Sabloff, Jeremy A

Describes what it would have been like to have lived during the heyday of Mexico's greatest cities. ..

Discusses how the use of new advanced equipment, chemical analyses, and sampling strategies in archeology have helped to gain a better understanding of past civilizations. The author uses the study of the Maya as a test case to demonstrate this transformation of archeology.

A study of the ancient civilizations of Mexico, covering the 3,000 years from the Olmecs to the Aztecs; presenting a series of vignettes that relate visible remains to what is known about their past, and discussing how archaeologists attempt to attach meaning to the remains they survey and excavate, particularly in Mexico.