FLAAR Book List
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REYES-VALERIO, Constantino, DE BONAMPAK AL TEMPLO MAYOR: EL AZUL MAYA en Mesoamerica, 1993, the most complete book on "MAYA BLUE" pigment of the Bonampak and Cacaztla murals; reveals how to make Maya Blue yourself, gives complete recipe and even pictures the whole process; all 38 professional quality photographs are in full color, 160p., 52 drawings, 8 maps.
RHODES, Rilley, THE WORLD BEYOND, MAYA TOMB CERAMICS. Essential reading for Maya iconography as this rare publication illustrates outstanding works of Maya art from ancient Guatemala not included in the books of either Coe or of Robicsek. Impressive giant burial urns, unusual Early Classic incensarios "a goddess giving birth," pottery statues of the Sun God, and one of only three known Maya Teotihuacan-related censors from the Peten. The Tiquisate masterpieces are the most exotic of their kind in the world. 50 impressive photographs.
RICE, Don, The archaeology of British Honduras: A review and synthesis (Occasional publications in anthropology), 1974, 164p. Covers Pusilha, Lubaantun, Benque Viejo (Xunantunich), Barton Ramie, Santa Rita (site with famous fresco), Caracol, and others. Katunob edition, helpful bibliography, illustrated.
RIESE, Berthold, NOTICIAS ARQUEOLOGICAS DE TABASCO various articles including on Olmec, by Berthold Riese on Torteguero glyphs, graffiti of Comalcalco, 65 p, edition limited to 250 copies, out of print.
ROBICSEK, Francis, The Smoking Gods Tobacco in Maya Art, History, and Religion, foreword by Michael Coe. 233 p., 234 illustrations (including photographs by Nicholas Hellmuth), 265 outstanding color plates.
ROBICSEK, Francis, The Maya book of the dead: The ceramic codex ; the corpus of codex style ceramics of the late classic period, hundreds and hundreds of Justin Kerr photographs of Maya vases, deities, iconography, decipherment of hieroglyphs especially Primary Standard Sequence.
ROMERO Molina, Javier, Catalogo de la coleccion de dientes mutilados prehispanicos (Coleccion Fuentes) (Spanish Edition), INAH, 190p., thorough survey of dental decorations in ancient Mexico with lots of photos and drawings.
ROMERO PACHECO, Arturo, Carlos Navarrete, and Victor Segovia, KOHUNLICH, presentation copy of the President of Mexico given to ambassadors, bank presidents, governors, etc. $1,200, handbound in embossed leather, possibly the most lavish book ever produced on Maya archaeology since Kingsborough. 335 giant size pages, double page spread illustrations. It is amazing how beautiful a book Mexico can produce.
RUBIO CIFUENTES, Rolando Roberto ESTRUCTURA J-107 SITIO ARQUEOLOGICO EL BAUL SANTA LUCIA COTZUMALGUAPA, ESCUINTLA GUATEMALA, 173 p, illus (especially rim profiles) including rubbings of two Tiquisate ballplayer cylindrical tripods. We have never seen this offered in any other book catalog, there were only about 50 copies printed.
RUIZ, Sonia Lombardo, et al., Cacaxtla : El Lugar Donde Muere La Lluvia En La Tierra, over 1000 drawings (many in color), 240 photographs (several in color), fold out maps, fold out drawings of the entire mural sequence - the complete battle scene. It took 4 years to find these last copies. Monumental iconographic report on the Teotihuacan, Xochicalco, and Maya style murals of Cacaxtla, the most important find of the 1970's, 554p., Hardbound.
RUL, Francisco Gonzalez, La ceramica en Tlatelolco (Coleccion cientifica) (Spanish Edition), INAH. 55 figs, 7 maps, 5 tables, 36 diagrams, 262p.
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SABAU GARCIA, Maria Luisa, De Mexico al mundo: Plantas (Spanish Edition), with 14 loose color plates of paintings of Ana Jovane (8" x 11"), 181 color photos of plants & flowers, described and listed alphabetically, 9" x 12" hardcover, 195p.
