THE CITIES OF ANCIENT MEXICO: Reconstructing A Lost World. With 152 Illustrations. Special Photography By Macduff Everton

Sabloff, Jeremy A.

ISBN 10: 0500050538 / ISBN 13: 9780500050538

Published by NY. 1989. Thames & Hudson, 1989

About this Item

green & gilt decorative (dolphins on cover) hardcover 8vo. (octavo). dustwrapper in protective plastic book jacket cover. (small quarto ? 9.5"x6") very fine cond. looks new. like new. binding square & tight. covers clean except for tiny spot on rear cover. edges clean. contents free of markings. dustwrapper in fine cond. not worn or torn or price clipped. nice clean copy. no library markings, store stamps, stickers, bookplates, no names, inking, underlining, remainder markings etc~. first edition. first printing (FPu 1989 & nap). b&w photo illustrated frontis. & title pg. 224p. glossy pages throughout. 152 glossy b&w photo illustrations. gazeteer. map of mesoamerica. further reading. notes to the text. list of illustrations. index. archaeology. ancient history. art history. history of mexico. aztec. maya. zapotec. olmec. toltec. ~ Ancient Mexico was one of the great independent hearths of civilization. Out of varied landscapes grew some of the richest cultures of the early historic world ~ Olmec, Zapotec, Maya, Toltec and Aztec. Standard histories tend to focus on the individual societies, but this new book takes an original approach, emphasizing the unity of Mexican civilization. In a series of attractively written vignettes, Jeremy Sabloff describes, first of all, what it would have been like to have lived during the heyday of Mexico's greatest cities, from Olmec San Lorenzo 3,000 years ago to the Aztec Tenochtitlan at the Spanish Conquest. Through the eyes of astronomers and ballplayers, merchants and priests, we see the temples, palaces and tombs of a civilization obsessed with ritual and death. But what gave rise to these cities? Who built them and how do we know? Tackling head on the speculations of Erich von Daniken and others about visitors from Asia or outer space, Sabloff explains convincingly just why archaeologists believe in the indigenous origins of Mexican civilization. He reveals the new ideas and techniques now revolutionizing archaeological fieldwork and shows how the latest evidence is being used to reconstruct a fuller picture of the past than ever before. A fully annotated reading list, gazetteer of all the major sites and broad range of illustrations complete this imaginative essay in historical reconstruction.

Seller Inventory # 9082202

Bibliographic Details

• Title: THE CITIES OF ANCIENT MEXICO: Reconstructing A Lost World. With 152 Illustrations. Special Photography By Macduff Everton
• Publisher: NY. 1989. Thames & Hudson
• Publication Date: 1989
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0500050538
• ISBN 13: 9780500050538
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Profusely Illustrated
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Dust Jacket Condition: Dust Jacket Included
• Seller catalogs:
  • art history
  • ancient history
  • archaeology

About this title

Synopsis

224 pp. with 152 illus., 8vo.

Reviews

The perfect starting point for a tour of Mexican prehistory, this book takes one off the beaten track of chronology onto the side roads of past lifeways. In colorful vignettes, Sabloff depicts life as it might have been in the sites of San Lorenzo, Monte Alban, Teotihuacan, Palenque, and others, each at the time it flourished. Revealing at the end how the methodsof archaeology have permitted these glimpses of the past, he takes up the task of explaining why the many fanciful explanations of Mesoamerican prehistory (e.g., transoceanic voyages) are unlikely to be true. Recommended highly for general collections in libraries of all levels. History Book Club and Macmillan Book Club selections.
- William S. Dancey, Ohio State Univ., Columbus
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.