An accessible, illustrated history of the art of the Americas, examining works across all media from traditionally understudied regions.People and ideas flowed across the American continents for thousands of years before European invasion—from the densest corners of the rainforests to the highest mountains. Arts of the Ancient Americas is an illustrated survey of works of art by ancestral artists from Alaska to Argentina that presents a new understanding o...

Numerous archaeological projects have found substantial evidence of the military nature of Maya society, and warfare is a frequent theme of Maya art. Maya Gods of War investigates the Classic period Maya gods who were associated with weapons of war and the flint and obsidian from which those weapons were made.Author Karen Bassie-Sweet traces the semantic markers used to distinguish flint from other types of stone, surveys various types of Chahk thunderbolt deities and thei...

Interregional Interaction in Ancient Mesoamerica explores the role of interregional interaction in the dynamic sociocultural processes that shaped the pre-Columbian societies of Mesoamerica. Interdisciplinary contributions from leading scholars investigate linguistic exchange and borrowing, scribal practices, settlement patterns, ceramics, iconography, and trade systems, presenting a variety of case studies drawn from multiple spatial, temporal, and cultural contexts within Mesoam...

Rituals of the Past explores the various approaches archaeologists use to identify ritual in the material record and discusses the influence ritual had on the formation, reproduction, and transformation of community life in past Andean societies. A diverse group of established and rising scholars from across the globe investigates how ritual influenced, permeated, and altered political authority, economic production, shamanic practice, landscape cognition, and religion in the Ande...

This book presents a very short introduction to the Aztecs using interpretive tools from religious studies and anthropology to uncover the paradox of Aztec life; on the one hand a people highly skilled in sculpture, astronomy, city planning, poetry and philosophic rhetoric while on the other hand a people profoundly committed to cosmic regeneration through the thrust of the ceremonial knife and warfare.

“Masterly. . . . The complexities of Mexico’s ancient cultures are perceptively presented and interpreted.” —Library JournalMichael D. Coe’s Mexico has long been recognized as the most readable and authoritative introduction to the region’s ancient civilizations. This companion to his best-selling The Maya has now been revised by Professor Coe and Rex Koontz.The seventh edition incorporates new findings in a number of disciplines. The solution to ...

The definitive history of the Maya, fully updated with the latest archaeological studies and featuring full-color illustrations.The Maya has long been established as the best, most readable introduction to the ancient Maya by experts Michael D. Coe and Stephen Houston. In this new edition, this classic has been updated by distilling the latest scholarship for the general reader and student.This edition incorporates the most recent archaeological an...

The Aztecs brings to life one of the best-known indigenous civilizations of the Americas in a vivid, comprehensive account of the ancient Aztecs.A thorough examination of Aztec origins and civilization including religion, science, and thoughtIncorporates the latest archaeological excavations and research into explanations of the Spanish conquest and the continuity of Aztec culture in Central MexicoExpanded coverage includes key to...

From the Mayan calendar to the Toltec architecture at Chichén Itzá, the bequests of ancient Mesoamerican civilizations have endured long after the societies that created them declined. The intellectual and cultural achievements of Pre-Columbian America rivaled those of ancient Rome and Egypt, and greatly enriched the landscape of present-day Mexico and Central America. The traditions, social organizations, languages, and ideas that shaped each of these cultures are examined in this fascina...

When the Maya kings of Tikal dedicated their first carved monuments in the third century A.D., inaugurating the Classic period of Maya history that lasted for six centuries and saw the rise of such famous cities as Palenque, Copan and Yaxchilan, Maya civilization was already nearly a millennium old. Its first cities, such as Nakbe and El Mirador, had some of the largest temples ever raised in Prehispanic America, while others such as Cival showed even earlier evidence of complex rituals. T...

In Ancient People of the Andes**, Michael A. Malpass describes the prehistory of western South America from initial colonization to the Spanish Conquest**. All the major cultures of this region, from the Moche to the Inkas, receive thoughtful treatment, from their emergence to their demise or evolution. No South American culture that lived prior to the arrival of Europeans developed a writing system, making archaeology the only way we know about m...

An extensive update to the authoritative introduction to Mexico's ancient civilizations.Mexico arrives in its eighth edition with a new look and the most recent discoveries. This is the story of the pre-Spanish people of Mexico, who, with their neighbors the Maya, formed some of the most complex societies north of the Andes. Revised and expanded, the book is updated with the latest developments and findings in the field and current terminology.The ...