Table of Contents
Preface 7
1 Introduction 9
The geographic setting 10
Languages and peoples 14
Periods 16
2 Early Hunters 18
3 The Archaic Period 26
The Desert Culture in North America 26
The origins of Mexican cultivated plants 27
The importance of maize 28
Other cultigens 31
Caves and rockshelters of northeastern Mexico 32
Santa Marta rockshelter 33
The Tehuacan Valley 34
Other Archaic sites 36
The Archaic period and the origins of settled life 37
4 The Preclassic Period: Early Villagers 39
The Early Preclassic in Chiapas 41
Early Preclassic villagers in Oaxaca 43
The site of Tlatilco 44
Established villages of the Middle Preclassic 49
Late Preclassic cultures of the central highlands 50
The Mezcala puzzle 53
The shaft-tomb art of western Mexico and the Teuchitlan Tradition 54
5 The Preclassic Period: Early Civilizations 59
Background of civilized life 59
The Olmec civilization 61
The San Lorenzo Olmecs 66
El Manatí 71
The Olmecs of La Venta 72
Chiapa de Corzo - a La Venta outlier? 77
Tres Zapotes and the Long Count calendar 77
The Olmecs beyond the heartland 80
Early Zapotec civilization 93
Izapan civilization 99
La Mojarra and the Isthmian script 101
6 The Classic Period 103
Rise of the great civilizations 103
The urban civilization of Teotihuacan 105
The Great Pyramid of Cholula 124
Cerro de las Mesas 125
Classic Monte Albán and Classic Veracruz civilization 128
The Classic downfall 135
7 The Epiclassic Period 136
The Maya connection: Cacaxtla and Xochicalco 136
Cholula 144
Cantona 144
El Tajín 147
Central Veracruz 150
Valley of Oaxaca 152
Northwestern Mexico 153
The end of the Epiclassic 156
8 The Post-Classic Period: The Toltec State 157
A time of troubles 157
The Chichimeca of northern Mexico 159
Tula and the Toltecs 160
The Toltec annals 160
Archaeological Tula 171
Tula and Chich'en Itza 178
9 The Post-Classic Period: Rival States 181
Late Zapotec culture at Mitla 181
The Mixtecs 183
The Huastec 187
The Tarascan kingdom 189
Casas Grandes and the northern trade route 192
The rise of the Aztec state 193
The consolidation of Aztec power 195
10 The Aztecs in 1519 198
The island city 198
Aztec society 202
The long-distance merchants 204
Becoming an Aztec 205
Marriage 206
The Triple Alliance and the Empire 207
The emperor and the palace 209
Food and agriculture 210
War and human sacrifice 211
Aztec religion 213
Aztec art and architecture 220
Aztec thought and literature 230
Epilogue 233
The Spanish Conquest 233
New Spain and the Colonial world 237
The "ladinoization" of Mexico 238
Aftermath 239
Visiting Mexico 240
Chronological Table 244
Reigning Monarchs of the Aztec State 245
Text References 245
Further Reading 246
Sources of Illustrations 251
Index 252
