gems, jade, jadeite, fei cui, Mesoamerica, Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Mayans, Olmecs, Aztecs, archaeology, history, archaeogemology, Pre-Columbian jade; Costa Rica; Maya; exchange; iconography, lapidary

Library Journal: The first in a proposed series on pre- Columbian, Oceanic, and African art, this book is a well designed and lavishly illustrated survey focusing on the sculpture traditions of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica. The very readable text provides an iconographic, social, and stylistic survey of Mesoamerican art in general. Unfortunately, the text does not directly relate to the illustrations and suffers from uneven explanatory documentation of the illustrated art ob jects. Still, the illustrations alone would make this a worthy purchase.