In Ancient Mexico & Central America, Susan Toby Evans has produced a monumental survey of the prehistoric cultures of Mesoamerica, the region between north-central Mexico and Costa Rica. The Olmec, Maya, Toltec, Aztec, and others produced the most sophisticated cultures of the New World, rivaling in many ways those of Europe and China. Over the past 50 years, archaeologists have made giant strides in understanding these great cultures. They have decoded much of the writing and iconography. Calendrics and numbers have been figured out. Economies and trade are better understood. Complex politics and religions are being unraveled. Numerous excavations in the jungles and arid plateaus have yielded mountains of new information.
Evans, a professor of anthropology at Pennsylvania State University, has brought all of this knowledge together in this wonderfully produced volume. Writing in a flowing narrative that avoids technical terminology, the author tells the story of Mesoamerican civilization. There are 459 illustrations, 80 in color, to supplement the text. Numerous timelines, charts, and maps keep the reader in context. Many of the most important sites, like La Venta, Monte Albán, Teotihuacán, Palenque, and Tenochtitlan, are explored in depth from their earliest origins to their fall. Thirty-three specific topics, including colossal stone heads, the ball game, metalworking, and child-raising, are explored in special boxed features.
Though it contains enough information to overwhelm the casual reader, Ancient Mexico & Central America is organized in such a friendly manner that it is a pleasure to read and easy to understand. The publisher, Thames and Hudson, has produced an outstanding series of books on archaeology suitable for the interested layperson. This may well be the best so far.
