PRE-COLUMBIAN PERIOD

Mtra. Carmen Tatay Fernández

Tradición Mesoamericana

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PREHISTORIC CHRONOLOGY

1 MILLION YEARS BP, 10 GLACIER ERAS IN NORTH

AMERICA.

THE LAST WARM PERIOD TOOK PLACE 82,000 YEARS

AGO, FOLLOWED BY DRAMATIC CLIMATIC CHANGES

FROM 70,000 TO 7,000 B.C. (WISCONSIN WARM

PERIODS).

THE GLACIER AGE (100,000 – 8,000 B.P.) → NE

ASIA AND NW AMERICA AS A CONTINUOUS

TERRITORY (LOWERING OF THE SEA LEVEL.)

10,000 B.C.: END OF THE ICE AGE: TRANSITION

TOWARDS THE NEOLITHIC REVOLUTION IN AMERICA.

NORTH AMERICA ICE AGE

The blue areas are those that were covered by ice sheets in the past. The Kansan and

Nebraskan sheets overlapped almost the same areas, and the Wisconsin and Illinoisan

sheets covered approximately the same territory. In the high altitudes of the West are

the Cordilleran ice sheets. An area at the junction of Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, and

Illinois was never entirely covered with ice.

POPULATION OF THE AMERICAS

40,000-35,000 B.P. CONTINUOUS CROSSING OF

NOMADIC BANDS OF HUNTERS AND GATHERERS DURING

THE PLEISTOCENE ERA FOLLOWING THE BIG GAME.

WISCONSIN GLACIER AGE (100,000 – 8,000 B.P.) NE

ASIA AND NW AMERICA AS A CONTINUOUS TERRITORY

(LOWERING OF THE SEA LEVEL)

HOMO SAPIENS SAPIENS, ONLY HUMAN SPECIES IN THE

AMERICAS.

THE BERING STRAIT AS A LAND BRIDGE BETWEEN

SIBERIA AND ALASKA (56 MILES LAND BRIDGE) AND

DIOMEDE ISLANDS.

THE BERING STRAIT

MIGRATORY WAVES

THE HOMO SAPIENS SAPIENS POPULATED THE AMERICAN

CONTINENT IN DIFFERENT MIGRATORY WAVES:

70-60,000 Y.B.P., PREMONGOLIC MIGRATION

50,000-40,000 Y.B.P.: FROM LAKE BAIKAL IN NE ASIA,

MONGOLOID STOCK, LACK OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE,

BIOGENETICS (ADN) & GLOTOCHRONOLOGY.

30,000-15,000 Y.B.P.: CONTINUOUS CROSSING OF NOMADIC

BANDS OF HUNTERS AND GATHERERS DURING THE

PLEISTOCENE ERA FOLLOWING THE BIG GAME.

15,000-10,000 B.P.: NEW WAVE ESTABLISHED IN NW

CANADA.

9,000-6,000 B.P., ANCESTORS OF ALEUT & ESKIMO GROUPS;

END OF PLEISTOCENE, HOLOCENE PERIOD.

BERING STRAIT CROSSING

Siberia to Alaska Migration Routes

FROM NORTH TO SOUTH

MEXICAN PREHISTORY

DINOSAURS AND REMAINS OF PRIMITIVE ANIMALS IN THE

DESERT OF COAHUILA FROM MILLION YEARS AGO (NON

ASSOCIATED TO HUMANS.)

20,000 B.P. FIRST INDICATORS OF HUMAN PRESENCE IN

MEXICAN TERRITORY → HUNTERS-GATHERERS, FISHERS

(TOOLS, ANIMAL SKELETONS, CAVE PAINTINGS.)

10,000 B.C. END OF THE GLACIER AGE AND MEGA

FAUNA. MEDIUM AND SMALL SPECIES (PUMA, PECCARY,

DEER, RACCOON, RABBIT) NEW HUNTING TOOLS (MICRO

PROJECTILES.)

PLEISTOCENIC FAUNA

MEGATERIUS

(PEREZOSO)

MASTODON

MAMMOTH

BEARS

RHINOCEROS

CAMELS

BISON

SABLE TIGERS

WOLVES

ARMADILLO

HORSES

NEOLITHIC REVOLUTION

TEHUACAN VALLEY, PUEBLA.

SEQUENCE OF HUMAN OCCUPATION SINCE 12,000 TO

(FROM HUNTERS & GATHERERS TO AGRICULTURALISTS)

9,000 B.C. TEPEXPAN (LAKE TEXCOCO, VALLEY OF MEXICO)

A WOMAN SKELETON ASSOCIATED TO A HUNTING PARTY.