SANDERS, William, Excavaciones en el Area Urbana de Copan: Tomo I (Proyecto Arqueologico Copan, Segunda Fase), 152 architectural drawings, 157 photos, 10 fold out drawings, 391 p.
SATTERTHWAITE, L., "PIEDRAS NEGRAS ARCHAEOLOGY: ARCHITECTURE - SWEATBATHS" Original edition (1952), a rare find with complete description, photographs, architectural drawings of all ritual sweatbath structures, including ethnographic description of the sweat ritual itself.
SERRA PUCHE, Mari Carmen and Carlos NAVARRETE C., Ensayos de alfareria prehispanica e historica de Mesoamerica: Homenaje a Eduardo Noguera Auza (Arqueologia) (Spanish Edition), UNAM, 308 p., features the most complete presentation of Early Classic TIKAL ceramics (Juan Pedro Laporte) plus key reports on Teotihuacan and related pottery not found in any other monograph. Lots of drawings of Tikal Maya Tzakol pottery.
SERRA PUCHE, Mari Carmen & Felipe SOLIS OLGUIN, Cristales y obsidiana prehispanicos (Spanish Edition), 1994, lavish coffee table book, the largest and must luxurious ever created on obsidian and rock crystal of the OLMEC, TEOTIHUACAN, MAYA, AZTEC and MIXTEC. Includes the only photographs of mahogany-colored obdidian I have ever seen. 232 large and attractively printed pages.
SCHELE, Linda & FREIDEL, David, A FOREST OF KINGS -The Untold Story of the Ancient Maya, w/16 color plates, photographic rollouts of Maya vase & pottery drawings, hardcover, 542p.
SCHULER-SCHOMIG, Immina FIGURENGEFASSE AUS OAXACA MEXICO, 233 European quality photographs of Oaxaca urns in the Museum fuer Voelkerkunde, Berlin, not published widely elsewhere, with complete description.
SCOTT, John F. Ancient Mesoamerica: Selections from the University Gallery Collection, 48 photos, 1 map, 60p., Maya and other art not previously published.
SHAO, Paul, Asiatic influences in Pre-Columbian American art, 11" X 14", compares photographs of contemparary Asian and Mesoamerican figures to reach his conclusions.,195p.
SHARER, Robert J., Quirigua: A Classic Maya Center and Its Sculptures (Center of Civilization Series), 64 photos, maps & illustrations, covers chronology of site from 400-900AD and relationship to other Maya civilizations, hardcover, 124p.
deSMET, Peter & HELLMUTH, Nicholas, A Multidisciplinary Approach to Ritual Enema Scenes on Ancient Maya Pottery, 23 B&W photographs of rollouts and of pottery and descriptions, 50p.
deSMET, Peter, Ritual enemas and snuffs in the Americas (Latin America studies), 248 pages and 43 photographs of Maya pottery (mostly by Nicholas Hellmuth); this book includes an article by Hellmuth, "Principal Diagnostic Accessories of Maya Enema Scenes" and then the illustrations, A Pictorial Approach to Enema Scenes on Ancient Maya Pottery.). Michael Coe (Yale) and R. Schultes (Harvard) served as referees for research which went into this fully illustrated and informative iconographic report.
SMITH, Virginia G. Izapa Relief Carving: Form, Content, Rules for Design, and Role in Mesoamerican Art History and Archaeology (Dumbarton Oaks Pre-Columbian Art and Archaeology Studies Series) (v. 27), 103p. with lots of illustrations including stelae from Abaj Takalik not widely published elsewhere.
SOLIS OLGUIN, Felipe, CATALOGO DE LA ESCULTURA MEXICA DEL MUSEO DE SANTA CECILIA ACATITLAN, 91 monumental Aztec sculptures illustrated and described.
SOTELO SANTOS, Laura Elena, Yaxchilan (Spanish Edition), 190 thick pages with 57 color photographs of a quality better than in any other publication on Yaxchilan. These particular photographs far exceed those in any book on Yaxchilan printed in the USA or Europe, and are even better than Maler's or Maudslay's photographs in part because they are in color. This particular Mexican photographer was clearly a pro.
