This vivid evocation of an ancient civilization is both enlivened and deepened by the author's sympathetic understanding of customs, rituals and myths which to modern eyes may seem both strange and terrible. It will be widely welcomed by scholars and students of South American archaeology and history, by all those curious to know more about a civilization that for thirteen centuries was largely forgotten.

Garth Bawden is a native of Cornwall, Great Britain. Following a career in physical medicine he began a second career in anthropology. He holds a PhD from Harvard University and is currently Professor of Anthropology and Director of the Maxwell Museum of Anthropology at the University of New Mexico. He has worked extensively in Saudi Arabia and the Andean regions of South America. His interests include the evolution of social complexity and the role of ideology in the development of Andean civilizations.