mesoamerica

1. MESOAMERICA

2. • The term Mesoamerica is derived from the Greek and means "Middle America."
It refers to a geographical and cultural area which extends from northern
Mexico down through Central America, including the territory which is now made
up of the countries of Guatemala, Belize, Honduras and El Salvador. It is
therefore seen as partly in North America, and encompassing most of Central
America.
• Many important ancient civilizations developed in this area, including the
Olmecs, Mayas, and Aztecs.
Mesoamerica

3. • Mesoamerica is commonly divided into five different cultural areas: West
Mexico, the Central Highlands, Oaxaca, the Gulf region, and the Maya area.
• The term Mesoamerica was originally coined by Paul Kirchhoff, a German-
Mexican anthropologist, in 1943.
• His definition was based on geographic limits, ethnic composition, and cultural
characteristics at the time of the conquest. The term Mesoamerica is mainly
used by cultural anthropologists and archaeologists, but it is very useful for
visitors to Mexico to be familiar with it when trying to grasp an understanding of
how Mexico developed over time.

4. 3 ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS

5. OLMECS
A member of a prehistoric people inhabiting the
coast of Veracruz and western Tabasco on the
Gulf of Mexico ( c. 1200–400 BC), who established
what was probably the first Meso-American
civilization.

6. OLMEC COLOSSAL
The Olmec colossal heads are stone
representations of human heads sculpted from
large basalt boulders. Theheads date from at
least 900 BC and are a distinctive feature of
the Olmec civilization of ancient Mesoamerica
Olmec colossal

7. MAYAS
The Maya civilization was a Mesoamerican
civilization developed by the Maya peoples, and
noted for its hieroglyphic script—the only known
fully developed writing system of the pre-
Columbian Americas—as well as for its art,
architecture, mathematics, calendar, and
astronomical system

8. HAAB
The Mayan calendar (Haab) is to date one of the most
accurate calendars ever created. The Haab consist of
eighteen months of twenty days and one month of
fivedays

9. AZTECS
Aztec. Aztec, self name Culhua-Mexica, Nahuatl-
speaking people who in the 15th and early 16th
centuries ruled a large empire in what is now
central and southern Mexico. The Aztecs are so
called from Aztlán (“White Land”), an allusion to
their origins, probably in northern Mexico.

10. AZTEC CANOE
The macuahuitl was a club made of wood that
paralyzed enemies. Aztecs also made canoes that
allowed them to carry goods through waterways in
the empire.

11. AZTEC HERBS USED FOR MEDICINE
Aztec medical advancements were also an
astonishing part of Aztec society. Doctors had
cures for sickness and injuries and also had
ways to prevent them. Some of the illness' and
injuries that doctors treated were fevers,
earaches, broken bones, and colds. Doctors even
had procedures for women to go through when
they were pregnant, such as having a women
carry wood ash if she goes out past dawn to
ward off evil spirits that could harm her fetus.

12. 3 Major Periods of Mesoamerica

13. The Pre-Classic period stretches from 1500 B.C. to 200
A.D. During this period there was a refinement of
agricultural techniques which allowed for larger
populations, division of labor and the social stratification
necessary for civilizations to develop. The Olmec
civilization, which is sometimes referred to as the
"mother culture" of Mesoamerica, developed during this
period.
The Pre-Classic
Period

14. The Classic Period
The Classic period, from 200 to 900 A.D., saw the
development of great urban centers with
centralization of power. Some of these major
ancient cities include Monte Alban in Oaxaca,
Teotihuacan in central Mexico and the Mayan
centers of Tikal, Palenque and Copan. Teotihuacan
was one of the largest metropoles in the world at
the time, and its influence stretched over much of
Mesoamerica.

15. The Post Classic
Period
The Post-Classic period, from 900 A.D. to the
arrival of the Spaniards in the early 1500s, was
characterized by city-states and greater
emphasis on war and sacrifice. In the Maya area,
Chichén Itza was a major political and economic
center, and in the central plateau. In the 1300s,
towards the end of this period, the Aztecs (also
called the Mexica) emerged. The Aztecs had
previously been a nomadic tribe, but they settled
in central Mexico and founded their capital city
Tenochtitlan in 1325, and rapidly came to
dominate most of Mesoamerica.