Wilcomb E. Washburn

Bruce G. Trigger

Stuart B. Schwartz

Richard E. W. Adams

Frank Salomon

Murdo J. MacLeod

Publisher description: The Cambridge History of the Native Peoples of the Americas, Volume II: Mesoamerica (Part One), gives a comprehensive and authoritative overview of all the important native civilizations of the Mesoamerican area, beginning with archaeological discussions of paleoindian, archaic and preclassic societies and continuing to the present. Fully illustrated and engagingly written, the book is divided into sections that discuss the native cultures of Mesoamerica before and after their first contact with the Europeans. The various chapters balance theoretical points of view as they trace the cultural history and evolutionary development of such groups as the Olmec, the Maya, the Aztec, the Zapotec, and the Tarascan. The chapters covering the prehistory of Mesoamerica offer explanations for the rise and fall of the Classic Maya, the Olmec, and the Aztec, giving multiple interpretations of debated topics, such as the nature of Olmec culture. Through specific discussions of the native peoples of the different regions of Mexico, the chapters on the period since the arrival of the Europeans address the themes of contact, exchange, transfer, survivals, continuities, resistance, and the emergence of modern nationalism and the nation-state.

The Cambridge History of the Native Peoples of the Americas

Early Studies

Native Shell Mounds of North America

Trigger's work integrates insights from archaeology, history, ethnology, linguistics, and geography. This wide knowledge allows him to show that, far from being a static prehistoric society quickly torn apart by European contact and the fur trade, almost every facet of Iroquoian culture had undergone significant change in the centuries preceding European contact. He argues convincingly that the European impact upon native cultures cannot be correctly assessed unless the nature and extent of precontact change is understood. His study not only stands Euro-American stereotypes and fictions on their heads, but forcefully and consistently interprets European and Indian actions, thoughts, and motives from the perspective of the Huron culture. The Children of Aataentsic revises widely accepted interpretations of Indian behaviour and challenges cherished myths about the actions of some celebrated Europeans during the "heroic age" of Canadian history. In a new preface, Trigger describes and evaluates contemporary controversies over the ethnohistory of eastern Canada.

A History of the Huron People to 1660

Children of Aataentsic

Northeast

Bruce Trigger examines the history of archaeological thought from medieval times to the present in world-wide perspective.

A History of Archaeological Thought

"An important scholarly contribution not only to the study of early civilizations, but also to archaeological theory. . . . It should be required reading for any course on ancient civilization." --Kathryn A. Bard, Journal of Field Archaeology

Ancient Egypt in Context

Early Civilizations

The Meroitic Funerary Inscriptions from Arminna West

Salué par la critique comme "l'étude la plus complète à avoir jamais été publiée sur un peuple autochtone d'Amérique du Nord", ce livre retrace l'histoire du peuple huron depuis sa naissance, au cours de la préhistoire, jusqu'à sa décimation, survenue vers les années 1660.

Bruce G. Trigger

About

Books

Join the club