This is the first comprehensive, one-volume encyclopedia in English devoted to pre-Columbian archaeology of the Mesoamerican culture area.
In more than 500 articles by the major experts in the field, this work brings the most recent scholarship to an examination of regional environments and their cultural evolution. Entries range from the familiar and world-renowned archaeological discoveries of Maya and Aztec sites to more recent excavations such as the Sayil archaeological zone in the Yucatan and Teopantecuanitlan in Guerrero. A rich historical and cultural resource on one of the world's six cradles of civilization, this reference is ideal for students, scholars, and prospective travelers.

This essential textbook brings to life the cultures of Mexico and Central America in the centuries leading up to and including the Spanish conquest. The first edition won the Society for American Archaeology book award in 2005, and it has become a mainstay in courses throughout the United States and Canada. The third edition includes new box features, thoroughly revised references, and an up-to-date account of the rise and heyday of the Aztecs.

Among the most sumptuous buildings of antiquity were royal palaces. As in the Old World, kings and nobles of ancient Mexico and Peru had luxurious administrative quarters in cities, and exquisite pleasure palaces in the countryside. This volume explores the great houses of the ancient New World, from palaces of the Aztecs and Incas, looted by the Spanish conquistadors, to those lost high in the Andes and deep in the jungle. This volume, the first scholarly compendium of elite residences of the high cultures of the New World, presents definitive descriptions and interpretations by leading scholars in the field. Authoritative yet accessible, this extensively illustrated book will serve as an important resource for anthropologists, archaeologists, and historians of art, architecture, and related disciplines.

This new Encyclopedia provides a rich historical and cultural resource on one of the world's six cradles of civilization. Archaeology of Ancient Mexico and Central America is the first comprehensive one-volume guide devoted to pre-Columbian archaeology of the Mesoamerican area.
Coverage ranges from the familiar and world-renowned archaeological discoveries of Maya and Aztec sites to more recent excavations in the Yucatan and Guerrero regions. Entries are devoted to both the famous sites popular with tourist and the lesser-known locations which reveal other vital cultural clues. With more than 500 articles by the major experts in the field, this reference book is ideal for students and scholars seeking information about sites and cultural areas, and even for the non-specialist and prospective traveller to the region.