Daily Life of the Aztecs (Native American) - Softcover

Soustelle, Jacques

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0486424855 ISBN 13: 9780486424859

Publisher: Dover Publications, 2011

Synopsis

Tireless speech-makers and lovers of verse, the ancient Aztecs were also prodigious record keepers, using a pictographic system to keep records of their history, geography, and rituals. Many of these accounts were destroyed after the Spanish conquest; but fortunately, a few survived, including those kept by the invaders.
This book by an international authority on Mexican archaeology and sociology presents a vivid history of that profoundly religious Aztec warrior society — from its days as a primitive people, to the early sixteenth century — when, on the eve of the Spanish conquest, a powerful native government ruled with great organizational ability and restless energy.
Rare illustrations of the temples at Tenochtitlán and Tenayuca, human sacrifice, Aztec gods, weddings, the midnight revels of warriors, and many other subjects accompany a highly readable text that describes the problems of living in a great city-state, the ruling classes and living standards, religious beliefs, and the everyday lives of people. Here also are detailed descriptions of public buildings and market places, home furnishings, games and amusements, family life, the conduct of war, the arts of language, music and dancing, and other topics.
Amazing in scope and detail, this work will be invaluable to students of Mexican history and of interest to anyone fascinated by this ancient civilization.

About this title

About the Author

Jacques Soustelle was born in Montpellier in 1912 and attained fame both as a scholar and a politician. He made an exhaustive study of the Aztec language, society, art and architecture, rituals and beliefs. Following his retirement from active politics at the time of the first Algerian revolt, he returned to Paris to reassume a position he had held since 1937-Director of the most famous ethnological museum in the world, the Musee de l'Homme. He died in 1990.

Edition details

• Publisher: Dover Publications
• Publication date: 2011
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0486424855
• ISBN 13: 9780486424859
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 384