The geography of Mesoamerica describes the geographic features of Mesoamerica, a culture area in the Americas inhabited by complexindigenouspre-Columbian cultures exhibiting a suite of shared and common cultural characteristics. Several well-known Mesoamerican cultures include the Olmec, Teotihuacan, the Maya, the Aztec and the Purépecha. Mesoamerica is often subdivided in a number of ways. One common method, albeit a broad and general classification, is to distinguish between the highlands and lowlands. Another way is to subdivide the region into sub-areas that generally correlate to either culture areas or specific physiographic regions.
The region possesses a complex combination of ecological systems. Archaeologist and anthropologist Michael D. Coe grouped these different niches into two broad categories: lowlands (those areas between sea level and 1000 meters) and altiplanos or highlands (those situated between 1000 and 2000 meters above sea level). In the low-lying regions, sub-tropical and tropical climates are most common, as is true for most of the coastline along the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea. The highlands show much more climatic diversity, ranging from dry tropical to cold mountainous climates, the dominant climate is temperate with warm temperatures and moderate rainfall.
Highlands
Landscape of the Mesoamerican highlandsThe turkey was one of the few species domesticated by the Mesoamericans.The jaguar, common throughout southeast Mesoamerica, was symbolic to many pre-Columbian groups.
The highlands of Mesoamerica generally contain two separate regions: the mountainous zone of central and western Mexico, and the highlands of Guatemala and the Mexican state of Chiapas. The topography, climate, and soil fertility of the highlands can vary dramatically. In central and western Mexico, the most fertile soil is found among the low-lying valleys. Several of these, including the Valley of Oaxaca, Puebla-Tlaxcala, and the Valley of Mexico (now Mexico City), were historically important locations where complex pre-Columbian societies developed. The tall mountainous peaks of the Sierra Madres, however, impedes the movement of clouds and reduces the amount of rainfall the region receives. Indeed, the hot arid valleys of the Mixtec area and in the state of Guerrero are among two of the driest areas in the highlands.
Initial hypotheses concerning environmental conditions postulated that the highland climate was more hospitable in the past.[citation needed] More recent research has made it clear that the climate past was not very different from that of today, even though the ecosystems do show a significant degree of decline due to human activity.[citation needed] Many parts of the highlands show evidence of early deforestation, and various species have disappeared from their former habitats.[citation needed]
The highlands of Mesoamerica, while not extraordinarily rich, Were sufficiently fertile to allow the development of the high agricultural cultures of ancient, pre-Hispanic times.[citation needed] In fact, the situation was quite similar to that of other regions of the world where early civilizations thrived, as in the north of Peru, or in the valley of the Indus River in Asia.[citation needed] In these sites, as in Mesoamerica, humans developed methods in which the limited available resources could be fully exploited. Highland agrarian cultures learned to store water or divert it from its sources in the mountains to the cultivable lands.[citation needed] One of the most well-known adaptations was the use of chinampas, or artificial islands upon which plants could be cultivated. Chinampas were originally used by the Purépechas in western Guerrero and by the Aztec in the Valley of Mexico. Several chinampas still survive in Xochimilco.
The lowlands, however, offered a great variety of usable flora and fauna resources. These included resources that could not only be consumed in lieu of full-scale agriculture, but also traded to obtain other goods. Furthermore, the greater accessibility of the coast facilitated transportation, interregional communication, and trade.
Cultural areas
Map of the cultural areas of Mesoamerica
Mesoamerica as a whole is considered a culture area within which a number of cultural sub-areas existed. While all cultures in Mesoamerica share a number of common characteristics, cultural sub-areas are defined by a higher level of specificity in defining elements (i.e., classification of cultural sub-areas is based on more specific criteria than the more broadly defined Mesoamerica). The sub-areas generally correlate with known cultural groups, such as the areas where the Maya, Huastec, and Olmec were found, for example. This is not to say that all the peoples in an area share a common ethnicity (indeed, in many cases they do not even share the same language) or lived within or under a single polity. At the same time, based on cultural similarities, it is clear that various kinds of interaction occurred within sub-areas, be them historical relationships, political interaction (e.g., alliances, conflict), and/or economic or commercial agreements. Listed below are the sub-areas found in Mesoamerica.
Considerable research has been conducted about regional communications in ancient Mesoamerica. There were apparent trade routes starting in the Mexico Central Plateau, and going down to the Pacific coast. These contacts then went on as far as Central America. These trade networks operated with various interruptions from the earliest times and up to the Late Classical Period (600–900 CE).
Central Mexico
Teotihuacan, in central Mexico.
