Helfritz Hans. Mexican Cities of the Gods. An Archaeological Guide

Frederick A. Praeger Publishers, 1970. — 180 p. — (Praeger Paperbacks).Mexico, the "Italy of the Americas," is extraordinarily rich in the archaeological remains of vanished pre-Columbian cultures. Ruined pyramids and temples appear throughout the country, and clearing of the dense jungle growth has revealed cities that have become world-famous, whose remarkable buildings now stand exposed in the landscape.
Hans Helfritz has amassed a wealth of material during his many expeditions to the temples of ancient Mexico, and he is one of the few people to have gathered knowledge of these archaeological sites on the spot. His description, written with expert knowledge and illustrated with up-to-date photographs, is divided geographically into three sections devoted to the religious monuments of the Plateau, Gulf Coast, and South of Mexico.
On the Plateau, we are introduced to the once mighty cities of Teotihuacan and Tula, the fascinating Aztec cliff temple of Malinalco, and the mountain stronghold of Xochicalco. Among the wonders of the Gulf Coast area are the remains of the mysterious Olmec people (gigantic stone heads, altars, and steles and beautifully carved objects of jade) and the marvelous site of El Tajin, whose seven-tiered pyramid with 364 niches is one of the most spectacular in pre-Columbian America. The southern mainland offers to the traveler the still splendid remains of the culture of the Mixtecs and Zapotecs, and on the Yucatan Peninsula are the cities of the Mayas: Palenque, its buildings profusely decorated with delicate stucco reliefs; Uxmal, with its mighty temple-pyramids; and fabulous Chichen-Itza — to name but a few.
In these three sections, the author describes the various indigenous cultures and the peaks of their development, the tribes that lived in each particular area, and their most important religious architecture. A precise account is given of what remains to be seen in each locality, with explicit directions on the best means of reaching it. The systematic arrangement of the material, which includes excellent illustrations and a wealth of maps and diagrams, makes the book eminently comprehensible even to the reader without prior knowledge of the country. The author provides an essential introduction to the mysterious and impressive history of the ancient Indian civilizations of Mexico, as well as a reliable guide to their monumental remains that is based on practical experience.