This book, long recognized as the most readable and authoritative introduction to the region's pre-columbian civilizations, has now been completely revised for its seventh edition. Spectacular new discoveries have thrown more light on the Olmec culture, Mexicos earliest civilization. At the great city of Teotihuacan, recent investigations in the earliest monumental pyramid indicate the antiquity of certain sacrificial practices and the symbolism of the pyramid. The Huastec region of the northeastern Gulf of Mexico gets a much fuller account than in previous editions and further discoveries in the Aztec capital Tenochtitlan have allowed us to refine our understanding of the history and symbolism of its sacred precinct.