Ceramic Figures of Ancient Mexico. Guerrero, México, Guanajuato, Michoacán 1600 B.C. - 300 A.D.
Graz: Akademische Druck- u. Verlagsanstalt, 1979. First edition. Hardcover. Folio. 288 [2]pp. Original yellow illustrated cloth with brown lettering on cover and spine. Publisher's device on title page. Endpieces depicting heads of figurines. Contains personal note with acknowledgments of contributions by Franz Feuchtwanger, Luis and Rosa Covarrubias, and Frederick V. Field.
Profusely illustrated with 96 plates showing 260 high-quality offset and lithographic images of ceramic figurines in black and brown, some red, as well as five maps of Middle America; Northeastern Guerrero, Mexico; Lake Texcoco in the Mexico Basin during preclassic times; Northern Michoacán and Southern Guanajuato, Mexico; and the Pacific Coast of Guerrero, Mexico. Includes descriptive text and small paragraphs for each of the figurines depicted in this volume. With list of illustrations, bibliography, a chart entitle "Relative Chronology," index and two pages of publisher's advertisements at rear. Errata slip pasted to back free endpaper. Light musty odor. Previous owner's name and date inked to front free endpaper.
"It has long been assumed that the history of man in the Western Hemisphere began during the Late Pleistocene, some 20,000 to 40,000 years ago, when bands of hunters crossed the land bridge then connecting Siberia with Alaska. Considering, however, that the last Ice Age began about 80,000 years ago and reached its peak some 18,000 years ago, it is more probable that the majority of the migrations, if not all of them, took place during the ensuing millennia when the ice sheet began to recede and a more or less ice-free route opened along the Yukon and Mackenzie river valleys. Following this route, successive waves of hunters moved south toward more hospitable lands and gradually threaded their way along the western sector of North and South America, finally reaching the Magellan Straits around 9000 B.C.... The figures described and illustrated in this book belong to the most significant Preclassic ceramic traditions of today's States of Guerrero, México, Guanajuato, and Michoacán. The chronology of the traditions, and of the types within each, is based on accepted relative dating or, lacking that, on interference drawn from stylistic relationships." (Introduction). Very good+ condition. Item #55333
ISBN: 3201011002
Price: $1,250.00