Historical Dictionary of Mesoamerica

Witschey (anthropology/science education, Longwood University) and Brown (anthropology, Florida Atlantic University) have produced a creditable addition to Scarecrow’s Historical Dictionaries of Ancient Civilizations and Historical Eras series. It is in straight dictionary format with boldfaced cross-references and extensive see also references. Topics covered include individual archaeological sites, lists of kings, cities, and ethnic groups. Archaeologists known for their work in Mesoamerica are also featured. Subjects such as architecture, agriculture, and literature receive lengthy entries....This is a fairly specialized item and would be most useful in an academic library where there is a Mesoamerican archaeology program, although students of pre-Columbian history will find it useful as well. Very large public libraries with archaeology collections may also want to consider this. * Booklist *
Archaeologists Witschey (anthropology & science education, Longwood Univ.; fellow, Middle American Research Inst., Tulane Univ.) and Brown (anthropology, Florida Atlantic Univ.) are coprincipal investigators of the Electronic Atlas of Ancient Maya Sites (mayagis.smv.org). Their excellent dictionary’s introduction, which explains the importance of Mesoamerica’s contributions to civilization, is followed by more than 900 cross-referenced entries that provide an overview of people, cities, culture, religion, language, architecture, and rulers. City entries list the place’s latitude and longitude and when it existed and provide information on its importance. There is an extensive entry about architecture, and photos provide examples of temples and other structures. A chronology and maps illustrate the development of the civilization and its geographic location. The extensive bibliography is subdivided by publication type and then by people or location and includes Internet sources. VERDICT This dictionary would be a worthy addition to the reference collection of an academic library and will benefit those studying Latin American history. * Library Journal *
Witschey (Longwood Univ.) and Brown (Florida Atlantic Univ.) offer a traditional ready-reference work with short entries on archaeological sites, categories of material culture, language families, and cultures within a geographically defined region (part of Mexico to parts of Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica--shown on the book's first map). This volume updates and expands Joel Palka's Historical Dictionary of Ancient Mesoamerica (CH, Jan'01, 38-2521). Similarly organized, both works treat indigenous cultural and linguistic continuity and change in historic and present times. Like Palka's earlier volume, this work offers terms in boldface, cross-referenced to others, but the extensive bibliographies are located toward the end and not cross-referenced with dictionary entries. Coverage emphasizes the best-known and studied areas and archaeological sites, including dynastic sequences based on glyph decipherment for several major Mayan sites. This dictionary features more gray-scale illustrations and black-and-white maps than Palka's....This new volume's bibliographies combine earlier and recent scholarship, and deserve credit for including good Internet resources....As an update for Palka or to fill a ready-reference gap for Mesoamerica, Witschey and Brown's volume will be useful for college/university libraries, museums, and research centers serving programs in anthropology, archaeology, and Latin American studies. Summing Up: Recommended. * CHOICE *
The Historical Dictionary of Mesoamerica provides students and teachers with concise and well-written definitions covering ancient Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador. Coverage includes topics in places, ideas, events, and important people. There is a strong emphasis on the contributions that occurred here that changed civilization, such as the domestication of plants and animals, growth of cities, craft specializations, warfare, mathematics, and astronomy. Each definition is written in clear language and ranges in length from a short paragraph to multiple pages. There are also a number of black-and-white photographs of important archaeological sites and cultural artifacts. . . . This dictionary is a highly recommended acquisition for all academic and large public libraries. * American Reference Books Annual *