STIERLIN, Henri (editor), Ancient Mexico Architecture of the World, 93 exciting B&W photographs, 36 drawings, chronological table, descriptions of dynamic structures, 192p.
STONE, Andrea J., IMAGES FROM THE UNDERWORLD, Naj Tunich and the Tradition of Maya Cave Painting, more than 200 photos, illustrations & maps showing Maya cave art, w/12 color plates, hardcover, 284p.
STONE, Doris, Archaeology of the north coast of Honduras, (Memoirs of the Peabody museum of archaeology and ethnology, Harvard university), Peabody Museum, Memoirs, Vol. IX, No. 1, 1941.
STROSS, B. Tzeltal Tales of Demons and Monsters (Museum Brief ; No. 24), 40p.
STROSS, B., Love in the Armpit: Tzeltal Tales of Love, Murder, and Cannibalism (Museum Brief ; No. 23), 27p. Out of print. Worth buying just to find out what the Maya are really up to in their highland villages at night.
SUGIURA, Y., Yoko & SERRA PUCHE, Marie C., ETNOARQUEOLOGIA Primer Coloquio Bosch-Gimpera, 30 articles, 12 maps, 40 B&W photos, more than 100 drawings, tables & illustrations, 594p.
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TALADOIRE, Eric, LES TERRAINS DE JEU DE BALLE, 815 p, the most complete book ever written on ballcourts of Mexico (as well as of the Hohokam of Arizona); illustrates hundreds of ballcourts as well as art which depicts ancient athletes; Shows all the Aztec and Mixtec ballcourts of the codice, OUT OF PRINT.
TEDLOCK, Dennis (translator), POPUL VUH THE DEFINITIVE EDITION OF THE MAYAN BOOK OF THE DAWN OF LIFE AND THE GLORIES OF GODS AND KINGS
THE MUSEUM JOURNAL, The ULUA Marble Vases by G. B. Gordon, 15 B&W photos of vases, The use of metals in prehistoric America
THOMPSON, Edward H.,Archaeological Researches in Yucatan Report of Explorations for the Museum; Reports of Explorations for the Peabody Museum. reprint of the monograph on Chacmultun 38 p. Rare report with photographs of all the palaces of Chacmultun and the murals.
THOMPSON, J. Eric S., Maya Hieroglyphs without Tears, small primer.
(Tlaxcala), Historia y sociedad en Tlaxcala: Memorias del Primer Simposio Internacional de Investigaciones Socio-Historicas sobre Tlaxcala, octubre, 1985 (Spanish Edition), symposium proceedings with various articles on art, archaeology, and ethnohistory of Tlaxcala, includes murals of Cacaxtla. 253p.
TOBACCO & SALT MUSEUM, Tobacco & Salt Museum, (in English) Glossy softcover & pages, in addition to tracing the origins & uses of Tobacco and salt, there is a beautifully illustrated chronology by cultures and regions of Central Mexico, Yucatan: the Mayas, Gulf of Mexico, Oaxaca area, Northwestern Mexico, Isthmus: transitional region (all from 1500BC to 1500AD).19th century Japanese cartoons & silkscreens., 72p.
TOZZER, Alfred, A Preliminary Study of the Prehistoric Ruins of Nakum Guatemala A Report of the Peabody Museum Expedition 1909-10, a Report of the Peabody Museum Expedition 1909-1910, 54 illustrations, 23 large photos of the impressive temples and palaces, this is the original 1913 edition, the last found in a corner of the warehouse. As far as we know, these are the last originals of this book in the world (elsewhere you get only used copies or reprints).
TROUT, Lawana Hooper, THE MAYA, (Indians of North America), 11 color photos of Jaina figurines, 49 B&W photos, 3 maps, 13 drawings (includes some 16th century English & Dutch fictionalized anti-Spanish and anti-Catholic propaganda), hardcover, 127p.
