THE literature on Middle American archaeology is voluminous, with a few sound and reliable, popular readable books by recognized authorities, a few sensational or visionary ones, and a great quantity of detailed and technical reports and monographs. Dr. Linton Satterthwaite, Jr., of the MUSEUM staff, has prepared a mimeographed annotated reading list, as of 1939, which will be sent on request to the Secretary.
As small, low-priced, modern and readily securable handbooks, Dr. H. J. Spinden’s ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS OF MEXICO AND CENTRAL AMERICA (Handbook Series, No. 3, American Museum of Natural History, New York City) and J. Eric Thompson’s THE CIVILIZATION OF THE MAYAS (Leaflet No. 25, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago), are especially recommended. Larger books affording more information are AZTECS OF MEXICO by Dr. George C. Vaillant, now Director of THE UNIVERSITY MUSEUM (Doubleday, Doran & Co., Garden City, N. Y., 1941), MEXICO BEFORE CORTEZ by J. Eric Thompson (Scribner’s, New York, 1933) and THE CONQUEST OF YUCATAN by Frans Blom (Houghton Mifflin, Boston and New York, 1936). THE MAYA AND THEIR NEIGHBORS (Appleton-Century, New York, 1940) is comprehensive, up-to-date and authoritative, but not written in a popular style. The old standard, MEXICAN ARCHAEOLOGY by Thomas A. Joyce (Putnam’s, New York, 1914) is solid and thorough, but a little out-of-date, and available only in libraries.