AMCS Reprint Series 7

The Hill-Caves of Yucatan

by Henry C. Mercer

Originally published by Lippincott, Philadelphia, in 1896

Zephyrus Press reprint 1975 with Introduction
by Sir J. Eric S. Thompson

AMCS Reprint 2005 with new Foreword
by James E. Brady

5.5 by 8.5 inches, 23+xliv+183 pages, softbound


This classic nineteenth-century report on cave archaeology bore the subtitle "A Search for evidence of man's antiquity in the caverns of Central America." Besides the archaeology, it is an interesting narrative of travel in the area at the time. Mayanist Eric Thompson's introduction to the 1975 reprint is itself considered a classic in the field. The AMCS reprint is a facsimile of the 1975 edition, with a new foreword by contemporary Mayanist and cave archaeologist James Brady. Mercer's book has 74 illustrations, and the Introduction and Foreword add 10 more.


Table of Contents
f1-f23 Foreword by James Brady
viii-xliv Introduction to the 1975 edition by Eric Thompson
9 Introduction
15 The Journey to Yucatan
21 Actun Spukil, the Cave of Mice
32 Wet Caves in a Dry Land
45 The First Important Evidence
58 A First Glance at the Ruins
64 Caves that were Doubtful
70 Archæology in Yucatan
79 Over Hill and Dale
85 Uxmal
91 Kabah, Rancho Chack, and Tabi
98 Loltun, the Rock of Flowers
126 Caves near Oxkutzcab
142 Actun Skokikan, The Cave of Serpents
146 The Last Trench at Sabaka
160 A Summary

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