The Myths of Mexico & Peru by Lewis Spence - Digital BookPREFACEIn recent years a reawakening has taken place in the study of American archæology and antiquities, owing chiefly to the labours of a band of scholars in the United States and a few enthusiasts in the continent of Europe. For the greater part of the nineteenth century it appeared as if the last word had been written upon Mexican archæology. The lack of excavations and exploration had cramped the outlook of scholars, and there was nothing for them to work upon save what had been done in this respect before their own time. The writers on Central America who lived in the third quarter of the last century relied on the travels of Stephens and Norman, and never appeared to consider it essential that the country or the antiquities in which they specialised should be examined anew, or that fresh expeditions should be equipped to discover whether still further monuments existed relating to the ancient peoples who raised the teocallis of Mexico and the huacas of Peru. True, the middle of the century was not altogether without its Americanist explorers, but the researches of these were performed in a manner so perfunctory that but few additions to the science resulted from their labours. The question of the alphabets of ancient America is perhaps the most acute in present-day pre-Columbian archæology. But progress is being made in this branch of the subject, and several German scholars are working in whole-hearted co-operation to secure final results.What has Great Britain accomplished in this new and fascinating field of science? If the lifelong and valuable labours of the venerable Sir Clements Markham be excepted, almost nothing. It is earnestly hoped that the publication of this volume may prove the means of leading many English students to the study and consideration of American archæology.There remains the romance of old America. The real interest of American mediæval history must ever [vii]circle around Mexico and Peru—her golden empires, her sole exemplars of civilisation; and it is to the books upon the character of these two nations that we must turn for a romantic interest as curious and as absorbing as that bound up in the history of Egypt or Assyria.If human interest is craved for by any man, let him turn to the narratives of Garcilasso el Inca de la Vega and Ixtlilxochitl, representatives and last descendants of the Peruvian and Tezcucan monarchies, and read there the frightful story of the path to fortune of red-heeled Pizarro and cruel Cortés, of the horrible cruelties committed upon the red man, whose colour was “that of the devil,” of the awful pageant of gold-sated pirates laden with the treasures of palaces, of the stripping of temples whose very bricks were of gold, whose very drain-pipes were of silver, of rapine and the sacrilege of high places, of porphyry gods dashed down the pyramidal sides of lofty teocallis, of princesses torn from the very steps of the throne—ay, read these for the most wondrous tales ever writ by the hand of man, tales by the side of which the fables of Araby seem dim—the story of a clash of worlds, the conquest of a new, of an isolated hemisphere.It is usual to speak of America as “a continent without a history.” The folly of such a statement is extreme. For centuries prior to European occupation Central America was the seat of civilisations boasting a history and a semi-historical mythology second to none in richness and interest. It is only because the sources of that history are unknown to the general reader that such assurance upon the lack of it exists.Let us hope that this book may assist in attracting many to the head-fountain of a river whose affluents water many a plain of beauty not the less lovely because bizarre, not the less fascinating because somewhat remote from modern thought.In conclusion I have to acknowledge the courtesy of the Bureau of American Ethnology, which placed in my hands a valuable collection of illustrations and allowed me to select from these at my discretion. The pictures chosen include the drawings used as tailpieces to chapters; others, usually half-tones, are duly acknowledged where they occur.LEWIS SPENCEEdinburgh: July 1913L.S.=======================================================================================The books in digital formats in the pdf. All files are in the public domain..========================================================================================Postage & Packaging Policy: Download link, sent to buyer within 24 hours. With this link, the buyer can download to your computer all the files that are on the DVD. There is no charge for this type of shipment. ==============================================================================Copyright Notice To eCRATER VeRo Team and Publishers Association. These e-books/magazines are in The Public Domain. All content complies with eCRATER rules and regulations. No trademarks, copyrights, or eCRATER rules have been violated in this listing. 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