Archaic Era

It started at the 10 000 B.C. and ended at 4 000 B.C, it is known that the dates
differ depending the geographical location, in Mesoamerica it is believed that it
ended near 2 500 B.C. In this time, in almost every culture they started living a
sedentary life instead of being nomadic. It was the end of the Ice Age, many
species extinguished like the mammoth and other big animals, and the population
started to grow too. With the end of the Ice Age the weather changed, the
environment became warmed. The conditions became better and gave the
opportunity for humans to live in, and many species appeared and due to this the
food habits changed too.

During this period there was a development of technologies, instruments made

with stones, bones and sticks. It is known that they had religious belief because a
system of burial rites. Agriculture became very important, for example in
Mesoamerica the most important food and varieties included corn, beans, squash
and maize. Other of their food was pepper, avocado, amaranth, mesquite, cactus,
agave and nuts, they hunt animals like rabbits, wolves and deer.
Agriculture and hunt change depending on the location and the available resources
for example the pumpkin, llama and guinea pig in the Andean area. In the Late
Archaic Period groups settled often near rivers and aquatic animals like turtles and
shellfish were part of their diet.

Preclassic Era
It is known to be from 2500 B.C. to the 200 A.C. During this time the agriculture
was settled and with the time they begun to varied and diverse the crops. They
also started producing pottery to store water, food and other things. The small
villages begun to expand and transform into big towns. Each member of the
community did something specifically, the labor was divided.
This like trade and commerce emerged too and with this the textile and fabric
production started. Like during the Archaic Era, the technology developed but now
the instruments were enriched. It is known that during this period it already exist a
complex religious system. In this era de Olmec appeared, one of the most
important preclassic cultures, it developed before 1 200 B.C.) and ended around
400 B.C. Some of the important centers of prosperity were San Lorenzo, La Venta,
Tres Zapotes and Las Limas.

San Lorenzo flourished trading obsidian, jade, rubber, pottery, and feathers, among
other things. In La Venta was the very first pyramid in Mesoamerica. This culture,
like many others, was very attached to nature and this is why they had deities for
almost every component of the nature. Other cultures began to evolve more
complex elaborate mechanisms for coordinating, organizing, and feeding the
growing populations; this is also shown in the settlement distribution and
architectural elaboration. The disappearance of cultures like Olmec is unknown,
many theories including diseases, wars, adaptation and others are the thought
about the end of some civilizations.

Classic Era
It started in 200 A.C., when the Teotihuacan valley was growing and ended in 1
000 A.C, with the Terminal Classic. During this period new techniques for
agriculture were introduced and due to this it increased. Along with the increases of
towns the population expanded too. The religious system continued but during this
era ceremonial centers emerged. The trade became one of the most important
activities; this allowed interacting with other cultures in different regions.
Economic, social, political and religious structures were created, the political and
economic connections spread too. During this period one of the most important
creations was developed, the calendar. Monte Albn flourished in the Classic era.
The Mayas perfected the mathematics, astronomy, architecture and the visual arts
and also refined and perfected the calendar. The mathematical system allowed a
better trade and commerce. During the last part of the Classic era new
architectural styles, showing connections between central Mexico and northern
Maya territories.
In the Postclassic Era, the Aztecs or Mexicas flourished and, according to the
legend, they found a symbol in a place that later on would be Tenochtitlan, one of
the largest cities in that time. Cultures flourished through all Mesoamerica, the
Huastec in Tampico, Mixtec in Oaxaca, famous for the multicolored pottery. Other
examples were the Totonacs in Veracruz, Toltec in Hidalgo, Huicholes in Nayarit
and Purepechas in Guerrero.