William J. Folan
Published: 1985
Total Pages: 384
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The essays in this book present the integrated application of prehistoric, ethnohistoric, and ethnographic data centering on the interpretation of past and present peoples residing in Greater Mesoamerica. These groups, at some time in their existence, had much in common: a corn-, bean-, and squash-farming base; permanent villages with plazas; public religious structures; and well-developed ceremonialism involving astronomical-ceremonial concepts including calendrics. They form an area designated by scholars as the Continental Core of North/Central America. Each essay offers a methodological approach or the documentation leading to a better understanding of such aspects of Greater Mesoamerica as climate, cultural history and sociopolitical organization. Contributors include Roman Piña Chan, William J. Folan, Basil C. Hedrick, J. Charles Kelley, Burma H. Hyde, Gabriel DeCicco, Michael W. Spence, Phil C. Weigand, Jay K. Johnson, Charles D. Trombold, Jr., Joseph B. Mountjoy, Dale P. Smith, Harold Franklin McGee, Jr., and Jonathan E. Reyman.