The Cities of Ancient Mexico: Reconstructing a Lost World [Paperback]

Jeremy A. Sabloff (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1997

In this new, revised edition of Jeremy Sabloff's study, he looks at some of the richest cultures of the early historic world - Olmec, Zapotec, Maya, Toltec, and Aztec. Professor Sabloff describes everyday life during the heyday of Mexico's greatest cities in a series of vignettes; through the eyes of astronomers and ballplayers, merchants and priests, we see the temples, palaces and tombs of a civilization obsessed with ritual and death. Who built these cities and how do we know? Sabloff seeks to explain why archaeologists believe in the indigenous origins of the Mexican civilization. This updated edition includes archaeological research on the ancient cities of Mexico; incorporates breakthroughs in the decipherment of the Maya script; and draws on readings of Aztec ethno-historical sources. Throughout, the author reveals the ideas and techniques revolutionizing archaeological fieldwork and aims to show how the evidence is being used to reconstruct a fuller picture of life in these ancient cities.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

The perfect starting point for a tour of Mexican prehistory, this book takes one off the beaten track of chronology onto the side roads of past lifeways. In colorful vignettes, Sabloff depicts life as it might have been in the sites of San Lorenzo, Monte Alban, Teotihuacan, Palenque, and others, each at the time it flourished. Revealing at the end how the methodsof archaeology have permitted these glimpses of the past, he takes up the task of explaining why the many fanciful explanations of Mesoamerican prehistory (e.g., transoceanic voyages) are unlikely to be true. Recommended highly for general collections in libraries of all levels. History Book Club and Macmillan Book Club selections.
- William S. Dancey, Ohio State Univ., Columbus
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

A rewarding, richly illustrated study, equally valuable to the lay person and the specialist. -- Publishers Weekly

Manages successfully to demystify both archaeology and the civilizations of ancient Mexico without diminishing the fascinating qualities of either. -- Latin American Research Review

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Thames & Hudson; Revised edition (April 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0500279292
• ISBN-13: 978-0500279298
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #975,767 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #21 in Books > Travel > Latin America > Mexico > Mexico City

More About the Author

Jeremy (Jerry) Arac Sabloff (1944 - present) is an American anthropologist and president of the Santa Fe Institute in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Sabloff is an expert on ancient and pre-industrial urbanism. His academic interests have included settlement pattern studies, archaeological theory and method, the history of archaeology, the relevance of archaeology in the modern world, complexity science, and transdisciplinary science.

Sabloff received his bachelor's degree from the University of Pennsylvania and his PhD in 1969 from Harvard, where his doctoral supervisor was archaeologist Gordon Willey.

Prior to coming to the Santa Fe Institute, Sabloff was at the University of Pennsylvania, where he was the Christopher H. Browne Distinguished Professor of Anthropology, as well as the Williams Director of the University of Pennsylvania Museum (1994-2004) and interim director of the museum (2006-2007). He also has taught at Harvard University, the University of Utah, the University of New Mexico (where he was chair of the Department of Anthropology), and the University of Pittsburgh (where he was chair of the Department of Anthropology).

Sabloff is an outspoken proponent of science communication. In 2010 he delivered the distinguished lecture at the American Anthropological Association annual meeting, encouraging anthropologists to make their work accessible to their relevant publics and cultivate a new generation of scientist-communicators in the style of Margaret Mead.

Sabloff is past president of the Society for American Archaeology, a past anthropology section chair of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and past editor of ''American Antiquity." He has served as chair of the Smithsonian Science Commission (2001-2003) and currently chairs the visiting committee for the Peabody Museum at Harvard University and is a member of the National Advisory Board of the National Museum of Natural History and the Board of Trustees of the SRI Foundation.

He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Philosophical Society, and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is a fellow of both the Society of Antiquaries, London, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

He is the author of ''Excavations at Seibal: Ceramics'' (1975), ''The Cities of Ancient Mexico'' (1989,1997), ''The New Archaeology and the Ancient Maya'' (1990), and ''Archaeology Matters'' (2008). He is co-author of ''A History of American Archaeology'' (1974, 1980, 1993), ''A Reconnaissance of Cancuen, Peten, Guatemala'' (1978), ''Ancient Civilizations: The Near East and Mesoamerica'' (1979, 1995), ''Cozumel: Late Maya Settlement Patterns'' (1984), and ''The Ancient Maya City of Sayil'' (1991). He has edited or co-edited 12 books, the most recent of which is (with anthropologist Joyce Marcus) ''The Ancient City'' (2008).

Sabloff resides in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He is married to anthropologist Paula Sabloff, a professor at the Santa Fe Institute.