List of archaeological periods (Mesoamerica) facts for kids
The chronology of Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica is usually divided into the following eras:
Five Stage Classification
One of the most enduring classifications of archaeological periods & cultures was established in Gordon Willey and Philip Phillips' 1958 book Method and Theory in American Archaeology. They divided the archaeological record in the Americas into 5 phases. These are:
- The Lithic stage
- The Archaic stage
- The Formative stage
- The Classic stage
- The Post-Classic stage
Tabular list
| Paleo-Indian (10,000 BCE–3500 BCE) |
Honduras, Guatemala, Belize, obsidian and pyrite points, Iztapan | |||
| Archaic (3500 BCE–1800 BCE) |
Agricultural settlements, Tehuacán | |||
| Preclassic (Formative) (2000 BCE–250 CE) |
The start of nation-states. The first large scale ceremonial architecture, development of cities.
(Unknown culture in La Blanca and Ujuxte, Monte Alto culture) |
Early Preclassic | Olmec area: San Lorenzo Tenochtitlan; Central Mexico: Chalcatzingo; Valley of Oaxaca: San José Mogote. The Maya area: Nakbe, Cerros | 2000 BCE–1000 BCE |
| Middle Preclassic | Olmec area: La Venta, Tres Zapotes; Maya area: El Mirador, Izapa, Lamanai, Xunantunich, Naj Tunich, Takalik Abaj, Kaminaljuyú, Uaxactun; Valley of Oaxaca: Monte Albán | 1000 BCE–400 BCE | ||
| Late Preclassic | Maya area: Uaxactun, Tikal, Edzná, Cival, San Bartolo, Altar de Sacrificios, Piedras Negras, Ceibal, Rio Azul; Central Mexico: Teotihuacan; Gulf Coast: Epi-Olmec culture | 400 BCE–200 CE | ||
| Classic (200 CE–900 CE) |
Height of the nation-states.
(Classic Maya Centers, Teotihuacan, Zapote) |
Early Classic | Maya area: Calakmul, Caracol, Chunchucmil, Copán, Naranjo, Palenque, Quiriguá, Tikal, Uaxactun, Yaxha; Teotihuacan apogee; Zapotec apogee. | 200 CE–600 CE |
| Late Classic | Maya area: Uxmal, Toniná, Cobá, Waka', Pusilhá, Xultún, Dos Pilas, Cancuen, Aguateca; Central Mexico: Xochicalco, Cacaxtla, Cholula; Gulf Coast: El Tajín and Classic Veracruz culture | 600 CE–900 CE | ||
| Terminal Classic | Maya area: Puuc sites - Uxmal, Labna, Sayil, Kabah | 800 CE–900/1000 CE | ||
| Postclassic (900 CE–1519 CE) |
Collapse of many of the great nations and cities of the Classic Era
(Aztec, Purépecha, Mixtec, Totonac, Pipil, Itzá, Kowoj, K'iche', Kaqchikel, Poqomam, Mam) |
Early Postclassic | Tula, Mitla, Tulum, Topoxte, | 900 CE–1200 CE |
| Late Postclassic | Tenochtitlan, Cempoala, Tzintzuntzan, Mayapán, Ti'ho, Utatlán, Iximche, Mixco Viejo, Zaculeu | 1200 CE–1519 CE | ||
| Post Conquest (Until 1697 CE) |
Central Peten: Tayasal, Zacpeten | |||
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