A vivid introduction to the native religions of Mexico and Central America from one of the leading scholars in the field.
In this first introductory text to cover thoroughly the Mesoamerican religious traditions, David Carrasco provides an overview of the history of Mesoamerican cultures and describes their religious forms, structures, myths, and prevailing "cosmovision"--the Mesoamerican view of time and space and its ritualized representation and enactment.Carrassco details the dynamic of two important, representative cultures--the Aztec and the Maya--and discusses the impact of the Spanish conquest and the continuity of native traditions into the post-Columbian and contemporary eras. Integrating recent archaeological discoveries in Mexico City, he brings about a comprehensive understanding of ritual human sacrifice, a subject often ignored in religious studies.

Religions of Mesoamerica: Cosmovision and Ceremonial Centers (Religious Traditions of the World)

Carrasco, Davíd

Religion & Spirituality

HarperSanFrancisco

This Very Short Introduction employs the disciplines of history, religious studies, and anthropology as it illuminates the complexities of Aztec life. Readers meet a people highly skilled in sculpture, astronomy, city planning, poetry, and philosophy, who were also profoundly committed to cosmic regeneration through the thrust of the ceremonial knife and through warfare. Dav�d Carrasco looks beyond Spanish accounts that have colored much of the Western narrative to let Aztec voices speak about their origin stories, the cosmic significance of their capital city, their methods of child rearing, and the contributions women made to daily life and the empire. Carrasco discusses the arrival of the Spaniards, contrasts Aztec mythical traditions about the origins of their city with actual urban life in Mesoamerica, and outlines the rise of the Aztec empire. He also explores Aztec religion, which provided both justification for and alternatives to warfare, sacrifice, and imperialism, and he sheds light on Aztec poetry, philosophy, painting, and especially monumental sculpture and architecture. He concludes by looking at how the Aztecs have been portrayed in Western thought, art, film, and literature as well as in Latino culture and arts.

The Aztecs: A Very Short Introduction

History

Americas

Oxford University Press

DavÃd Carrasco draws from the perspectives of the history of religions, anthropology, and urban ecology to explore the nature of the complex symbolic form of Quetzalcoatl in the organization, legitimation, and subversion of a large segment of the Mexican urban tradition. His new Preface addresses this tradition in the light of the Columbian quincentennial. "This book, rich in ideas, constituting a novel approach . . . represents a stimulating and provocative contribution to Mesoamerican studies. . . . Recommended to all serious students of the New World's most advanced indigenous civilization."â€”H. B. Nicholson, Man

Quetzalcoatl and the irony of empire: Myths and prophecies in the Aztec tradition

University of Chicago Press

Davíd Carrasco draws from the perspectives of the history of religions, anthropology, and urban ecology to explore the nature of the complex symbolic form of Quetzalcoatl in the organization, legitimation, and subversion of a large segment of the Mexican urban tradition. His new Preface addresses this tradition in the light of the Columbian quincentennial."This book, rich in ideas, constituting a novel approach . . . represents a stimulating and provocative contribution to Mesoamerican studies. . . . Recommended to all serious students of the New World's most advanced indigenous civilization."€”H. B. Nicholson, Man

Quetzalcoatl and the Irony of Empire: Myths and Prophecies in the Aztec Tradition

Univ of Chicago Pr

Davíd Carrasco draws from the perspectives of the history of religions, anthropology, and urban ecology to explore the nature of the complex symbolic form of Quetzalcoatl in the organization, legitimation, and subversion of a large segment of the Mexican urban tradition. His new Preface addresses this tradition in the light of the Columbian quincentennial. "This book, rich in ideas, constituting a novel approach . . . represents a stimulating and provocative contribution to Mesoamerican studies. . . . Recommended to all serious students of the New World's most advanced indigenous civilization."—H. B. Nicholson, Man

