gems, jade, pyroxene jade, fei cui, Guatemala, Mesoamerica, Nicaragua, Mexico, Honduras, Costa Rica, archaeogemology, gold, turquoise

Until recent times we knew little about the remarkable heritage of the ancient Mexican civilizations. Now, thanks to the enthusiasm of pioneer explorers and the still continuing labors of archaeologists (including the author of this book), the art and architecture of the early inhabitants of Mexico and its neighboring regions have been reclaimed from the jungle and, after centuries of neglect, revealed to the modern world. The origins of these peoples, however, are still mysterious. The first settlers are believed to have travelled from Asia across the Bering Strait into America thousands of years ago, and to have spread southward. But it was not until the rise of the Olmecs (whose golden age was between 800 and 400 B.C.) that urban societies developed in the region. Dr. Bernal, who is Director of the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico, therefore opens his historical account with the Olmecs; he ends with the extinction of their civilization in 1519, when the last Aztec emperor, Moctezuma, was tricked into submission by the Spanish invaders. Dr. Bernal explains how the artistic creations of these strange, sophisticated peoples are closely related to their social structure and to the religious beliefs which dominated their lives. The author has also written detailed commentaries on the magnificent photographs, whose subjects were chosen by him and which were taken by Mrs. Irmgard Groth, a gifted photographer whose special field is Mexican archaeology. In these plates we see the extraordinary sculpture of the Olmecs; the Pyramid of the Moon of Teotihuacan; the Maya temples of Palenque; the Pyramid of the Niches of Tajín on the Gulf Coast; the temples at the great city of Chichén Itzá; the gold ornaments of the Mixtecs at Monte Albán; the temple carved by the Aztecs out of the cliff side at Malinalco; and many other buildings and artifacts, the surviving testimonials—sometimes exquisite, sometimes awe-inspiring—to the greatness of a long-vanished culture.