Chicago Manual of Style
The Chicago Manual of Style Online (16th and 17th eds.) by Call Number: E-BOOKISBN: 9780226287058Publication Date: 2017-09-05For this course (AAH 370) we are using the Author-Date sub-style of CMOS.
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Use reference works (or tertiary sources) to begin your research. Refer back to them as you read and write. Reference works are inappropriate to cite in a research paper because the "conversation" among art historians occurs instead in scholarly books and exhibition catalogs, edited volumes, and peer-reviewed journal articles. Indeed, it is generally only in the latter works—in secondary sources—that scholars put forward their original ideas in an attempt to answer unresolved questions in the disciplines and thus to build on the work of earlier scholars. Reference works, on the other hand, provide background. They capture the scholarly consensus (i.e., the state of the field) at a particular moment in time and/or efficiently connect scholars and students with secondary sources.
Use reference works legitimately to:
- track down authoritative background articles authored by art historians and archaeologists;
- choose and refine your research topic in Mesoamerican art and architecture;
- identify disciplinary terms (e.g., talud-tablero), an important consideration in "keyword" searches; and
- find relevant, high-impact secondary research on your topic (e.g., in bibliographies).
Best bets:
Tabs for each reference sub-type—bibliographies, dictionaries, encyclopedias, and handbooks—are listed above. Click on a tab to get started and/or begin with the following best bets:
- Find background information on the arts of Mesoamerica in The Grove Dictionary of Art, available from the library's Oxford Art Online database. Start with the comprehensive (main) entry titled "Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica." I also recommend The Center for Public Art History's Glossary for Pre-Columbian Art.
- Oxford Reference Online provides background information on the archaeology of Mesoamerica. See, for example, the entry titled "Mesoamerica" in The Oxford Companion to Archaeology.
- Search ARTstor to find images of Mesoamerican artworks (primary sources).
Note: Wikipedia has grown more reliable over the years, but please use the scholarly reference works listed in this box instead of Wikipedia to obtain background information for the reasons explained here.
The bibliographies found below are mostly book-length reference works that list and often annotate scholarly sources about, in this case, ancient Mesoamerica. Abstracting and indexing databases such as the Bibliografia Mesoamericana serve a very similar function.
- Art of the Aztec EmpireThe Oxford Bibliographies database, not licensed by Gitenstein Library, contains a relatively up-to-date bibliographic essay (c2014) titled "Art of the Aztec Empire" by senior art historian Cecelia Klein. If your research focuses on Mexica art, consult this bibliography! Please email me.
Online:
The Art of Pre-Hispanic Mesoamerica: An Annotated Bibliography by Call Number: Internet Archive E-BOOKISBN: 081618562XPublication Date: 1985-12-01This annotated bibliography is useful for understanding early developments in Pre-Columbian art history including the contributions of pioneers such as Herbert Spinden, who published A Study of Maya Art (c1913). See especially Chapter 1, titled "An Historiographic Review." This work obviously cannot reveal any secondary literature published after its own publication date of 1985.- Maya Civilization by Call Number: Internet Archive E-BOOKISBN: 0815300956Publication Date: 1993-06-01Another dated bibliography authored by the former director of Penn's Museum of Anthropology Library. This bibliography will not reveal any secondary literature published after 1993. Weeks published a more recent bibliography, Maya Civilization at the Millennium: A Research Guide (c2011)—see directly below. It is available through interlibrary loan (ILL).
Print:
Ballgames and Ballcourts in Prehispanic Mesoamerica: a Bibliography by Call Number: F1219.3.G3 T335 2012ISBN: 9781407309217Publication Date: 2012-03-13If you are researching surviving art and architecture related to the Mesoamerican ballgame, this reference work is a must!
Interlibrary Loan (ILL):
Maya Civilization at the Millennium: A Research Guide by Call Number: F1435 .W43 2011ISBN: 1407307916Publication Date: 2011-12-31Update to an earlier bibliography (see above) authored by the late Dr. John Weeks, anthropologist, librarian, and former director of Penn's Museum of Anthropology Library. Covers the secondary literature of the first decade of the new millennium. Available via interlibrary loan (ILL).
"A single-volume or multivolume reference work containing brief explanatory entries for terms and topics related to a specific subject or field of inquiry, usually arranged alphabetically. The entries in a dictionary are usually shorter than those contained in an encyclopedia on the same subject" (ODLIS). Some dictionaries, however, contain lengthier entries that read more like encyclopedia articles.
Online:
Best bet:
Historical Dictionary of Mesoamerica by Call Number: Gitenstein Library E-BOOKISBN: 0810870967Publication Date: 2012-01-01This book incorporates a chronology, introductory essay, extensive bibliography, and over 900 cross-referenced entries that cover major peoples, places, ideas, and events. Highly recommended.
Next steps:
Aztec and Maya Gods and Goddesses by Call Number: Internet Archive E-BOOKISBN: 0714130397Publication Date: 2006This slim (56-page) "pocket dictionary," published by the British Museum Press, succinctly covers major Mesoamerican deities by theme or attribute (e.g., creator gods, gods of war).- Facts and Artifacts of Ancient Middle America: A Glossary of Terms and Words Used in the Archaeology and Art History of Pre-Columbian Mexico and Central America by Call Number: Internet Archive E-BOOKISBN: 0525474897Publication Date: 1978-06-01This dated glossary is useful for defining terms such as corbelled arch, talud-tablero, and tzompantli. Also availalbe in print, Reference Collection (1st floor), call # F1217 .M97 1978.
