Atlas of Ancient America

The Cultural Atlas of the World

by Michael D. Coe, Dean R. Snow, Elizabeth P. Benson

Text, illustrations, and maps survey the history, art, and archaeology of the original cultures native to North, Central, and South America

Genres: History, Archaeology, Nonfiction, Native American, Geography, Anthropology, Reference

Paperback

First published October 1, 1986

About the author

Michael Douglas Coe was an American archaeologist, anthropologist, epigrapher, and author. He is known for his research on pre-Columbian Mesoamerica, particularly the Maya, and was among the foremost Mayanists of the late twentieth century.

Reviews

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

An authoritative reference covering all aspects of pre-Columbian life in the New World. This is a useful aid in researching Native American life across thousands of miles and thousands of years of territory, extensively mapped and illustrated, and including a solid bibliography. I checked this out from the library to research a specific time, place, and culture, but it's only one of the many. A good antidote to too much history that treats anything in the Americas before 1492 as mere prologue to the European conquest.

[Pedro Pascoe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full disclosure, I have not had much interest in Pre-Columbian America until playing the board game Teotihuacan. Then I bought this from one of my local second hand book shops and read it in bite size chunks. And it tasted good. The board game is great, too...
Having had very little familiarity with Pre-Columian Americas, this was all new material for me. Before this book, I could name the Incas, Aztecs and Mayans and that was about it. Naturally enough this book put all of that sliver of knowledge into context, as well as expanding my knowledge of the diversity of human experience on what was, up until relatively recently, the 'other' side of the world.
As the book explains early on, a study of these cultures offers an insight into cultural development in general, developing in isolation as it were from Eurasian experiences and cultures. This book is divided up into North, Central and South America for the most part.
The one thing that becomes most apparent is the rise and fall of civilizations, particularly in Central and Southern America, and the degree to which human sacrifice played a central part in the societies of the Americas. The scope of this book was not so much to explore the whys so much as the whats, but it does acknowledge that there are questions and mysteries that remain as to why cultural longevity remained elusive on this side of the word far more so than on the 'Eurasian' side. Jared Diamond does have some interesting insights into the why's, but I did enjoy this reading rampage through an area of human experience I have little knowledge about. And the question remains, just how would all of this played out without any external interference and destruction? We will never know, and will have to assign all speculation to the realms of 'What if?'
Could I shake the unfounded speculation about Egyptian influences in early Mesoamerica? Not quite, but as fascinating and alluring as that speculation goes, it shouldn't diminish the achievements of the Mesoamerican endeavours.
All in all, a great place to start with a sweeping overview of Ancient America.

[Glenn Hammer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Has some dated information. The apology history at the front is a little long. The bad facts/opinions ruins some of the impact. It does cove more than most books. Another version with improvements would be good.

[Ian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this in the 90s, during a period when I made two trips to Canada and one to Peru. It's a comprehensive reference book for pre-Columbian America. The title is a bit misleading as it is far more than an atlas (though it does contain many high quality maps covering cultures, language families, environments, archaeological sites, etc). Every aspect of Native American civilisation is covered, and there are numerous excellent colour photos that I still enjoy looking at to bring back memories of past visits to the places featured. An expensive book, but worth it if you really want to learn about the subject.

[Thom Dunn · Rating 5 out of 5]

More than an Atlas--comprehensive survey mainly of South American sites.

[Fredrick Danysh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Benson has complied information regarding the peoples and animals of ancient America. She explores tools, customs, and lifestyles.

[Barbc]

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