Cultural Traditions of Ancient Mesoamerica

Cultural Traditions of Ancient Mesoamerica describes ancient cultural traditions of the Olmec, Maya, Zapotec, and Aztecs, among others, providing students with a survey of Precontact Mesoamerica. The text features a multidisciplinary approach, including perspectives from archaeology, cultural history, epigraphy, art history, and ethnography.



The book is organized into ten chapters and proceeds in roughly chronological order to reflect developmental changes in Mesoamerican culture from around 16kya to A.D. 1492. The opening chapter summarizes the foundational concerns of Mesoamerican studies. Chapters Two and Three explore the cultural development of Mesoamerica from the first migrations into the Americas to the Preclassic period. Chapter Four discusses various theories pertaining to culture change. In Chapters Five and Six, students examine Mesoamerica’s Classic period. Chapter Seven outlines the nature and importance of ancient and post-contact books and pictorial documents to the study of Mesoamerica. In Chapters Eight and Nine, students learn about the Classic Collapse, the Terminal Classic period, and the Post-Classic period. The final chapter describes the Spanish impact on Native Mesoamerican culture.



Cultural Traditions of Ancient Mesoamerica is well suited for courses in anthropology, archaeology, ancient civilizations, ancient Mesoamerica, Latin American history, and Latin American studies.

Michael Shaw Findlay earned his Ph.D. in curriculum/instruction in the Anthropology of Education Program at the University of Oregon. He has over 30 years of experience teaching at the secondary and post-secondary levels, including his work at California State University, Chico, and Butte College. Dr. Findlay’s professional writing has appeared in History and Social Science Journal, Linguistics and Education, and Issues in Applied Linguistics. He is the author of Olmec, Maya and Aztecs: An Introduction to Ancient Mesoamerica, Speaking of Language and Culture: An Introduction to Linguistic Anthropology and Cross-Cultural Communication, and Language and Communication: A Cross-Cultural Encyclopedia.