One of the most important areas in the pre-Columbian history of Mexico is known as 'Central Mexico'. This area is composed of moderate to cold valleys in the southern part of the Mexican high plateau and in the north of the Balsas River basin. It is an ecological niche characterized by its temperate climate and absence of significant water sources. The rains arrive between the months of April and September, and are not abundant. This led to the early development of hydraulic projects, among them the building of canals from the rivers–reservoirs in the hillsides for storing water.
The Mayan Region is the largest in Mesoamerica. As such, it encompasses a vast and varied landscape, from the mountainous regions of the Sierra Madre to the semi-arid plains of northern Yucatán. Climate in the Maya region can vary tremendously, as the low-lying areas are particularly susceptible to the hurricanes and tropical storms that frequent the Caribbean. The region is generally divided into three loosely defined zones: the southern Maya highlands, the southern (or central) Maya lowlands, and the northern Maya lowlands. The southern Maya highlands include all of elevated terrain in Guatemala and the Chiapas Highlands. The southern lowlands lie just north of the highlands, and incorporate the Petén of northern Guatemala, Belize, and the southern portions of the Mexican states of Campeche and Quintana Roo. The northern lowlands cover the remainder of the Yucatán Peninsula, including the Puuc hills. Geologically, the Maya region consists of a limestoneplateau that rises slightly toward the south, ending where the mountainous zone interrupts the plain.
Northern Maya lowlands
The climate of the northern Maya lowlands can vary greatly. The northwestern part of the peninsula is considered semi-arid and one of the driest in the Maya region, while the northeast receives a greater amount of rainfall. There is an overall lack of surface water in the northern lowlands, though cenotes are common and provide a source of water. Generally, the water table (or aquifer) is not particularly deep, and the excavation of wells is possible once the bedrock cap is pierced. With the exception of the Puuc hills, which range from central and southern Yucatán into the northern parts of Campeche, there is little topographic variation in the lowlands.
Southern Maya lowlands
The southern lowlands receive much more rainfall and, climatically, contain tropical and sub-tropical zones. Rivers, such as the Usumacinta and the Pasion, originate in the highlands and pass through several areas of the southern lowlands. In contrast to the north, there are a number of lakes in the southern lowlands, such as Lake Petén Itza.
Unlike the highland regions of central Mexico, the southern Maya highlands are generally cool, temperate in climate, and covered in thick vegetation. The eastern portions of the highlands are somewhat drier. The Sierra Madre mountains are volcanic, and Tajumulco Volcano, at an elevation of 4,220 m (13,845ft), is the highest point in Central America. The highlands of Guatemala has a total of 37 volcanoes, four of which are active (Pacaya, Santiaguito, Fuego and Tacaná). Earthquakes are frequent, and flooding and mudslides occur.
Oaxaca
La Mixteca mountain range
The Oaxacan region has been one of the most diverse since the Mesoamerican epoch. It is a completely mountainous territory, marked by the Sierra Madre del Sur and the Mixteca shield. It includes a portion of the Balsas River basin, characterized by its dryness and complicated geographical relief. Its river beds are shallow and of small capacity. In this sense, it appears much like Central Mexico.
There were two principal scenarios in the cultural history of the Oaxacan people. On the one hand, the central Valley of Oaxaca saw the development of the Zapotec culture, one of the most ancient and well known of the Mesoamerican region. This culture was developed by the chiefdoms that controlled the arable land (which was very fertile, albeit dry) of the small valleys of Etla, Tlacolula, and Miahuatlán. Some of the first examples of great architecture in Mesoamerica were in this region, for example, the ceremonial center of San José Mogote. The hegemony of this center in the Valley region passed into the hands of Monte Albán, the Classic capital of the Zapotec. The fall of Teotihuacán in the 8th century CE permitted the great heights achieved by the Zapotec culture. However, the city of Monte Albán was abandoned in the 10th century CE, and gave way to a series of regional centers that fought among each other for political dominance.
The other principal scenario was that of the Mixtec region, which lies to the west of the Central Valley. The Mixtec region has also been occupied since prehistoric times. It has an extremely mountainous terrain of variable altitude, rising to more than 3,000 metres (9,800ft). The climate varies from mountainous and temperate to tropical and dry, and rain is generally scarce. There is little running surface water, and presently, a good part of the area has become alarmingly deforested, a result of the ground-clearing agricultural practices of the ancient inhabitants of the region.
By the Preclassic period there were already important population centers in the region, such as Yucuita and Cerro de las Minas. However, the Mixtec capitals did not reach the magnitude of their Zapotec neighbors. The summit of the Mixtec culture was reached in the Postclassic period, when Lord 8 Deer of Tututepec and Tilantongo embarked on a campaign of political unification of the Mixtec city-states, and came to occupy the Central Valley of Oaxaca.
