The journey and excursions in Mexico which have originated the narrative and remarks contained in this volume were made in the months of March, April, May, and June of 1856, for the most part on horseback.

To Tylor the fact that modern religious practitioners continued to believe in spirits showed that these people were no more advanced than primitive societies. American Anthropologist Vol. By excluding scientific explanation in their understanding of why and how things occur he asserts modern religious practitioners are rudimentary.

Sir Edward Burnett Tylor (2 October 1832 – 2 January 1917) was an English anthropologist. He considered animism as the first phase of development of religions.