Portal:Mesoamerica
the Mesoamerica Portal 
_trim.png?lang=en){kind=small}
Mesoamerica (Spanish: Mesoamérica) is a region and cultural area in the Americas, extending approximately from central Mexico to Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica, within which a number of pre-Columbian societies flourished before the Spanish colonization of the Americas in the 15th and 16th centuries.
As a cultural area, Mesoamerica is defined by a mosaic of cultural traits developed and shared by its indigenous cultures. Beginning as early as 7000 BC, the domestication of maize, beans, squash and chili, as well as the turkey and dog, caused a transition from paleo-Indian hunter-gatherer tribal grouping to the organization of sedentary agricultural villages. In the subsequent formative period, agriculture and cultural traits such as a complex mythological and religious tradition, a vigesimal numeric system, and a complex calendric system, a tradition of ball playing, and a distinct architectural style, were diffused through the area. Also in this period villages began to become socially stratified and develop into chiefdoms with the development of large ceremonial centers, interconnected by a network of trade routes for the exchange of luxury goods such as obsidian, jade, cacao, cinnabar, Spondylus shells, hematite, and ceramics. While Mesoamerican civilization did know of the wheel and basic metallurgy, neither of these technologies became culturally important.
Among the earliest complex civilizations was the Olmec culture which inhabited the Gulf coast of Mexico. In the Preclassic period, complex urban polities began to develop among the Maya and the Zapotecs. During this period the first true Mesoamerican writing systems were developed in the Epi-Olmec and the Zapotec cultures, and the Mesoamerican writing tradition reached its height in the Classic Maya Hieroglyphic script. Mesoamerica is one of only five regions of the world where writing was independently developed. In Central Mexico, the height of the Classic period saw the ascendancy of the city of Teotihuacan, which formed a military and commercial empire whose political influence stretched south into the Maya area and northward. During the Epi-Classic period the Nahua peoples began moving south into Mesoamerica from the North. During the early post-Classic period Central Mexico was dominated by the Toltec culture, Oaxaca by the Mixtec, and the lowland Maya area had important centers at Chichén Itzá and Mayapán. Towards the end of the post-Classic period the Aztecs of Central Mexico built a tributary empire covering most of central Mesoamerica.
Selected article
The Olmec were the first major civilization in Mexico. They lived in the tropical lowlands of south-central Mexico, in the modern-day states of Veracruz and Tabasco.
The Olmec flourished during Mesoamerica's Formative period, dating roughly from as early as 1500 BCE to about 400 BCE. Pre-Olmec cultures had flourished in the area since about 2500 BCE, but by 1600–1500 BCE Early Olmec culture had emerged centered on the San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán site near the coast in southeast Veracruz. They were the first Mesoamerican civilization and laid many of the foundations for the civilizations that followed. Among other "firsts", the Olmec appeared to practice ritual bloodletting and played the Mesoamerican ballgame, hallmarks of nearly all subsequent Mesoamerican societies.
The most familiar aspect of the Olmecs is their artwork, particularly the aptly named "colossal heads". The Olmec civilization was first defined through artifacts which collectors purchased on the pre-Columbian art market in the late 19th century and early 20th century. Olmec artworks are considered among ancient America's most striking.
Selected biography
Ha' K'in Xook (Mayan pronunciation: [haʔ k’in ʃoːk]), also known as Ruler 6, was an ajaw of Piedras Negras, an ancient Maya settlement in Guatemala. He ruled during the Late Classic Period, from 767–780 AD. Ha' K'in Xook was a son of Itzam K'an Ahk II, and he ascended the throne upon the death of his brother, Yo'nal Ahk III. Ha' K'in Xook's reign seems to have ended either with his death or his abdication in favor of his brother K'inich Yat Ahk II, but archaeologists and Mayanists have not come to a clear consensus on this. Ha' K'in Xook left behind several monuments, including stelae at Piedras Negras and a stone fragment from El Porvenir. In addition, a stone seat known as Throne 1 which was erected by K'inich Yat Ahk II, records either the death or abdication of Ha' K'in Xook.
