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Michael Coe obituary
Archaeologist who explored the ancient civilisations of Mexico and Central AmericaMichael Coe, who has died aged 90, was an archaeologist and writer who made the ancient world come alive for scholars and public alike. Through books and excavations he explored the origins of the early civilisations of Mexico and Central America, the nature of tropical cities, the painting and calligraphy of the ancient Maya and even Aztec sorcery. Equipped with a gifted eye for what was important – allied to a feisty disdain for error – he took on accepted wisdoms, exploding them in his books, essays and witty talks. Until Mike’s intervention, for instance, many had seen the Olmec civilisation of Veracruz and Tabasco in Mexico as being later than that of the Maya peoples. But Mike trounced that view. His excavations in early villages of coastal Guatemala and nearby Mexico, and then at the sprawling Olmec city of San Lorenzo, Mexico, confirmed an earlier date (circa 1250-900BC) for Olmec civilisation than previously estimated. Continue reading...
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