7,000-5,000 B.C. SELECTIVE GATHERING OF SOME PLANTS.

DOMESTICATION OF CHILI, AVOCADO, AND SQUASH.

FIRST GRINDING STONES.

PROTO-NEOLITHIC, 5,000-2,500 B.C.

DOMESTICATION OF CORN (TEOSINTLE, 2.5 CM), BEANS,

ZAPOTE.

NEOLITHIC REVOLUTION

FULL TIME AGRICULTURE:

CULTIVATED CORN _ZEA MAYS_, 20 CM., BEANS & SQUASH)

SEDENTARY COMMUNITIES (FIRST HAMLETS & VILLAGES):

COMMUNAL LIFE STYLE; TRIBES _NO SOCIAL STRATIFICATION

POTTERY, WEAVING AND DYING TEXTILES (COTTON, YUCCA,

MAGUEY)

GRINDING STONES (METATES AND MANOS )

DOMESTICATED DOGS

HUMAN SACRIFICES AND BURIAL RITUALS

FERTILITY CULTS

GOD OF FIRE

METATES & MOLCAJETES

GEOGRAPHY OF ANCIENT MEXICO

THREE LARGE REGIONS:

1. ARID-AMERICA: NORTHERN MEXICO & USA SW

2. OASIS-AMERICA (WITHIN ARID-AMERICA)

3. MESO-AMERICA (CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN

MEXICO, GUATEMALA, HONDURAS, BELIZE, EL

SALVADOR)

3.1 WESTERN REGION

3.2 CENTRAL PLATEAU

3.3 GULF REGION

3.4 OAXACA REGION

3.5 MAYA REGION

SIERRA DE SAN FRANCISCO, B.C.

ARTE RUPESTRE BAJA CALIFORNIA

ARID-AMERICA

IT EXTENDS BY NORTHERN MEXICO & USA

SOUTHWEST (GRAN CHICHIMECA.)

ADAPTATION TO DESERT AND SEMI-DESERT CONDITIONS,

LACK OF WATER.

NOMADIC BANDS, LOW POPULATION DENSITY (AROUND

20-30 PEOPLE.)

HUNTING AND GATHERING, DESERT FLORA AND FAUNA

(CACTI)

LOW TECHNOLOGICAL (SPEARS, BOWS & ARROWS) AND

CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT (CAVE PAINTINGS,

PETROGLYPHS.)

CAVE ART

OASIS-AMERICA

WITHIN THE VAST EXTENSION OF ARID-AMERICA

THERE WERE PRIVILEGED AREAS WERE WATER WAS

AVAILABLE IN OASIS → AGRICULTURE AND

SEDENTARISM.

DEVELOPMENT OF DESERT CULTURES: PAQUIME

(CHIHUAHUA), LA QUEMADA (ZACATECAS), LA

FERRERIA (DURANGO), ETC.

AGRICULTURE AND TRADING NETWORKS

(INTERMEDIARIES BETWEEN ARID-AMERICA AND

MESOAMERICA, F.I. TURQUOUISE)

CLIFF DWELLERS (CHIHUAHUA AND ARIZONA)

PETRO GLYPHS

CLIFF DWELLINGS

OASIS –AMERICA

TRADING OUTPOST

CERAMICS BASKETRY

MESOAMERICA (MIDDLE AMERICA)

GEOGRAPHIC AND CULTURAL DEFINED BY

ARCHAEOLOGIST PAUL KIRCHOHFF (1943) BECAUSE

THEY SHARE GEOGRAPHIC AND CULTURAL TRAITS.

CRADLE OF CIVILIZATIONS AND CULTURAL HORIZONS

LINGUISTIC DIVERSITY & CULTURAL HOMOGENEITY

DIVIDED COMMONLY IN 5 REGIONS FROM CENTRAL AND

SOUTHERN MEXICO TO CENTRAL AMERICA: WESTERN REGION (JALISCO, COLIMA, NAYARIT)

CENTRAL PLATEAU (MICHOACAN, PUEBLA, VALLEY OF

MEXICO)

GULF COAST (HUAXTEC REGION, VERACRUZ, TABASCO)

OAXACA

MAYA REGION (PETEN JUNGLE AND YUCATAN PENINSULA)

CIVILIZATION

AREAS IN THE

AMERICAS

MESOAMERICA

AND

THE ANDEAN REGION