Ancient Mexico and Central America: Archaeology and Culture History

by Susan Toby Evans

Winner of the 2005 Society for American Archaeology Book Award. This authoritative book explores every aspect of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica, from Paleo-Indian times to the sixteenth century. It provides overviews of the best-known regional cultures, such as those of the Olmecs, Maya, Zapotecs, and Aztecs, as well as balanced coverage of Mesoamerica as a whole.

The book covers every major site, from La Venta and Monte Albán to Teotihuacan, Palenque, and Tenochtitlan. It includes detailed discussion of major cultural themes, such as the ball game, and is lavishly illustrated with photographs, drawings, and maps. It has now been thoroughly updated to include new interpretations and recent discoveries.
459 illustrations, 80 in color

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Archaeology, Anthropology, Academic, Indigenous

608 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2004

Reviews

[Little Timmy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very archology based history book. way more into that field that I care for. The writing did not read well for me. Not recommended

[AskHistorians]

An encyclopedia-like work covering virtually every Mesoamerican culture. This is the standard textbook for all university classes on the subject, but it serves most effectively as a reference book. The comprehensive bibliography will provide you with an index for the entire field of Mesoamerican studies.

[Dejanira Dawn · Rating 5 out of 5]

*still reading just dont feel like keeping track since it's a college textbook*

[Liaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa · Rating 5 out of 5]

THIS BOOK OWNS ok? i read the 2017 edition

[Kendra · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was the textbook we used for my Maya, Aztec, Inca archaeology class. We only used it for the Maya and Aztec portions of the class. I found the text incredibly detailed, too much so for an undergraduate class. The text was extremely dense and it took me probably 3-4 times longer to read my assignments than most books I read. It was beautifully made with a lot of photographs. The layout/organization was also quite confusing.

[Melanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A joy to read and dip into. Well illustrated and packed with information.

[Vero · Rating 5 out of 5]

I use it as a textbook for my Mesoamerican archaeology class.