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
DISCOVERING ANCIENT MESOAMERICAN CIVILIZATIONS and chili peppers were other early crops By 1500 BCE some Mesoamerican farmers were producing enough food that the people were ready to live a fully settled life The Mother Culture The Olmec The first great civilization in Mesoamerica was that of the Olmec These people settled along the hot humid coast of the Gulf of Mexico in what are today the Mexican states of Veracruz and Tabasco By about 1200 BCE their simple farming villages had evolved into a civilization The Olmec built large towns where they came together to trade and hold reli gious ceremonies The most important were San Lorenzo La Venta and Tres Zapotes San Lorenzo the oldest site is famous for its The Venta extraordinary Olmec settlement of La stone on the Gulf coast of Mexico was monuments La Venta originally built on an island in the Tonalá River Today it is part is marked by great of a large swamp A 100 foot 30 meter high clay mound shaped like a fluted cone towers over the site Some archaeologists believe that it represents a volcano IO
THE STORY OF MESOAMERICA mounds a narrow plaza and several other ceremonial enclosures Between about 800 and 400 BCE it was the most important set tlement in Mesoamerica Olmec culture faded by about 400 BCE Its influence however spread north to cen tral Mexico and south to Central America Classic Civilizations As the Olmec declined other civilizations rose Several reached their peak during what is called the Classic era of ancient Mesoamerican civilization This period lasted from about 100 to 900 CE The Zapotec made their home in the mountains of southern Mexico In about 500 BCE they established a political and cultural center at Monte Albán near the present day city of Oaxaca The ancient city had pyramids temples elaborate tombs underground passageways and a ball court Monte Albán reached its height between 300 and 900 CE After that Zapotec influ ence declined as the Mixtec civilization ascended As Monte Albán flourished in Oaxaca Teotihuacán emerged in central Mexico II
