Canning House is delighted to host the book launch of:
TEZCATLIPOCA: TRICKSTER AND SUPREME AZTEC DEITY
Edited by Elizabeth Baquedano
2014, University Press of Colorado
Tezcatlipoca: Trickster and Supreme Aztec Deity brings archaeological evidence into the body of scholarship on the Lord of the Smoking Mirror, one of the most important Aztec deities. Iconographic and textual resources from sixteenth-century chroniclers and codices have contributed greatly to the understanding of Aztec religious beliefs and practices, but contributors to this volume demonstrate the diverse ways material evidence expands on these traditional sources.
The interlocking complexities of Tezcatlipoca’s nature, multiple roles, and metaphorical attributes illustrate the extent to which his influence penetrated Aztec belief and social action across all levels of late Postclassic central Mexican culture. Tezcatlipoca examines the results of archaeological investigations –objects like obsidian mirrors, gold, bells, public stone monuments, - and reveals new insights into the supreme deity of the Aztec pantheon and his role in Aztec culture.