Guerrero
Guerrero has traditionally been considered part of Western Mexico. However, recent discoveries have reoriented the divisions of the Mesoamerican cultural areas, and in the works of recent authors, Guerrero is regarded as an independent cultural area. The Guerrero region occupies approximately the area of the southern Mexican state of the same name. It can be divided into three regions with different characteristics: in the north, the Basin of the Balsas River, whose current is the defining characteristic of the regional geography. The Balsas Basin is a low-lying region, with a hot climate and scarce rainfall, whose dryness is mitigated by the presence of the Balsas River and its numerous branches. Central Guerrero corresponds to the Sierra Madre del Sur, a region rich in mineral deposits but poor in agricultural potential. Lastly, the southern part of the region consists of the Pacific coast, a wide coastal plain, full of mangroves and palms, battered by hurricanes from the south.
Guerrero was the site of the first pottery traditions in Mesoamerica. The most ancient remains have been found in Puerto Marqués, near Acapulco, and are about 3500 years old. During the Preclassic period, the Balsas Basin became an area of vital importance for the cultural development of the Olmec, who left signs of their presence in areas such as Teopantecuanitlán and the grottos of Juxtlahuaca. Later came the development of a sculptural tradition known as Mezcala, characterized by its geometrization of the human form. During the Postclassic period, the greater part of Guerrero remained under the domination of the Mexica, and only the Tlapanec lands of Yopitzinco remained independent.
The West
El Bajío
Western Region is one of the least known areas of Mesoamerica. It is an extensive region that comprises the slopes of the Sierra Madre Occidental, a part of the Sierra Madre del Sur and the middle and lower basin of the Lerma River. The foothills of the mountain were covered by forests of pine and oak, but forestry in the area has reduced its size. The land is suited to cultivation due to its fertility and abundant water resources, especially in the coastal plain of Sinaloa, the Bajío, and the Tarascan Plateau. The climate varies from cold in the mountains, in the east of Michoacán, to tropical along the coast of Nayarit.
This region was inhabited by Uto-Aztecan-speaking peoples, such as the Cora, the Huichol, and the Tepehuano. The incorporation of these peoples into the sphere of Mesoamerican civilization was very gradual, and it is presumed that the first ceramics developed in this region were linked to traditions of the Andean people of Ecuador and Perú. The changes that clearly affected the rest of the region are less observable in the West, and for that reason, the cultural traditions of the Preclassic period, such as those of the Colima, Jalisco and Nayarit, or those of the Tumbas de Tiro survived well into the Classic period (150-750 CE). The best known of the western societies is the Purépecha, which rivaled the power of the Mexica during the 15th century CE.
The North
Turquoise, one of the main products of the North of Mesoamerica.
The North of Mesoamerica formed part of the cultural super area only during the Classic era (150-750 CE), during which Teotihuacan's apogee, and population growth, favored migration towards the north and commerce with distant Oasisamerica. The region is flat, compressed between the mountain ranges of the Sierra Madre Occidental and the Sierra Madre Oriental. The climate is dry, if not desert-like, with scarce vegetation, for which reason agriculture was only possible through the canalization of surface water currents (especially the Pánuco River and the Lerma tributaries) and the storage of rain water. The excessive dependence on good weather led the people of the North to abandon the region in the middle of the 8th century after enduring a prolonged drought and invasions of Aridoamerican people.
The centers of population in the North were dependent on the network of commerce that was established between Teotihuacan and the Oasis America societies. Sites such as La Quemada in Zacatecas, and La Ferrería in Durango served as forts to guard the commercial routes. When agriculture and the social system collapsed in the North, the occupants of the region migrated towards the West, the Gulf, and the Center of Mexico.
Centroamerica
Lake Nicaragua
The area known as Centroamerica occupies the Pacific coasts of El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and the Nicoya Peninsula in Costa Rica. The climate of this region is tropical, with important geological activity, and includes the great Mediterranean lakes of Central America: Lake Nicaragua and Lake Managua. As in the case of the northern region, Centroamerica formed part of the Mesoamerican world only temporarily. It is customary to count the Centroamerican peoples as part of the transition zone between the Andean world and Mesoamerica. Their first contact with the center of Mesoamerica occurred in the Preclassic period, as indicated by the Olmec influence in the area. However, in the Classic period relations were interrupted and Centroamerica received significant cultural influences from the Colombian Altiplano. The development of metallurgy in Centroamerica, for example, occurred much earlier than in the rest of Mesoamerica. During the Postclassic period, the area was again part of the Mesoamerican sphere, as Pipil and Nicarao people, both speakers of Nawat, migrated to this area during the time of the Toltec Empire. Speakers of Subtiaba and Mangue are also thought to have migrated to the area from Mesoamerica proper, though the circumstances of such a migration remain unclear.
