultures of Mexico, from central Veracruz and the Gulf Coast, through the Valley of Mexico, to western Mexico and the northern frontiers of these ancient American civilizations. The thirty-two articles, lavishly illustrated and accompanied by bibliography and index, were prepared by authorities on prehistoric settlement patterns, architecture, sculpture, mural painting, ceramics and minor arts and crafts, ancient writing and calendars, social and political organization, religion, philosophy, and literature. There are also special articles on the archaeology and ethnohistory of selected regions within northern Mesoamerica. The Handbook of Middle American Indians was assembled and edited at the Middle American Research Institute of Tulane University with the assistance of grants from the National Science Foundation and under the sponsorship of the National Research Council Committee on Latin American Anthropology.

Describes the background of the myths of the Indian cultures of the North American continent, some of which have the same themes as myths of other world cultures.

More than thirteen centuries of incredible spellbinding history are detailed in this intriguing study of the rulers and warriors of Mexico. Learn the unbelievable true history of the Indigenous tribes of Mexico. Dozens of charismatic leaders of nations and armies are brought to life by the deep research and entertaining storytelling of Peter Tsouras. Tsouras introduces the reader to the colossal personalities of the period: Smoking Frog, the Mexican Machiavelli, the Poet Warlord, the Lion of Anahuac, and others . . . all of them warlords who shaped one of the most significant regions in world history, men who influenced the civilization of half a continent. The warlords of Mexico, for all their fascinating lives and momentous acts, have been largely ignored by writers and historians, but here that disappointing record is put right by a range of detailed biographies that entertain as they inform. Students of the area, historians working in American history, and long-term visitors and tourists to the region will gain a much clearer understanding of the background history of these territories and the men who formed and reformed them. Lavishly illustrated with dozens of photographs and color paintings, Warlords of Ancient Mexico is essential reading for anyone interested in this tumultuous, endlessly captivating period of North American history.

This volume accompanies a major international loan exhibition featuring more than three hundred works of art, many rarely or never before seen in the United States. It traces the development of gold working and other luxury arts in the Americas from antiquity until the arrival of Europeans in the early sixteenth century. Presenting spectacular works from recent excavations in Peru, Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Mexico, this exhibition focuses on specific places and times—crucibles of innovation—where artistic exchange, rivalry, and creativity led to the production of some of the greatest works of art known from the ancient Americas. The book and exhibition explore not only artistic practices but also the historical, cultural, social, and political conditions in which luxury arts were produced and circulated, alongside their religious meanings and ritual functions. Golden Kingdoms creates new understandings of ancient American art through a thematic exploration of indigenous ideas of value and luxury. Central to the book is the idea of the exchange of materials and ideas across regions and across time: works of great value would often be transported over long distances, or passed down over generations, in both cases attracting new audiences and inspiring new artists. The idea of exchange is at the intellectual heart of this volume, researched and written by twenty scholars based in the United States and Latin America.