- A Lexicon for Maya Architecture by Call Number: Internet Archive E-BOOKISBN: 0888543085Publication Date: 1984This handy, 28-page glossary defines terms scholars use to describe Maya architecture. Also available in print, General Collection, Call # F1435.3.A6 L67 1984.
Print:
An Illustrated Dictionary of the Gods and Symbols of Ancient Mexico and the Maya by Call Number: F1435.3.R3 M55 1997ISBN: 0500279284Publication Date: 1997-04-17Authored by two highly respected Mesoamericanists—one an archaeologist (Taube), the other an art historian (Miller)—this very useful reference work points to gods and ideological constructs in Mesoamerican religion, richly illustrated with artworks that span the Pre-Classic (or Formative), Classic, and Post-Classic Periods.
An encyclopedia is a "book or numbered set of books containing authoritative summary information about a variety of topics in the form of short essays, usually arranged alphabetically by headword or classified in some manner. An entry may be signed or unsigned, with or without illustration or a list of references for further reading" (ODLIS).
Online:
Best bets:
Encyclopedia of the Ancient Maya by Call Number: Gitenstein Library E-BOOKISBN: 9780759122840Publication Date: 2015-12-24also available in print, Reference Collection (1st floor), call # F1435 .E65 2016
The Oxford Encyclopedia of Mesoamerican Cultures by Call Number: Gitenstein Library E-BOOKISBN: 0195108159Publication Date: 2001-06-07This major encyclopedia in 3 vols. is also available in print, Reference Collection (1st floor), call # F1218.6 .O95 2001. Highly recommended.
Next steps:
- Mexicolore (Aztec Pages)The Aztec (Mexica) Pages of this visually overwhelming website—too many flashing graphics—nevertheless provide access to a series of illustrated encyclopedia-like articles written by experts.
- Mexicolore (Maya Pages)The Maya Pages of this visually overwhelming website—too many flashing graphics—nevertheless provide access to a series of illustrated encyclopedia-like articles written by experts.
Print:
Encyclopedia of Ancient Mesoamerica by Call Number: F1219.B932 1996ISBN: 0816024022Publication Date: 1996-03-01
A handbook is a "single-volume reference book of compact size that provides concise factual information on a specific subject, organized systematically for quick and easy access." A companion is a "handbook intended to be used in connection with the study of a particular subject or field" (ODLIS). Handbooks and companions are usually edited works, each chapter written by a different scholar. Books with the words "introductions" and "histories" in their titles, though not technically handbooks, often serve similar functions.
Online:
The Aztecs: A Very Short Introduction by Call Number: Gitenstein Library E-BOOKISBN: 0199702195Publication Date: 2011-01-01See especially Chapter 6, "Wordplay, Philosophy, Sculpture."
The Oxford Handbook of Mesoamerican Archaeology by Call Number: Gitenstein Library E-BOOKISBN: 0195390938Publication Date: 2012-09-24Uniquely among reference works, this handbook brings together in a single volume article-length regional syntheses and topical overviews written by active scholars in the field.
The Oxford Handbook of the Aztecs by Call Number: Gitenstein Library E-BOOKISBN: 9780199341962Publication Date: 2016-12-05
The Routledge Companion to Decolonizing Art History by Call Number: Gitenstein Library E-BOOKISBN: 9781003152262Publication Date: 2024See especially Chapter 18, "Re-Indigenizing Ancient Mexican Glyphic Codices."
Print:
- Handbook of Middle American Indians by Call Number: F1434.H3ISBN: 0292775563Publication Date: 1964-1976This seminal, multi-volume reference work originally appeared in 16 volumes. Supplementary titles were published from 1981 through 2000 with the goal of bringing the series up-to-date. Our library holds two of the supplementary volumes titled Archaeology and Linguistics. The Handbook of Middle American Indians, though extraordinarily dated, remains a foundational reference work.
The Cambridge History of the Native Peoples of the Americas: Mesoamerica by Call Number: E 77 .N62 1996 v. 2, pt. 2ISBN: 0521652049Publication Date: 2000-04-13Volume 2, divided into two parts, contains 21 medium-length chapters that cover a wide range of topics relevant to ancient Mesoamerica. Part 1 surveys the major ethnic groups of ancient Mesoamerica and is broadly divided into discussions of the Highlands (Cuicuilco, Teotihuacan, Zapotec, Tula, Mixteca, Maya Highlands, and Aztec heartland) and Lowlands (Olmec and the Gulf Coast, Maya Lowlands, West Coast, and the Southeast Frontier). In some ways this reference work compares favorably with the venerable Handbook of Middle American Indians.
Manage your citations with RefWorks, a Gitenstein Library database that allows researchers to easily import, export, search, and create bibliographies in hundreds of styles including MLA, Chicago, Turabian, and APA. Citations to articles found in library databases can be imported into RefWorks. No manual entry!