The Olmecs were the earliest known major Mesoamerican civilization. Following a progressive development in Soconusco, they occupied the tropical lowlands of the modern-day Mexican states of Veracruz and Tabasco. It has been speculated that the Olmecs derived in part from the neighboring Mokaya or Mixe–Zoque cultures.
A mastodon is any proboscidean belonging to the extinct genus Mammut that inhabited North and Central America during the late Miocene or late Pliocene up to their extinction at the end of the Pleistocene 10,000 to 11,000 years ago. Mastodons lived in herds and were predominantly forest-dwelling animals. They survived on a mixed diet and obtained food by browsing and grazing, somewhat similar to modern elephants, but probably with greater emphasis on browsing
In the History of Mesoamerica, the stage known as the Paleo-Indian period is the era in the scheme of Mesoamerican chronology which begins with the very first indications of human habitation within the Mesoamerican region, and continues until the general onset of the development of agriculture and other proto-civilization traits. The conclusion of this stage may be assigned to approximately 9000 BP, and the transition to the succeeding Archaic period is not a well-defined one.
Olmec figurines are archetypical figurines produced by the Formative Period inhabitants of Mesoamerica. While not all of these figurines were produced in the Olmec heartland, they bear the hallmarks and motifs of Olmec culture. While the extent of Olmec control over the areas beyond their heartland is not yet known, Formative Period figurines with Olmec motifs were widespread in the centuries from 1000 to 500 BC, showing a consistency of style and subject throughout nearly all of Mesoamerica.
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).
Lake Texcoco was a natural lake within the "Anahuac" or Valley of Mexico. Lake Texcoco is best known as where the Aztecs built the city of Tenochtitlan, which was located on an island within the lake. After the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, efforts to control flooding by the Spanish led to most of the lake being drained.
The Clovis culture is a prehistoric Paleoamerican culture, named for distinct stone tools found in close association with Pleistocene fauna at Blackwater Locality No. 1 near Clovis, New Mexico, in the 1920s and 1930s. It appears around 11,500–11,000 uncalibrated RCYBP at the end of the last glacial period and is characterized by the manufacture of "Clovis points" and distinctive bone and ivory tools. Archaeologists' most precise determinations at present suggest this radiocarbon age is equal to roughly 13,200 to 12,900 calendar years ago.
Tlatilco was a large pre-Columbian village in the Valley of Mexico situated near the modern-day town of the same name in the Mexican Federal District. It was one of the first chiefdom centers to arise in the Valley, flourishing on the western shore of Lake Texcoco during the Middle Pre-Classic period, between the years of 1200 BCE and 200 BCE. It gives its name to the "Tlatilco culture", which also included the town of Tlapacoya, on the eastern shore of Lake Chalco.
Cuvieronius is an extinct New World genus of gomphothere, named after the French naturalist Georges Cuvier. Alive, specimens typically stood about 2.3 m tall at the shoulder, weighed about 3.5 t and would have superficially resembled a modern elephant with spiral-shaped tusks.
Tlatilco culture is a culture that flourished in the Valley of Mexico between the years 1250 BCE and 800 BCE, during the Mesoamerican Early Formative period. Tlatilco, Tlapacoya, and Coapexco are the major Tlatilco culture sites.
The causes and degree of Olmec influences on Mesoamerican cultures has been a subject of debate over many decades. Although the Olmecs are considered to be perhaps the earliest Mesoamerican civilization, there are questions concerning how and how much the Olmecs influenced cultures outside the Olmec heartland. This debate is succinctly, if simplistically, framed by the title of a 2005 The New York Times article: “Mother Culture, or Only a Sister?”.
The Paleontological Museum in Tocuila is a fossil museum located in Municipality of Texcoco, State of Mexico, central Mexico.
The Tepexpan Man is a Pre-Columbian-era skeleton, discovered by archaeologist Helmut de Terra in February 1947, on the shores of the former Lake Texcoco in central Mexico. The skeleton was found near mammoth remains and thought to be at least 10,000 years old. It was fancifully hailed by Time magazine as the oldest Mexican. The skeleton was found lying face down with the arms under the chest and the legs drawn up to the stomach. The body most likely sank into the mud surrounding it, leaving the shoulder, back, and hips exposed, which might explain why those elements are missing. It is possible that the body was originally deposited in the lake.
Capacha is an archaeological site located about 6 kilometers northeast of the Colima Municipality, in Colima State, Mexico. This site is the heart of the ancient Mesoamerican Capacha Culture.
San Miguel Ixtapan is an archaeological site located in the municipality of Tejupilco, in the State of Mexico.
The Xalnene Tuff footprints are a geological academic controversy, concerning a 2005 discovery of 269 markings in a geological layer in the Valsequillo Basin, south of the city of Puebla, Mexico, which were originally interpreted to be human and animal footprints. The layer was variously dated to 40,000 years Before Present (BP) or 1.3 million years BP, both dates significantly before the currently accepted date for the settlement of the Americas. A 2010 study argues that the marks were made by recent mining activities.
The Venus of Savignano is a Venus figurine made from soft greenstone (serpentine) dating back to the Upper Paleolithic, which was discovered in 1925 near Savignano sul Panaro in the Province of Modena, Italy.
El Fin del Mundo is an ancient Pleistocene site near Pitiquito in northwestern Sonora, Mexico. It features Clovis culture period occupation dating around 13,390 calibrated years BP and was discovered during a 2007 survey.
Beatriz Barba Ahuactzin was a Mexican academic, anthropologist, and archaeologist, who was the second woman to earn a degree in archaeology in her country. She was a member of the National System of Researchers from 1985 and a member of the Mexican Academy of Sciences. Upon her fortieth anniversary of teaching, in 1991, she was honored with the gold Ignacio Altamirano Medal by the government of Mexico and the Secretariat of Education. In 2013, the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) paid tribute to her life's work.
Chiquihuite cave is a possible Upper Paleolithic archaeological site in the Astillero Mountains, Zacatecas State, in North-Central Mexico. It is located 2,740 meters above sea level, and about 1 kilometer higher than the valley below. The lithic artifacts discovered here have been dated to 26,000 years before present based on more than 50 samples of animal bone and charcoal found in association with the tools.
