Ancient cultures everywhere sought (among other philosophical speculations), to unravel the mystery of the Universe: its origin, its ultimate root, and what sustains and energizes it. As such, they not only tried to conceive the Universe according to their own vision, but also used varied metaphors/images to communicate the grand cosmic mystery that transcends the constraints of space and time, of logic and casuality. Exploring beyond the ‘New-Age’ trend, this volume offers some of the insightful studies of ancient cosmology and the unique human experience producing its diversified expressions across the continents. Going into the beliefs of different ethnic groups, together with the data from different archaeological horizons, the book brings out the traditional cosmic world-view of Rome, India, Colombia and, more specially, of Meso-America — a cultural area which, till the Spanish invasion in the sixteenth century, included most of the present Republic of Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, and parts of Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica. Also included here is a comparative picture of the cosmologies of India, China and Meso-America. Essentially an assemblage of erudite presentations of a symposium — held during the XVII International Congress of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences: 1995, Mexico City, the book captures a cross-section of the ongoing worldwide researches on cosmology. Which are bound to interest the scholars of anthropology, social anthropology, ethnology, religion and traditional cultures.
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