Mexico : From the Olmecs to the Aztecs

by Coe, Michael D.

• ISBN13: 9780500283462
• ISBN10: 050028346X
• Edition: 5th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-06-01
• Publisher: W W Norton & Co Inc

Author Biography

Michael D. Coe is Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at Yale University Rex Koontz teaches art history at the University of Houston

Table of Contents

Preface	7	(2)
Chronological Table	9	(2)
Introduction	11	(9)
The geographic setting	12	(4)
Languages and peoples	16	(2)
Periods	18	(2)
Early Hunters	20	(8)
The Archaic Period	28	(13)
The Desert Culture in North America	28	(1)
The origins of Mexican cultivated plants	29	(1)
The importance of maize	30	(3)
Other cultigens	33	(1)
Caves and rockshelters of northeastern Mexico	34	(1)
Santa Marta rockshelter	35	(1)
The Tehuacan Valley	36	(3)
Other Archaic sites	39	(1)
The Archaic period and the origins of settled life	40	(1)
The Preclassic Period: Early Villagers	41	(20)
The Early Preclassic in Chiapas	43	(2)
Early Preclassic villagers in Oaxaca	45	(1)
The site of Tlatilco	46	(5)
Established villages of the Middle Preclassic	51	(1)
Late Preclassic cultures of the central highlands	52	(3)
The Mezcala puzzle	55	(1)
The shaft-tomb art of western Mexico and the Teuchitlan Tradition	56	(5)
The Preclassic Period: Early Civilizations	61	(40)
Background of civilized life	61	(1)
The Olmec civilization	62	(6)
The San Lorenzo Olmec	68	(4)
El Manati	72	(1)
The Olmec of La Venta	73	(4)
Tres Zapotes and the Long Count calendar	77	(2)
The Olmecs beyond the heartland	79	(12)
Early Zapotec civilization	91	(7)
Izapan civilization	98	(1)
La Mojarra and the Isthmian script	99	(2)
The Classic Period	101	(30)
Rise of the great civilizations	101	(2)
The urban civilization of Teotihuacan	103	(17)
The Great Pyramid of Cholula	120	(1)
Cerro de las Mesas	121	(1)
The Classic Veracruz civilization	122	(2)
Classic Monte Alban	124	(6)
The Classic downfall	130	(1)
The Epiclassic Period	131	(18)
The Maya connection: Cacaxtla and Xochicalco	131	(7)
Cholula	138	(1)
Cantona	138	(1)
El Tajin	139	(3)
Remojadas potters	142	(3)
Valley of Oaxaca	145	(1)
Northwestern Mexico	146	(2)
The end of the Epiclassic	148	(1)
The Post-Classic Period: The Toltec State	149	(26)
A time of troubles	149	(2)
The Chichimeca of northern Mexico	151	(1)
The Toltec annals	152	(3)
Archaecological Tula	155	(16)
Tula and Chich'en Itza	171	(4)
The Post-Classic Period: Rival States	175	(15)
Late Zapotec culture at Mitla	175	(1)
The Mixtecs	176	(5)
The Tarascan kingdom	181	(3)
Casas Grandes and the northern trade route	184	(1)
The rise of the Aztec state	184	(3)
The consolidation of Aztec power	187	(3)
The Aztecs in 1519	190	(35)
The island city	190	(4)
Aztec society	194	(2)
The long-distance merchants	196	(1)
Becoming an Aztec	197	(1)
Marriage	198	(1)
The Triple Alliance and the Empire	199	(2)
The emperor and the palace	201	(1)
Food and agriculture	202	(1)
War and human sacrifice	203	(2)
Aztec religion	205	(7)
Aztec art and architecture	212	(9)
Aztec thought and literature	221	(4)
Epilogue	225	(7)
The Spanish Conquest	225	(4)
New Spain and the Colonial world	229	(1)
The ``ladinoization'' of Mexico	230	(1)
Aftermath	231	(1)
Visiting Mexico	232	(4)
Reigning Monarchs of the Aztec State	236	(1)
Text References	236	(1)
Further Reading	237	(5)
List of Illustrations	242	(3)
Index	245