One of the classic works of archaeology, The Early Mesoamerican Village was among the first studies to fully embrace the processual movement of the 1970s. Dancing around an ongoing dialogue on methods and goals between the Real Mesoamerican Archaeologist, the Great Synthesizer, and the Skeptical Graduate Student, it is both a seminal tract on scientific method in archaeology and a series of studies on formative Mesoamerica. It critically evaluates techniques for excavation, sampling of sites and regions, and stylistic analysis, as well as such theoretical factors of explanation as population pressure, trade, and religion and launched similar studies for several later generations of archaeologists. A new Foreword by Jeremy Sabloff is featured in this edition.

"This book is unique in the literature of New World archeology...its publication will mark a real increase in intellectual acuity, properly conceived research programs, and effectively executed excavation...The intellectual rigor with which Flannery approaches his subject is hard to match. Even more remarkable is the degree to which the book is a work of literature." --Donald W. Lathrap, SCIENCE

Every once in a while a book comes along in New World archaeology that marks a watershed in the discipline. Walter Taylor's 1948 A Study in Archaeology was one. This is another. -Michael Coe, American Anthropologist

It is at least three treats in one package: (1) a significant contribution to one of the least understood topics of Mesoamerican archaeology-the Formative or Preclassic village, (2) an excellent exposition and application of various archaeological analytic methods, and (3) a whale of a lot of fun to read. -Robert Wauchope, American Antiquity

Kent V. Flannery is the James B. Griffin Professor of Anthropology and the Curator of Environmental Archaeology, Museum of Anthropology at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He is author of numerous books and articles and a member of the National Academy of Sciences. His work has defined the archaeology of Oaxaca. Jeremy Sabloff is President of the Santa Fe Institute in New Mexico.