Archaeology of Ancient Mexico and Central America: An Encyclopedia / Edition 1

by Susan Toby Evans, David Webster

Overview

This is the first comprehensive, one-volume encyclopedia in English devoted to pre-Columbian archaeology of the Mesoamerican culture area. In more than 500 articles by the major experts in the field, this work brings the most recent scholarship to an examination of regional environments and their cultural evolution. Entries range from the familiar and world-renowned archaeological discoveries of Maya and Aztec sites to more recent excavations such as the Sayil archaeological zone in the Yucatan and Teopantecuanitlan in Guerrero. A rich historical and cultural resource on one of the world's six cradles of civilization, this reference is ideal for students, scholars, and prospective travellers.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780815308874
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	11/27/2000
Pages:	992
Product dimensions:	7.44(w) x 9.69(h) x (d)

About the Author

Susan Toby Evans and David L. Webster are both mesoamerican archaeologists in Aztec (Evans) and Maya (Webster) studies. They are on the faculty of Pennsylvania State University. mesoamericanist archaeologists in Aztec (Evans) and Maya (Webster) studies. They are on the faculty of Pennsylvania State University.

Table of Contents

Selected entries: * Aztec Culture * Cannibalism * Ceramics * Chichen Itza * Diet and Nutrition * Foods and Cuisine * Gender Roles * Hydrology * Izapa Style * Maya Deities * Maize * Michoacan * Music and Dance * Otomi Culture * Rock Art * Stela Cult * Tajin Architecture * Tenochtitlan * Tikal * Weaponry * Weaving * Yanhuitlan

Editorial Reviews

"An authoritative resource that supercedes the Encyclopedia of Mesoamerica...as the best encyclopedia currently available on Native American life in present-day countries of Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Panama prior to the arrival of Spanish Conquistadors." — American Reference Boks Annual
"If forced to choose only one reference source on ancient Mesoamerican culture, Archaeology of Ancient Mexico and Central America: An Encyclopedia provides the best balance of comprehensive coverage and relatively low price." — Booklist/RBB
"An impressive and extremely useful volume...The contributors are authoritative and overall this is a very useful reference source, which many will wish to use as the first port of call for any query on the archaeology or civilizations of Mexico and Central America." — Reference Reviews
"Presenting a wealth of carefully documented information on Mesoamerican archaeology, this outstanding reference work provides an excellent introductory essay and more than 500 detailed entries...[It is] well-written, and thouroughly cross-referenced...The book is particularly valuable for its coverage of cultural groups, regions, and archaeology sites overlooked by rival works. A very useful addition to academic library reference collections." — Choice
"The overall quality of individual entries is extremely high...An extremely useful volume. Its wide coverage, authoritative entries, up-to-date further readings make it a valuable resource for anyone interested in the archaeology of greater Mesoamerica. The editors are to be lauded for assembling such an ambitious - compendium of information on greater Mesoamerica." — Latin American Antiquity
"An essential purchase for collections devoted to the archaeology of Middle America and Mexico from the Pleistocene to European contact in the mid-sixteenth century." — Booklist/RBB
"An inclusive and comprehensive scholarly work, with high production values... The bibliographies are solid, the index good and the text is nicely complemented with photos, diagrams, charts, as well as site and geographical maps. This is a well-conceived and useful work, at a reasonable price. It is a natural for academic libraries. Where there is a heavy interest, public libraries will also want to consider it." — Against the Grain

From the Publisher

This reference is devoted to the pre-Columbian archaeology of the Mesoamerican culture area, one of the six cradles of early civilization. It features in-depth articles on the major cultural areas of ancient Mexico and Central America; coverage of important sites, including the world-renowned discoveries as well as many lesser-known locations; articles on day-to-day life of ancient peoples in these regions; and several b&w regional and site maps and photographs. Entries are arranged alphabetically and cover introductory archaeological facts (flora, fauna, human growth and development, nonorganic resources), chronologies of various periods (Paleoindian, Archaic, Formative, Classic and Postclassic, and Colonial), cultural features, Maya, regional summaries, research methods and resources, ethnohistorical methods and sources, and scholars and research history. Edited by archaeologists Evans and Webster, both of whom are associated with Pennsylvania State University. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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