DISCOVERING ANCIENT MESOAMERICAN CIVILIZATIONS n ancient times the land from central Mexico to northern Honduras was home to some of the most advanced civilizations on the American continents This territory called Mesoamerica cov ered about half of modern day Mexico all of Guatemala and Belize and parts of El Salvador and Honduras The people behind these sophisticated cultures were the native peoples of the Americas the Indians Much like in ancient Egypt Mesopotamia and China the Indians of Mesoamerica advanced from primitive ways to complex societies Beginning with almost nothing they eventually established elaborate cities built massive monuments and created beau tiful works of art They learned how to grow food in tropical rain forests and on mountain slopes They developed customs and laws and made amazing discoveries in astronomy and math What were these ancient people like What did they believe How did they
OD CTION 50 100 150 mi 050 100 150 200 km Santa MOOF alco°2 Tikai ORum Chichen Itza Lake Uxmal Gulf of Loltín Cave Hidalgo Texcoco EI Tajin Lake Kabah Tulum Pachuca Mexico Cuitzeo TOTONAC Labna TOLTEC Sayi 12 MEXICA YUCATAN 6 Tlaxcala PENINSULA 1189 Zempoala Campeche Quintana 10 Puebla veracruz Cerro Roo 14 313 de las Mesas Balsas Lake Chalco NAHUA CHENES oTehuacan Tres Zapotes Morelos Rio Bec Valley La Venta Puebla OLMEC E Tabasco inta Mirador payactin Guerrero R MEXICO MIXTEC San PETEN Palenque Oaxaca Lorenzo Oaxaca Piedras Negras Monte Alban Coatzacoalco Naranjo Caribbean Yaxchilán SIE R R A Mitla BELIZE Sea MIXTEC Bonampak Seibal M AD RE ZAPOTEC Chiapas DE LSU R CHIARAs GUATEMALA 3 Quirigua Mayan zone GUATEMALA of influence Izapa Copan Mayan sites 1 Azcapotzalco 8 Tlapacoya Kaminaliuyu ocoso HONDURAS O Aztec empire 2 Chalcatzingo 9 Tlatelolco IZAPAN PACIFIC 3 Cholula 10 Tlacopan Aztec sites 4 Cuicuilco 11 Tlatilco OCEAN EL SALVADOR Other sites 5 Tenochtitlan 12 Tula o National capital 6 Teotihuacan 13 Valsequillo NICARAGUA State capitals 7 Tepexpan14 Xochicalco 2014 Encyclopaedia Britannica Inc Chiaea go HIGHLANDS Guatemala City This map shows the locations of ancient and modern cities in Mesoamerica In addition to the Aztec and the Maya the Olmes Zapotec Toltec and other peoples developed civilizations in this area in ancient times live Fortunately they left records The records are the items they made their buildings their artwork and their picture writing From these archaeologists have pieced together a picture of fascinating people who began to civilize the continent more than 3 000 years
CHAPTER ONE THE STORY OF MESOAMERICA he first people to come to Mesoamerica were hunter gatherers Hunter gatherers live in small family based groups called bands which move from place to place looking for food They kill wild animals and collect the fruit of edible plants When they exhaust the supply in one location they move to another They continue this nomadic way of life until they figure out how to grow food Once they learn to farm life changes dramatically They no longer have to move they settle forming small villages Because they spend less time getting food they can pursue other activities They find ways to use the resources in their environment to make their lives easier and more enjoyable Over time they develop a division of labor some people concentrate on farm ing and others make pots baskets jewelry and other
THE STORY OF MESOAMERICA items When people cooperate on projects they develop rules for working together The villages eventually grow into cities the rules into laws and the division of labor into social classes These developments are Some of the characteristics of a civilization The rise from farming to civilization can take thousands of years In Mesoamerica Indians began to experiment with raising plants as early as 8000 BCE By 5000 BCE they had begun using corn as a food Squash beans Mesoamerican farmers dug holes and planted single seeds of corn beans and squash together in each hole The corn provided stalks for the bean plants to climb and the corn and beans shaded the squash which grew close to the
