Prehistoric Mesoamerica - Softcover

Adams, Richard E. W.

3.6

20 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0806128348 ISBN 13: 9780806128344

Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press, 1996

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In this revised edition of Prehistoric Mesoamerica, Richard E. W. Adams updates his widely adopted text with material from recent archaeological fieldwork to present a balanced summary and overview of the region that is today Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, and Honduras. Following an introduction to Mesoamerican studies, a brief geographic sketch of the region, and a summary of the major features of its civilizations, Adams examines in detail each period of cultural history: the first immigrants; the Olmec and their contemporaries; Maya beginnings and classic civilization; the great cities of Teotihuacan and Monte Alban; the rise and fall of the Toltec; and the civilizations of the Tarascans, Zapotecs, Mixtecs, Totonacs, and Aztecs.

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Review:

When the Spanish first arrived on the shores of Mexico, they were astonished to find a monumental record of civilizations there that stretched back for hundreds, even thousands of years. Richard Adams provides a lively archaeological catalog and history of those civilizations--Olmec, Mayan, Teotihuacan, Toltec, Mixtec, Tarascan, and Aztec--in this well-illustrated reference. New discoveries are constantly forcing revisions in the archaeological record, especially in the chronology, but Adams's book is more up to date than many similar surveys. Travel in his pages through the Merchants barrio, Monte Alban, Palenque, and the great pyramid complexes, and you'll be well prepared for an on-the-ground tour of ancient Mexico.

About the Author:

Richard E. W. Adams has conducted more than forty years of fieldwork in Mesoamerican archaeology and has authored or edited fourteen books on the subject. He is Ashbel Smith Professor of Anthropology at the University of Texas, San Antonio.

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