A Zapotec village chief named One Earthquake is murdered by his enemies, who then carve the gruesome image of his death on a huge stone slab and place it in their temple as a warning to others. An Inca official selects young village girls to be raised in the distant House of the Chosen Women, where they will spend the rest of their childhoods learning traditional arts in complete seclusion. A Spanish priest named Bernardino Sahagún recounts the development of the mighty Aztec empire in Mesoamerica and witnesses its tragic overthrow by Spanish conquistadors. These are a few of the gripping stories readers will encounter in <em>The Ancient American World</em>.
