Ancient Civilizations of Mexico and Central America

About this eBook

Author

Spinden, Herbert Joseph, 1879-1967

Title

Ancient Civilizations of Mexico and Central America Third and Revised Edition

Credits

E-text prepared by Stephen Hutcheson, Dave Morgan, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team ( www.pgdp.net)

Language

English

LoC Class

F1201: North America local history: Mexico

Subject

Central America -- Antiquities

Category

Text

Project Gutenberg

eBook-No. 54550

Release Date

April 14, 2017

Copyright

Public domain in the USA.

Contents

1. 1.Ancient Civilizations of Mexico and Central America
2. 2.PREFACE
3. 3.CONTENTS
4. 4.MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS — PLATES — TEXT FIGURES
5. 5.INTRODUCTION — Geography and Natural Environment. — Plate I. — History of European Contact. — Plate II. — Plate III. — Languages. — Ethnology. — Plate IV. — Plate V. — Physical Types.
6. 6.Chapter I THE ARCHAIC HORIZON — Stratification of Remains. — The Cemetery under the Lava. — Plate VI. — Invention of Agriculture. — Archaic Figurines. — Plate VII. — Ancient Customs. — Archaic Pottery. — Plate VIII. Two Stages in the Stone Sculptures of Costa Rica. Note that in the first series ( a ) the human body is adapted to the surface of a boulder with the arms, legs, and face in low relief and with eyes, nose, and mouth all protruding, while in the second series ( b ) the limbs are rounded and partly freed from the body. Both are of archaic type but probably not of great age. — Stone Sculptures of the Archaic Period. — Plate IX. — Extensions of the Archaic Horizon. — Plate X. Widely Distributed Female Figurines: — Summary. — Plate XI. — Plate XII. — Plate XIII.
7. 7.Chapter II THE MAYAN CIVILIZATION — Plate XIV. Photographs by Peabody Museum Expedition. — Plate XV. — Fig. 20. Groundplans of Yaxchilan Temples: — Architecture. — Plate XVI. — Plate XVII. — Massive Sculptural Art. — Plate XVIII. — Minor Arts. — The Serpent in Mayan Art. — The Human Figure. — Design, Composition, and Perspective. — Plate XIX. — The Mayan Pantheon. — Plate XX. — How Mayan History has been Recovered. — Sequences in Art. — Plate XXI. Development in Style of Carving at Copan. — Books of Chilam Balam. — The Mayan Time Counts. — Elements of the Day Count. — PERMUTATION TABLE — The Conventional Year. — Plate XXII. — The Calendar Round. — Mayan Numbers. — Plate XXIII. — The Long Count. — Dates of Dedication. — Hieroglyphs. — Codices. — Plate XXIV. — Plate XXV. — Correlation with Christian Chronology. — The Mayan Eras. — Astronomical Checks on the Correlation. — Astronomical Observatories. — The True Year. — The Lunar Calendar. — Venus Calendar. — Summary of Mayan History. — Protohistoric Period — Early Period — Middle Period — Great Period — Transition Period — Period of the League of Mayapan — Period of Mexican Influence — Modern Period — Plate XXVI.
8. 8.Chapter III THE MIDDLE CIVILIZATIONS — The Olmeca or Rubber People. — Plate XXVII. — Zapotecan Culture. — Plate XXVIII. Zapotecan Art: — Plate XXIX. — Mitla. — Totonacan Culture. — Plate XXX. — Plate XXXI. — The Toltecs. — Quetzalcoatl and the Toltec Era. — Plate XXXII. — San Juan Teotihuacan. — Plate XXXIII. Two Views of the Principal Pyramid in the Citadel at Teotihuacan. — Xochicalco. — Tula. — Cholula. — Plate XXXIV. — The Frontier Cities of the Northwest. — Plate XXXV. — Santa Lucia Cozumalhualpa. — The Chorotegan Culture. — Plate XXXVI. — Isthmian Gold Work. — Plate XXXVII. — Plate XXXVIII.
9. 9.Chapter IV THE AZTECS — Mayas and Aztecs compared to Greeks and Romans. — Plate XXXIX. — The Chichimecas. — Aztecan History. — Plate XL. — Social Organization. — Plate XLI. — The Tecpan or Temple Enclosure. — Plate XLII. — Plate XLIII. — The Calendar Stone. — Stone of Tizoc. — Plate XLIV. — Coatlicue. — Plate XLV. — Mexican Writing. — Plate XLVI. — Aztecan Religion. — Plate XLVII. — Conceptions of the Universe. — Ceremonies. — Poetry and Music. — Minor Aztecan Arts. — The Tarascans. — Southern Mexico. — Aztecan Influence in Central America. — A Cross-Section of New World History — Food Plants Cultivated by American Indians — Important Economic Contributions of American Indians — Diagram of American Chronology
10. 10.BIBLIOGRAPHY
11. 11.FOOTNOTES
12. 12.INDEX
13. 13.ANTHROPOLOGICAL HANDBOOKS AND GUIDE LEAFLETS — HANDBOOKS — GUIDE LEAFLETS
14. 14.Transcriber’s Note

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