Vanished Mesoamerican Civilizations: The History and Cultures of the Zapotecs and MixtecsReflecting extensive archaeological fieldwork carried out under the author's direction, and richly illustrated throughout, this is the first comprehensive reference on two great but little-known Mesoamerican cultures that flourished for thousands of years in the present-day southern Mexican state of Oaxaca. The Zapotecs were skilled builders who constructed one of early America's most magnificant architectural complexes on the hilltop pf Monte Alban, a site that includes elaborately crafted temples, plaza, tombs and statuary. The nearby Mixtecs lived in smaller units and created fabulous mosaics, sculpture, and jewelry. They also developed a pictographic system of writing, which they drew on exquisite polychrome pottery and deersking codices. Through careful dechiphering and analysis of written, artistic, and architectural remains, Ancient Mesoamericans provides extraordinary glimpses of these two very different societies, their culture, rituals, and daily lives. |
Contents
Foreword | 9 |
The Environment | 27 |
The Lithic or Preceramic Period | 32 |
Copyright | |
14 other sections not shown
Common terms and phrases
Alfonso Caso Antechamber archaeological Aztecs Ball Court band bas-reliefs Bernal bones buildings Burgoa burials Cañada Caso cavern Central Valleys Cerro Cocijo Codex Nuttall codices color plate complex Cuilapan culture Dainzú Danzantes decorated deities DOORJAMB ear plugs entrance Etla Valley excavations façade feet figures glyphs Grand Plaza green headdress Huamelulpan Huijazóo IIIB important inhabitants Isthmus Lambityeco lintel Mesoamerica meters Mitla Mixtec Mixteca Alta Monte Albán mortuary chamber Mound multicolored murals North Platform Oaxaca region ocher painted Patio phase Postclassic Period pottery pre-Hispanic Preclassic priests Quiotepec rectangular redrawn after Marquina Region of Oaxaca Río San José Mogote serpent settlement side skeletons skull slabs stairway stela stone stucco style talud Tehuantepec temples Teotihuacán terra cotta Terra cotta urn Tilantongo Tlacolula Tlacolula Valley turquoise Tututepec Valley of Oaxaca various vessels village wall West Niche Whitecotton Yagul Yucuita Yucuñudahui Zaachila Zapotec tomb