TRUEBLOOD, Beatrice (editor) Museum of Anthropology of Xalapa (Veracruz en la cultura), Monumental Olmec sculpture, Arroyo Pesquero Olmec Masks, El Tajin Relief Sculpture, Hardcover, w/articles by: Michael Coe - The Olmecs, Felipe Solis - Central Veracruz & Beatriz de la Fuente - The Huastics. Each article shows beautifully photographed artifacts of the Museum of Anthropology of Xalapa in colored lighting and highlights. The accompanying descriptions include provenances. Over 140 color plates. 204p.
TSURUMOTO, Shozo, TREASURES OF THE ANCIENT MAYA EXHIBITION - Searching the Rise and Fall Mystery, (in Japanese), maps of expeditions of Columbus, spheres of influences of some Maya city states known, locations of city states, 128 color photographs of Maya artifacts on black back-ground plates, 112p.
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Memorias del Primer Coloquio Internacional de Mayistas: 5-10 de agosto de 1985 (Spanish Edition). 56 maps, 242 figs, 1146 p. They never print enough of these important books to go around. This is the most comprehensive set of articles on recent discoveries in Maya art, iconography, epigraphy, and archaeology to appear in recent years. Includes Tikal, Tulum, Belize, Cacaxtla, and two new sculptures just discovered at Bonampak.
Maria Teresa URIARTE (ed.), El Juego de pelota en mesoamerica: Raices y supervivencia (Coleccion America nuestra) (Spanish Edition), articles by Nicholas HELLMUTH, Merle Greene ROBERTSON, and many more archaeologists all together 19 reports on the various ballgames of Mesoamerica: El Tajin, Chichen Itza, Hohokam (Arizona), Copan, and many more. Includes data on the Olmec game found preserved in the swamp of Manati, Veracruz., 419 pages, 58 drawings, 10 B+W photos, a whopping 77 color photographs. Includes 16 ballgame photographs of Nicholas Hellmuth from the F.L.A.A.R. Photo Archives. overall the largest, fanciest, and most colorfully illustrated ballgame book ever produced.
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VALDES, Juan Antonio, Federico FAHSEN, Hector ESCOBEDO, OBRAS MAESTRAS DEL MUSEO DE TIKAL, lots of color, including polychrome plates never before published, 75p.
VARGAS, Ernesto (edit.), Las M�scaras de la Cueva de Santa Ana Teloxtoc, (Spanish), 8 color plates, 51 B&W photos, 8 maps, 1 drawing, 207p.
VELAZQUEZ Morlet, Adriana et al, ZONAS ARQUEOLOGICAS: YUCATAN, INAH. 25 B+W, 14 color photos, 27 maps (mostly in color), 5 color drawings, 30 B+W drawings, 129 p., a remarkable production for INAH, good quality paper for a change, an informative compendium of data covering all periods, all styles.
VILLACORTA & VILLACORTA, CODICES MAYAS, the three main Maya codices (Paris, Madrid, and Dresden), in handsome line drawings. Most epigraphers use these drawings rather than the color facsimiles, since the details of the gods and glyphs are so much clearer. We have the actual Guatemalan printing, not a fuzzy reprint or fuzzy xerox (where it is hard to see the iconographic details). This book is long out of print, even in Guatemala.
VILLA GARCIA, Luis Ignacio, PERROS EN LAS TUMBAS DE COLIMA, hardcover coffee table book, 25 full page color plates, 6 articles on the large dogs of Colima, written in Spanish, English and French, 134p.
VIZCAINO, Antonio, Museo de Antropologia de Xalapa (Spanish Edition), covers the Olmec, Totonac and Huastec cultures w/122 beautiful color plates. Text is in Spanish with an index of the plates., hardcover coffee table book, 143p.
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WALTERS, Gary Rex, The San Agustin Acasaguastlan Archaeological Project: Report on the 1979 field season (Museum brief). Describes artifacts found at jade workshops and in burial chambers. 39p., 5 maps, 34 illustrations
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WARMAN, Arturo & ARGUETA, Arturo, Movimientos indigenas contemporaneos en Mexico (Coleccion Mexico--actualidad y perspectivas) (Spanish Edition), 11 articles on position of Maya and culture in present day Mexico.
