Mesoamerican chronology

Mesoamerican chronology

Mesoamerican chronology

The Preclassic Era or the Formative Period saw the rise of large-scale ceremonial architecture, writing, cities, and states. Many of the key elements of Mesoamerican civilization can be traced back to this period, including the dominance of corn, the building of pyramids, human sacrifice, jaguar-worship, the complex calendar, and many of the gods.

During this period, the Olmec civilization developed and flourished at such sites as La Venta and San Lorenzo Tenochtitln, the Zapotec arose in the Valley of Oaxaca, the Teotihuacan civilization arose in the Valley of Mexico, and the Maya civilization began in modern-day Guatemala and expanded into the Yucatan Peninsula. Important early Maya cities include Kaminaljuyu, El Mirador, Nakbe, San Bartolo, Cival and Takalik Abaj.

The Classic Era was dominated by numerous independent city-states in the Maya region and also featured the beginnings of political unity in central Mexico and the Yucatn. The city-state of Teotihuacan dominated the Valley of Mexico until the early eight century, but we know little of the political structure of the region because the Teotihuacaners left no written records. The city-state of Monte Albn dominated the Valley of Oaxaca until the late Classic, leaving limited records in their mostly undeciphered script.

In the Maya region, numerous city states such as Tikal, Calakmul, Copn, Palenque, Uxmal, Cob, and Caracol reached their zeniths. Each of these polities was generally independent, although they often formed alliances and sometimes became vassal states of each other. The main conflict during this period was between Tikal and Calakmul, who fought a series of wars over the course of more than half a millennium. Each of these states declined during the Terminal Classic and were eventually abandoned.

In the early 20th century, the term "Old Empire" was sometimes given to this era of Maya civilization in an analogy to Ancient Egypt; the term is now considered inaccurate and has long been out of use by serious writers on the subject.

The Postclassic is often viewed as a period of cultural decline. However, it was a time of technological advancement in areas of architecture, engineering and weaponry. Metallurgy (introduced c.800 ad) came into use for jewellry and some tools, with new alloys and techniques being developed in a few centuries. The Postclassic saw rapid movement and growth of population - especially in Central Mexico post-1200 AD. It was also a time of experimentation in governance. For instance, in Yucatan, 'dual rulership' apparently replaced the more theocratic governments of Classic times, whilst oligarchic councils now operated in much of Central Mexico. Likewise, it appears that the wealthy pochteca (merchant class) and military orders became more powerful than was apparently the case in Classic times. This afforded some Mesomaericans a degree of social mobility.

The Toltec for a time dominated central Mexico in the 11th 13th century, then collapsed. The northern Maya were for a time united under Mayapan. Equally, Oaxaca was briefly united by Mixtec rulers in the 11th - 12th centuries.

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