Maya Art and Civilization: An Illustrated Excursion into Pre-Columbian America

xliii, 432 pp. Includes four-color frontispiece, 80 half-tone plates, three maps, hundreds of in-text illustrations, and two fold-outs. An Illustrated Excursion into Pre-Columbian America. Part I: A Study of Maya Art; Part II: The Nuclear Civilization of the Maya and Related Cultures. "...explores the representations of the human form found in Maya sculpture, the ever-recurrent symbol of the Serpent in Maya art, the divinities depicted so vividly in the monuments, and the architecture of this amazing people. In the second part of the book, Dr. Spinden widens his range to include the ancient life and arts of the most culturally important Indians of all of Mexico and Central America. ...explores the evidence of pre-historic habitation found in this part of the New World, reaching as far back as 5000 B.C. ...discusses such lesser Indian cultures as the Olmeca, or Rubber People, the Zapotecans, the Totonacan Indians, and the mysterious Toltecs..."--jacket flaps