WIETLANDER-JOHNSON, Irmgard, Design Motifs on Mexican Indian Textiles, 10" x 13.5" hardcover boxed, 4 glossy color plates, 75 B&W plates with more than 200 illustrations - This book is out of print., 247p.
Von Winning, Hasso, Two Maya Monuments in Yucatan: The Palace of the Stuccoes at Acanceh and the Temple of the Owls at Chichen Itza (Frederick Webb Hodge Anniversary Publication Fund), 99 B&W photos, drawings and illustrations, 95p.
WILKERSON, S. Jeffrey, El Tajin: A guide for visitors, 79 pages, filled with color photographs, maps, line drawings of stelae, ballcourt panels. The most complete book available on El Tajin. Considering that El Tajin is crucial for understanding the ballgame, is the home for yokes, hachas, and palmas, and influenced the entire Maya area, this is an essential book for Maya iconography.
WILLARD, T. A., The City of the Sacred Well, Being a Narrative of the Discoveries and Excavations of Edward Herbert Thompson in the Ancient City of Chi-Chen Itzen with Some Discourse on the Culture and Development of the Mayan Civilization, early exploration of Chichen Itza (1920's). It is Willard who met the then aged Teobert Maler. Maler was reportedly peddling Maya antiquities. Original condition, hardbound, 293p.
WINFIELD Capitaine, Fernando, GUIA DE MONUMENTOS DEL MUSEO DE ANTROPOLOGIA DE XALAPA, 55p., every monument in the entire Jalapa museum is described (but not illustrated).
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YASUGI, Yoshiho, CHOCOLATE MUSEUM BOOK, The stories of Chocolate History, (in Japanese) glossy softcover & pages, 63 color and 48 B&W photographs (22 photos of Mesoamerica), 128p.
YASUGI, Yoshiho, GREAT MONUMENTS OF THE ANCIENT WORLD, VOL 13, coffee table book on Mesoamerica and Peru, with 134 stunning photographs (a quality only the Japanese can produce), An ideal present, and, for a major library, this is one title you are certainly missing. It includes several F.L.A.A.R. photographs by Nicholas Hellmuth including polychrome Maya vases nowhere else published (fig. 71, for example). We can't read Japanese either (captions identify the sites in English), but the book sure looks impressive. It is a joy to see such perfectly illuminated Maya sites and such flawless color printing.175 large pages.
YOSUGI, Yoshiho, MAYA TEJIENDO LA VIDA: Los Mayas de Hoy, 343 supurb color photographs, 12 B&W photos, 50 maps & line drawings (of looms, etc.) Covers Mexico and all of Guatemala, a double-page map has an addtional 110 photographs of color textiles. Sold out in Japan - not available anywhere else in USA or Europe. Forget the Japanese text - what you want (and need) are all these photographs. This book is a visual delight. 160p.
YASUGI, Yoshiho (commentary), ORNAMENTS OF THE WORLD, VOL. 5, The Continent of America, native art of the Americas, 408 photographs & drawings, has 51 color and 38 B&W photos of Maya ceramics, not counting Maya murals, architecture, sculpture, plus non-Maya cultures of America. The Guatemalan textiles are especially handsomely rendered in color which only the Japanese can so stunningly print. There are hieroglyphic inscriptions shown that are not published in any other book. Thus for epigraphers this book is a useful reference to allow keeping up to date with what is available to study from the F.L.A.A.R. Photo Archive. More of Hellmuth's Maya photographs are here than in any other book available this decade. Only a few of these ancient Maya ceramics have been published elsewhere. In other words, the majority of these pictures are not available in any other book and only about 7% of the Maya art in this book is found in books by Coe, Robicsek, or even Kerr. Since the book is in Japanese, we have captions available in English (which will accompany your order). These captions are by Hellmuth and constitute a review of his advances in iconography based on the immense F.L.A.A.R. Photo Archive.
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