Examine the fascinating and often controversial details of the daily lives of the ancient Aztecs through this innovative study written from the perspective of the history of religions. The Aztec people come to life for students, teachers, and interested readers through the exploration of the ceremonial character of their social and symbolic imagination. Insights into the communities they created, the games they played, the education they received, the foods they harvested, and the songs they sang, as well as the sacrificial rituals they performed, enable the reader to gain a better understanding of this complicated culture.
The Aztecs organized their society as a microcosm of the cosmos that intricately linked all aspects of their daily lives to the natural and supernatural world. Carrasco explores the details of the Aztecs' lives and provides an in-depth look at all of these connections to help the reader comprehend the complexity of this ancient culture: The Aztec calendar, Aztec religion and myths, Aztec marketplace, Aztec art and architecture, Aztec war, and autosacrifice and sacrifice are just some topics among the vast number that are colorfully presented. Actual Aztec poems and riddles scattered throughout the text, provide an even deeper understanding of their world view. Carrasco also examines the Aztecs' violent encounter with Europeans and illustrates the long-term significance of colonialism and Aztec culture reflected in modern-day Mexican and Mexican American imaginations.

Daily Life of the Aztecs: People of the Sun and Earth

Sessions, Scott

Greenwood

Examine the fascinating and often controversial details of the daily lives of the ancient Aztecs through this innovative study written from the perspective of the history of religions. The Aztec people come to life for students, teachers, and interested readers through the exploration of the ceremonial character of their social and symbolic imagination. Insights into the communities they created, the games they played, the education they received, the foods they harvested, and the songs they sang, as well as the sacrificial rituals they performed, enable the reader to gain a better understanding of this complicated culture.

Daily Life of the Aztecs : People of the Sun and Earth/Online

GEM Online

Examine the fascinating details of the daily lives of the ancient Aztecs through this innovative study of their social history, culture, and continuing influence, written from the perspective of the history of religions.
Utilizing insights from the discipline known as the history of religions, as well as new discoveries in archaeology, pictorial manuscripts, and ritual practices, Daily Life of the Aztecs, Second Edition weaves together a narrative describing life from the bottom of the Aztec social pyramid to its top. This new and surprising interpretation of the Aztecs puts a human face on an ancient people who created beautiful art and architecture, wrote beautiful poetry, and loved their children profoundly, while also making war and human sacrifice fundamental parts of their world.
The book describes the interaction between the material and the imaginative worlds of the Aztecs, offering insights into their communities, games, education, foodways, and arts, as well as the sacrificial rituals they performed. The authors also detail the evolution of the Aztec state and explores the continuity and changes in Aztec symbols, myths, and ritual practices into the present day.
 • Images and interpretation of the recently discovered Aztec Codex "Mapa de Cuauhtinchan Codex" from 1542 and from new excavations in Mexico
• Aztec poems and riddles
• An updated glossary

Daily Life of the Aztecs (The Greenwood Press Daily Life Through History Series)

The remains of the great double pyramid of Tenochtitlan, capital of the Aztec empire, came to light during the spectacular excavation project undertaken by the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia from 1978 to 1982. This volume offers three views of the Templo Mayor as the quintessential sacred space within the Aztec empire, presented in a collaborative effort by an archaeologist, an ethnohistorian, and a historian of religion.

The Great Temple of Tenochtitlan: Center and Periphery in the Aztec World

Broda, Johanna

Moctezuma, Eduardo Matos

University of California Press

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Carrasco, Davíd. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Carrasco, Davíd

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Carrasco, Davíd. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Religions of Mesoamerica: Cosmovision and Ceremonial Centers (Religious Traditions of the World)

The Aztecs: A Very Short Introduction

Quetzalcoatl and the irony of empire: Myths and prophecies in the Aztec tradition

Quetzalcoatl and the Irony of Empire: Myths and Prophecies in the Aztec Tradition

Quetzalcoatl and the Irony of Empire: Myths and Prophecies in the Aztec Tradition

Daily Life of the Aztecs: People of the Sun and Earth

Daily Life of the Aztecs : People of the Sun and Earth/Online

Daily Life of the Aztecs (The Greenwood Press Daily Life Through History Series)

The Great Temple of Tenochtitlan: Center and Periphery in the Aztec World

The Great Temple of Tenochtitlan: Center and Periphery in the Aztec World