Did you know?
- ... that the pre-Columbian Zapotec storm god Cocijo (pictured) was said to have created the world from his breath?
- ... that the oldest pre-Hispanic tomb in the Americas has been found in Chiapa de Corzo, Chiapas, Mexico?
Subcategories
Related portals
Selected image
 |
Jade was worked in variety of ways in Mesoamerica, either as ornaments, a medium upon which hieroglyphs were inscribed, or shaped into figurines, weapons, and other objects.
Featured articles
Good Topics
Good articles
Gómez de Alvarado- Aztecs
- La Blanca, Peten
- Calakmul
- Bartolomé de las Casas
- Copán
- El Chal
- Haʼ Kʼin Xook
- History of chocolate
- Itzam Kʼan Ahk II
- Iximche
- Kʼinich Yat Ahk II
- Kʼinich Yoʼnal Ahk I
- Macuahuitl
- Maize
- Manche Chʼol
- Mixco Viejo
- Motul de San José
- Mundo Perdido, Tikal
- North Acropolis, Tikal
- Potbelly sculpture
- William H. Prescott
- Qʼumarkaj
- Resplendent quetzal
- Seibal
- Serpent labret with articulated tongue
- Spanish conquest of Yucatán
- Spanish conquest of Chiapas
- Spanish conquest of El Salvador
- Spanish conquest of Honduras
- Spanish conquest of the Maya
- Tikal
- Toniná
- Western Mexico shaft tomb tradition
- Benjamin Lee Whorf
- Yoʼnal Ahk III
- Zaculeu
Topics
WikiProjects
Things to do
 |
Here are some tasks awaiting attention:
|
New articles
Rules | Match log | Results page (for watching) | Last updated: 2025-04-01 22:00 (UTC)
Note: The list display can now be customized by each user. See List display personalization for details.
- Solanum donianum (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by Tom Radulovich (talk · contribs · new pages (79)) started on 2025-04-01, score: 24
- History of Chiapas (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by GreekApple123 (talk · contribs · new pages (34)) started on 2025-04-01, score: 130
- Tenam Rosario (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by Juan g. regino (talk · contribs · new pages (3)) started on 2025-03-31, score: 42
- Linda Manzanilla (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by Itzcuauhtli11 (talk · contribs · new pages (6)) started on 2025-03-31, score: 146
- Ijik Xajlel (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by Juan g. regino (talk · contribs · new pages (3)) started on 2025-03-29, score: 52
- Federation of Central America (1921–1922) (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by PizzaKing13 (talk · contribs · new pages (14)) started on 2025-03-26, score: 24
- Saxe–Goldstein hypothesis (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by UndercoverClassicist (talk · contribs · new pages (6)) started on 2025-03-25, score: 30
- Chancala (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by Juan g. regino (talk · contribs · new pages (3)) started on 2025-03-24, score: 128
- Belize–Germany relations (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by Rednaxela1962 (talk · contribs · new pages (18)) started on 2025-03-23, score: 32
- List of mayors of Havana (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by Guylaen (talk · contribs · new pages (46)) started on 2025-03-23, score: 30
- Grupo GEPP (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by ZooPhobiaFanMx (talk · contribs · new pages (3)) started on 2025-03-22, score: 24
- Amphicyclotus palenquensis (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs | tools) by JoJan (talk · contribs · new pages (80)) started on 2025-03-20, score: 30
Associated Wikimedia
The following Wikimedia Foundation sister projects provide more on this subject:
-
Commons
Free media repository -
Wikibooks
Free textbooks and manuals -
Wikidata
Free knowledge base -
Wikinews
Free-content news -
Wikiquote
Collection of quotations -
Wikisource
Free-content library -
Wikiversity
Free learning tools -
Wiktionary
Dictionary and thesaurus
