Mexico: From the Olmecs to the Aztecs
Michael D. Coe and Rex Koontz
Michael Coe’s Mexico, long recognized as the most readable and authoritative introduction to the region’s ancient civilizations, has now been completely revised by Professor Coe and Rex Koontz. This seventh edition explores how several spectacular new discoveries have thrown more light on the Olmec culture, Mexico’s earliest civilization. At the great city of Teotihuacan, recent investigations in the earliest monumental pyramid indicate the antiquity of certain sacrificial practices and the symbolism of the pyramid. The Huastec region of the northeastern Gulf of Mexico gets a much fuller accounting than in previous editions. Further discoveries in the sacred precinct of the Aztec capital Tenochtitlan have allowed us to refine our understanding of the history and symbolism of this hallowed area.