The rise of independent civilization in Mesoamerica can be traced back at least 3000 years. A rich and varied geography helped shape an extraordinarily diverse array of cultures on the Gulf coast and in the Maya lowlands and the Mexican highlands. Based on the Mexican collections of the British Museum, this illustrated title introduces the prehispanic art of Mesoamerica. Among the masterpieces illustrated are Olmec ceremonial jade objects, Maya lintels, and Aztec turquoise mosaics. Not only is there remarkable continuity within the distinctive regional cultures, there is also evidence for widely-shared beliefs in powerful nature gods and for practices such as the Mesoamerica ball game. This book points to the most important of these connections and to recent advances in our understanding of a complex and largely unwritten story.