This revised edition is updated with material from recent archaeological fieldwork to present a balanced summary and overview of the region that is today Mexico, Guatemala, Belize and Honduras. Following an introduction to Mesoamerican studies, a brief geographic sketch of the region, and a summary of the major features of its civilizations, this book examines in detail each period of cultural history: the first immigrants; the Olmec and their contemporaries; Maya beginnings and classic civilisation; the great cities of Teotihuacan and Monte Alban; the rise and fall of the Toltec; and the civilisations of the Tarascans, Zapotecs, Mixtecs, Totonacs and Aztecs. Richard E.W. Adams is the editor of The Origins of Maya Civilization.