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The origins of the celebration of el Dia de los Muertos in Mexico date back to well before the arrival of Europeans. Although the dating is, of course, uncertain, it is now thought that the concept of death and the hereafter began with the Olmecs perhaps 3000 years ago. This was then transmitted to other cultures in Central America, such as the Toltecs and Maya.
When the Europeans brought their festivals of All Saints' and All Souls', there was a natural mingling of the two concepts -- although not without some opposition of the Church.
This historical background of El Dia de los Muertos is covered in a number of books in the University Library at USC, especially in the Boeckmann Center. The following are among the best sources.
Mexican Fine Arts Center. Dia de los Muertos. Chicago: Mexican Fine Arts Center, 1991. Boeckmann Center
Moctezuma, Eduardo Matos. El
Rostro de la
Muerte en el Mexico Prehispanico.Mexico: Garcia Valades, 1987.
Boeckmann Center Oversize F1219.3.R38M26 1987
Moctezuma, Eduardo Matos. Life and Death in the Templo
Mayor; translated by Bernard R. Ortiz de Montellano, Thelma Ortiz
de Montellano. Niwot: University Press of Colorado, 1995.
Boeckmann Center
Moctezuma, Eduardo Matos. Vida y Muerte en el Templo Mayor .
Mexico: Ediciones Oceana, 1986.
Doheny F1219.1.M5M3
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