I find it difficult to express to the full my thanks to the many friends whose encouragement and assistance are really responsible for such success as this book may achieve. Without the work of Dr. Maudslay and Dr. Seler its production would have been impossible, and I owe them both much gratitude for the great generosity which has led them both to place their illustrations at my disposal. Professor Holmes, of the Bureau of American Ethnology, has shown me similar kindness in permitting me to reproduce five of the charming illustrations in his admirable monograph, “Archæological Studies among the Ruined Cities of Mexico,” published by the Field Columbian Museum (now the Field Museum of Natural History) of Chicago. I am also deeply indebted to Sir Hercules Read, to Colonel Ward and to Mr. Cooper Clark for much advice and the use of valuable photographs, and also to the Trustees of the British Museum and the Director of the Peabody Museum for the loan of certain illustrations. To Dr. Wallis Budge I owe much for his kind encouragement; it is in fact to him that the inception of the present work is due. I must also express my gratitude to my wife for many hours spent in the preparation of line-drawings, and to my colleague, Mr. H. J. Braunholtz, of the British Museum, for assistance in the laborious task of proof reading. Finally I should like to thank my publishers for the consideration which they have always extended to me, as well as for their enterprise in producing a series of archæological works which will, I trust, do much to stimulate interest in the efforts of the present to unveil the past. T. A. JOYCE. LONDON, _January, 1914_ CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE INTRODUCTION 1 I. MEXICO: TRIBAL HISTORY 5 II. MEXICO: THE GODS 31 III. MEXICO: THE CALENDAR AND CALENDRICAL FEASTS 59 IV. MEXICO: WRITING, PRIESTHOOD, MEDICINE AND BURIAL 86 V. MEXICO: SOCIAL SYSTEM, WAR, TRADE AND JUSTICE 109 VI. MEXICO: CRAFTS, DRESS AND DAILY LIFE 134 VII. MEXICO: ARCHITECTURAL REMAINS AND POTTERY 169 VIII. THE MAYA: HISTORY 199 IX. THE MAYA: RELIGION AND MYTH 218 X. THE MAYA: THE CALENDAR, CALENDRICAL FEASTS AND MINOR RELIGIOUS OBSERVANCES 245 XI. THE MAYA: BURIAL, SOCIAL SYSTEM, TRADE AND WAR 275 XII. THE MAYA: DRESS, DAILY LIFE AND CRAFTS 294 XIII. THE MAYA: ARCHITECTURAL REMAINS 319 XIV. CONCLUSIONS 355