The foremost iconographer of our time, Karl Taube has traced the Maya and Central Mexican deities of maize and rain back to their Olmec antecedents and forward across time and space to the American Southwest. Among his widely cited and seminal publications are the books The Major Gods of Ancient Yucatan and Olmec Art at Dumbarton Oaks, while following articles are a selection from a substantially larger bibliography:
"The Classic Maya Maize God: A Reappraisal" (1985) (online at MesowebPARI)
"A Prehispanic Maya Katun Wheel" (1988) (online at Mesoweb)
"Ritual Humor in Classic Maya Religion" (1989) (online at Mesoweb)
"Itzam Kab Ain: Caimans, Cosmology, and Calendrics in Postclassic Yucatan" (1989b) (online at MesowebBEARC)
"The Maize Tamale in Classic Maya Diet, Epigraphy, and Art" (1989) (online at Mesoweb)
"A Classic Maya Entomological Observation" (1989) (online at Mesoweb)
"The Temple of Quetzalcoatl and the Cult of Sacred War at Teotihuacan" (1992) (online at Mesoweb)
"The Iconography of Mirrors at Teotihuacan" (1992) (online at Mesoweb)
"The Bilimek Pulque Vessel: Starlore, Calendrics, and Cosmology of Late Postclassic Central Mexico" (1993) (online at Mesoweb)
"The Iconography of the Toltec Period Chichen Itza" (1994) (online at Mesoweb)
"The Birth Vase: Natal Imagery in Ancient Maya Myth and Ritual" (1994)
"The Rainmakers: The Olmec and Their Contribution to Mesoamerican Belief and Ritual" (1995)
"The Olmec Maize God: The Face of Corn in Formative Mesoamerica" (1996)
"The Jade Hearth: Centrality, Rulership, and the Classic Maya Temple" (1998)
"The Turquoise Hearth: Fire, Self Sacrifice, and the Central Mexican Cult of War" (2000)
"Lightning Celts and Corn Fetishes: The Formative Olmec and the Development of Maize Symbolism in Mesoamerica and the American Southwest" (2000)
"La escritura teotihuacana" (2001)
"The Breath of Life: The Symbolism of Wind in Mesoamerica and the American Southwest" (2001)
"Maws of Heaven and Hell: The Symbolism of the Centipede and Serpent in Classic Maya Religion" (2003a)
"Tetitla and the Maya Presence at Teotihuacan" (2003)
"Aztec Religion: Creation, Sacrifice, and Renewal" (2004)
"Structure 10L-16 and its Early Classic Antecedents: Fire and the Evocation and Resurrection of K'inich Yax K'uk' Mo'" (2004b)
"Flower Mountain: Concepts of Life, Beauty, and Paradise Among the Classic Maya" (2004c)
"The Symbolism of Jade in Classic Maya Religion" (2005).


The foremost iconographer of our time, Karl Taube has traced the Maya and Central Mexican deities of maize and rain back to their Olmec antecedents and forward across time and space to the American Southwest. Among his widely cited and seminal publications are the books The Major Gods of Ancient Yucatan and Olmec Art at Dumbarton Oaks, while following articles are a selection from a substantially larger bibliography:
"The Classic Maya Maize God: A Reappraisal" (1985) (online at MesowebPARI)
"A Prehispanic Maya Katun Wheel" (1988) (online at Mesoweb)
"Ritual Humor in Classic Maya Religion" (1989) (online at Mesoweb)
"Itzam Kab Ain: Caimans, Cosmology, and Calendrics in Postclassic Yucatan" (1989b) (online at MesowebBEARC)
"The Maize Tamale in Classic Maya Diet, Epigraphy, and Art" (1989) (online at Mesoweb)
"A Classic Maya Entomological Observation" (1989) (online at Mesoweb)
"The Temple of Quetzalcoatl and the Cult of Sacred War at Teotihuacan" (1992) (online at Mesoweb)
"The Iconography of Mirrors at Teotihuacan" (1992) (online at Mesoweb)
"The Bilimek Pulque Vessel: Starlore, Calendrics, and Cosmology of Late Postclassic Central Mexico" (1993) (online at Mesoweb)
"The Iconography of the Toltec Period Chichen Itza" (1994) (online at Mesoweb)
"The Birth Vase: Natal Imagery in Ancient Maya Myth and Ritual" (1994)
"The Rainmakers: The Olmec and Their Contribution to Mesoamerican Belief and Ritual" (1995)
"The Olmec Maize God: The Face of Corn in Formative Mesoamerica" (1996)
"The Jade Hearth: Centrality, Rulership, and the Classic Maya Temple" (1998)
"The Turquoise Hearth: Fire, Self Sacrifice, and the Central Mexican Cult of War" (2000)
"Lightning Celts and Corn Fetishes: The Formative Olmec and the Development of Maize Symbolism in Mesoamerica and the American Southwest" (2000)
"La escritura teotihuacana" (2001)
"The Breath of Life: The Symbolism of Wind in Mesoamerica and the American Southwest" (2001)
"Maws of Heaven and Hell: The Symbolism of the Centipede and Serpent in Classic Maya Religion" (2003a)
"Tetitla and the Maya Presence at Teotihuacan" (2003)
"Aztec Religion: Creation, Sacrifice, and Renewal" (2004)
"Structure 10L-16 and its Early Classic Antecedents: Fire and the Evocation and Resurrection of K'inich Yax K'uk' Mo'" (2004b)
"Flower Mountain: Concepts of Life, Beauty, and Paradise Among the Classic Maya" (2004c)
"The Symbolism of Jade in Classic Maya Religion" (2005).