Combining older findings with new data on 1,000 previously undescribed archaeological sites, "Origins of the Nuu "presents the cultural evolution of the Mixteca Alta in an up-to-date chronological framework.

The nuu - the kingdoms of the famous Mixtec codices - are traced back through the Postclassic and Classic periods to their beginnings in the first states of the Terminal Formative, revealing their origin, evolution, and persistence through two cycles of growth and collapse. Challenging assumptions that the Mixtec were peripheral to better-known peoples such as the Aztecs or Maya, the...