The Huastec or Téenek are an indigenous people of Mexico, living in the La Huasteca region including the states of Hidalgo, Veracruz, San Luis Potosí and Tamaulipas concentrated along the route of the Pánuco River and along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico.
Obsidian is a naturally formed volcanic glass that was an important part of the material culture of Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica. Obsidian was a highly integrated part of daily and ritual life, and its widespread and varied use may be a significant contributor to Mesoamerica's lack of metallurgy. Lithic and contextual analysis of obsidian, including source studies, are important components of archaeological studies of past Mesoamerican cultures and inform scholars on economy, technological organization, long-distance trade, ritual organization, and socio-cultural structure.
Kaminaljuyu is a Pre-Columbian site of the Maya civilization located in Guatemala City. Primarily occupied from 1500 BC to 1200 AD, it has been described as one of the greatest archaeological sites in the New World—although the extant remains are distinctly unimpressive. Debate continues about its size, integration, and role in the surrounding Valley of Guatemala and the Southern Maya area.
Mesoamerican chronology divides the history of prehispanic Mesoamerica into several periods: the Paleo-Indian ; the Archaic, the Preclassic or Formative (2500 BCE – 250 CE), the Classic (250–900 CE), and the Postclassic (900–1521 CE); as well as the post European contact Colonial Period (1521–1821), and Postcolonial, or the period after independence from Spain (1821–present).
Mesoamerican languages are the languages indigenous to the Mesoamerican cultural area, which covers southern Mexico, all of Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, and parts of Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica. The area is characterized by extensive linguistic diversity containing several hundred different languages and seven major language families. Mesoamerica is also an area of high linguistic diffusion in that long-term interaction among speakers of different languages through several millennia has resulted in the convergence of certain linguistic traits across disparate language families. The Mesoamerican sprachbund is commonly referred to as the Mesoamerican Linguistic Area.
Mesoamerican pyramids form a prominent part of ancient Mesoamerican architecture. Although similar in some ways to Egyptian pyramids, these New World structures have flat tops and stairs ascending their faces, more similar to ancient Mesopotamian Ziggurats. The largest pyramid in the world by volume is the Great Pyramid of Cholula, in the east-central Mexican state of Puebla. The builders of certain classic Mesoamerican pyramids have decorated them copiously with stories about the Hero Twins, the feathered serpent Quetzalcoatl, Mesoamerican creation myths, ritualistic sacrifice, etc. written in the form of Maya script on the rises of the steps of the pyramids, on the walls, and on the sculptures contained within.
Mesoamerica is a historical region and cultural area that begins in the southern part of North America and extends to the Pacific coast of Central America, thus comprising the lands of central and southern Mexico, all of Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, and parts of Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica. As a cultural area, Mesoamerica is defined by a mosaic of cultural traits developed and shared by its indigenous cultures.
Mesoamerica, along with Mesopotamia and China, is one of three known places in the world where writing is thought to have developed independently. Mesoamerican scripts deciphered to date are a combination of logographic and syllabic systems. They are often called hieroglyphs due to the iconic shapes of many of the glyphs, a pattern superficially similar to Egyptian hieroglyphs. Fifteen distinct writing systems have been identified in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica, many from a single inscription. The limits of archaeological dating methods make it difficult to establish which was the earliest and hence the progenitor from which the others developed. The best documented and deciphered Mesoamerican writing system, and the most widely known, is the classic Maya script. Earlier scripts with poorer and varying levels of decipherment include the Olmec hieroglyphs, the Zapotec script, and the Isthmian script, all of which date back to the 1st millennium BC. An extensive Mesoamerican literature has been conserved, partly in indigenous scripts and partly in postconquest transcriptions in the Latin script.
Trade was a crucial factor in maintaining Maya cities.
Karl Andreas Taube is an American Mesoamericanist, Mayanist, iconographer and ethnohistorian, known for his publications and research into the pre-Columbian cultures of Mesoamerica and the American Southwest. He is Distinguished Professor of Anthropology at the College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences, University of California, Riverside. In 2008 he was named the College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences distinguished lecturer.
