"Michael D. Coe's Mexico has long been recognized as the most readable and authoritative introduction to the region's ancient civilizations. Now this companion volume to Professor Coe's bestselling The Maya has been completely revised and expanded for the fourth edition. Enlarged sections are included on early village life and the rise of Olmec civilization. Extraordinary recent discoveries - such as the stela from La Mojarra inscribed in the mysterious...

In the sixteenth century, Spanish conquerors came to the New World in search of El Dorado, the fabled city of gold. Instead, they encountered inexplicable phenomena that have puzzled scholars and historians ever since: massive stone edifices constructed in the Earth's most inaccessible regions . . . great monuments forged with impossible skill and unknown tools . . . intricate carvings describing events and places half a world away. Who were the bearded...