PRE-COLUMBIAN

PERIOD
Mtra. Carmen Tatay Fernndez
Tradicin Mesoamericana
llm-I / fll - uaq

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

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

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