The Central Valleys of Oaxaca, also simply known as the Oaxaca Valley, is a geographic region located within the modern-day state of Oaxaca in southern Mexico. In an administrative context, it has been defined as comprising the districts of Etla, Centro, Zaachila, Zimatlán, Ocotlán, Tlacolula and Ejutla. The valley, which is located within the Sierra Madre Mountains, is shaped like a distorted and almost upside-down “Y,” with each of its arms bearing specific names: the northwestern Etla arm, the central southern Valle Grande, and the Tlacolula arm to the east. The Oaxaca Valley was home to the Zapotec civilization, one of the earliest complex societies in Mesoamerica, and the later Mixtec culture. A number of important and well-known archaeological sites are found in the Oaxaca Valley, including Monte Albán, Mitla, San José Mogote and Yagul. Today, the capital of the state, the city of Oaxaca, is located in the central portion of the valley.
The Southern Maya Area is a region of Pre-Columbian sites in Mesoamerica. It is long believed important to the rise of Maya civilization, during the period that is known as Preclassic. It lies within a broad arc going southeast from Chiapa de Corzo in Mexico to Copán and Chalchuapa, in Central America.
The pre-Columbian history of the territory now making up the country of Mexico is known through the work of archaeologists and epigraphers, and through the accounts of Spanish conquistadores, settlers and clergymen as well as the indigenous chroniclers of the immediate post-conquest period.
Huamelulpan is an archaeological site of the Mixtec culture, located in the town of San Martín Huamelulpan at an elevation of 2,218 metres (7,277 ft), about 96 kilometres (60 mi) north-west of the city of Oaxaca, the capital of Oaxaca state.
The use of mirrors in Mesoamerican culture was associated with the idea that they served as portals to a realm that could be seen but not interacted with. Mirrors in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica were fashioned from stone and served a number of uses, from the decorative to the divinatory. An ancient tradition among many Mesoamerican cultures was the practice of divination using the surface of a bowl of water as a mirror. At the time of the Spanish conquest this form of divination was still practiced among the Maya, Aztecs and Purépecha. In Mesoamerican art, mirrors are frequently associated with pools of liquid; this liquid was likely to have been water.
The Mezcala culture is the name given to a Mesoamerican culture that was based in the southern Mexican state of Guerrero, in the upper Balsas River region. The culture is poorly understood but is believed to have developed during the Middle and Late Preclassic periods of Mesoamerican chronology, between 700 and 200 BC. The culture continued into the Classic period when it coexisted with the great metropolis of Teotihuacan.
Regional communications in ancient Mesoamerica are believed to have been extensive. There were various trade routes attested since prehistoric times. In this article, especially the routes starting in the Mexico Central Plateau, and going down to the Pacific coast will be considered. These contacts then went on as far as Central America.
The history of Maya civilization is divided into three principal periods: the Preclassic, Classic and Postclassic periods; these were preceded by the Archaic Period, which saw the first settled villages and early developments in agriculture. Modern scholars regard these periods as arbitrary divisions of chronology of the Maya civilization, rather than indicative of cultural evolution or decadence. Definitions of the start and end dates of period spans can vary by as much as a century, depending on the author. The Preclassic lasted from approximately 3000 BC to approximately 250 AD; this was followed by the Classic, from 250 AD to roughly 950 AD, then by the Postclassic, from 950 AD to the middle of the 16th century. Each period is further subdivided:
The Archaic period, also known as the preceramic period, is a period in Mesoamerican chronology that begins around 8000 BCE and ends around 2000 BCE and is generally divided into Early, Middle, and Late Archaic periods. The period is preceded by the Paleoindian period and followed by the Preclassic period. Scholars have found it difficult to determine exactly when the Paleoindian period ends and the Archaic begins, but it is generally linked with changing climate associated with the transition from the Pleistocene to the Holocene epochs, and absence of extinct Pleistocene animals. It is also generally unclear when the Archaic period ends and the Preclassic period begins, though the appearance of pottery, large-scale agriculture, and villages signal the transition.
The Archaic period is traditionally viewed as a long, transitional interval between the hunter-gatherers of the Paleoindian period and the proliferation of agricultural villages in the Preclassic. This period is known for the domestication of major Mesoamerican crops, the development of agriculture, and the beginning of sedentism. The major developments in agriculture and sedentism during this time allowed for the rise of complex societies in the region. These developments were not uniform throughout Mesoamerica and often differed regionally.
The Mixtec culture was a pre-hispanic archaeological culture, corresponding to the ancestors of the Mixtec people; they called themselves ñuu Savi, which means "people or nation of the rain". It had its first manifestations in the Mesoamerican Middle Preclassic period and ended with the Spanish conquest in the first decades of the 16th century. The historical territory of this people is the area known as La Mixteca, a mountainous region located between the current Mexican states of Puebla, Oaxaca, and Guerrero.
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