Mesoamerican cultures

thumb|upright=1.35|The Aztec Empire in 1519 within [[Mesoamerica]]

The Olmecs () or Olmec were an early major Mesoamerican civilization, flourishing in the modern-day Mexican states of Veracruz and Tabasco from roughly 1200 to 400 BC during Mesoamerica's formative period. They were initially centered at the site of their development in San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán, but moved to La Venta in the 10th century BC following the decline of San Lorenzo. By about 400 BC the major centres of the Olmec civilization had been abandoned, and the population of the eastern half of the Olmec heartland dropped precipitously. The settlement density in that area remained much

thumb|250px|right|A Toltec-style clay vessel (American Museum of Natural History). The Toltec culture () was a pre-Columbian Mesoamerican culture that ruled a state centered in Tula, Hidalgo, Mexico, during the Epiclassic and the early Post-Classic period of Mesoamerican chronology, reaching prominence from 950 to 1150 CE. The later Aztec culture considered the Toltec to be their intellectual and cultural predecessors and described Toltec culture emanating from Tōllān (Nahuatl for Tula) as the epitome of civilization. In the Nahuatl language the word Tōltēkatl (singular) or Tōltēkah (plural) c

thumb|260px|Turquoise mosaic mask. Mixtec-Aztec, 1400–1521 AD

Paleo-Indians (also spelled Paleoindians) were the first peoples who entered and subsequently inhabited the Americas towards the end of the Late Pleistocene period. The word comes from the prefix paleo-, taken from , and "Indian", which has been historically used to refer to Indigenous peoples of the Americas. The term Paleo-Indian applies specifically to the lithic period in the Western Hemisphere and is distinct from the term Paleolithic.

The Nahuas ( ) are a Uto-Nahuan ethnic group and one of the Indigenous people of Mexico, with Nahua minorities also in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica. They comprise the largest Indigenous group in Mexico, as well as the largest population out of any North American Indigenous people group who are native speakers of their respective Indigenous language. Amongst the Nahua, this is Nahuatl. When ranked amongst all Indigenous languages across the Americas, Nahuas list third after speakers of Guaraní and Quechua.

The Purépecha ( ) are a group of Indigenous people centered in the northwestern region of Michoacán, Mexico, mainly in the area of the cities of Cherán and Pátzcuaro.

ethnic group, one of the Maya peoples

Native Americans

ethnic group of Central America

The Tlaxcalans (sometimes Tlaxcallans), or Tlaxcalteca, are an Indigenous Nahua people who originate from the Confederacy of Tlaxcala (modern day Tlaxcala, Mexico). The Confederacy was instrumental in overthrowing the Aztec Empire in 1521, alongside conquistadors from the Kingdom of Spain. The Tlaxcalans remained allies of the Spanish for 300 years until the Independence of Mexico in 1821.

300px|thumb|Territory dominated by Tepanecs. thumb|left|Glyph denoting Tepanecs The Tepanecs or Tepaneca are a Mesoamerican people who arrived in the Valley of Mexico in the late 12th or early 13th centuries. The Tepanec were a sister culture of the Aztecs (or Mexica) as well as the Acolhua and others—these tribes spoke the Nahuatl language and shared the same general pantheon, with local and tribal variations. However, some authors suspect the Tepaneca had partial Otomi or Matlatzinca origins. The patron deity of the Tepanec was Ototontecuhtli, also called Cuecuex, who was also a major deity

The Mazatec are an Indigenous people of Mexico who inhabit the Sierra Mazateca in the state of Oaxaca and some communities in the adjacent states of Puebla and Veracruz.

The Lenca are an Indigenous people from present day southwest Honduras and eastern El Salvador in Central America. They historically spoke various dialects of the Lencan languages such as Chilanga, Putun (Potón), and Kotik, but today are mostly native speakers of Spanish. In Honduras, the Lenca are the largest tribal group, with an estimated population of more than 450,000.

capital city of the pre-Columbian K'iche' Maya of highland Guatemala.

state in present-day central Mexico (c. 1300-1530)

Qʼeqchiʼ () (Kʼekchiʼ in the former orthography, or simply Kekchi in many English-language contexts, such as in Belize) are a Maya people of Guatemala, Belize and Mexico. Their Indigenous language is the Qʼeqchiʼ language.

ethnic group from Guatemala

Ethnicity in Guatemala and Mexico

thumb|Ethécatl, the Acolhua God of Wind, Musée du quai Branly The Acolhua are a Mesoamerican people who arrived in the Valley of Mexico in or around the year 1200 CE. The Acolhua are included under the term Aztec and were a sister culture of the Mexica as well as the Tepanec, Chalca, Xochimilca and others. The Acolhua settled most of the eastern Basin of Mexico, an area known as Acolhuacan. Their first capital was Coatlinchan, later moving to the more famous Tetzcoco. Another important Acolhua city was Huejotla.

ethnic group

The Mexica (Nahuatl: ; singular ) are a Nahuatl-speaking people of the Valley of Mexico who were the rulers of the Triple Alliance, more commonly referred to as the Aztec Empire. The Mexica established Tenochtitlan, a settlement on an island in Lake Texcoco, in 1325. A dissident group in Tenochtitlan separated and founded the settlement of Tlatelolco with its own dynastic lineage. In 1521, their empire was overthrown by an alliance of Spanish conquistadors and rival indigenous nations, most prominently the Tlaxcaltecs.

The Tolupan or Jicaque people are an Indigenous ethnic group of Honduras, primarily inhabiting the northwest coast of Honduras and the community in central Honduras.

Central American indigenous group

Indigenous Maya people of Guatemala

cultural area of the present-day Mexican state of Veracruz

ethnic group

Maya people in Mexico and Guatemala

ethnic group

ethnic group

indigenous people of Mexico

culture in what is now Mexico (450 BCE–350 CE))

archaeological culture in Guatemala

ethnic group

pre-Columbian city-state of the Valley of Mexico

speakers of the Chuj language

Ethnic group of tha Mayas

ethnic group of Mesoamerica

Capacha is an archaeological site located about 6 kilometers northeast of the Colima Municipality, in the Mexican state of Colima. This site is the heart of the ancient Mesoamerican Capacha Culture.

The Tepehuas are an Indigenous people of Mexico who are based in Hidalgo, Veracruz, and Puebla. They speak Tepehua languages, which belong to the Totonacan language family.

The Olmeca-Xicallanca, also known as the Historic Olmecs, were a people that dominated parts of central Mexico during the epiclassic period (after the seventh century), originating from the south of Veracruz and the west of Tabasco. They should not be confused with the preclassic Olmec culture, although it is possible that they originate from the same geographic area.

Maya people in Guatemala

ethnic group from Guatemala

Maya ethnicity from Guatemala

historical period of Mesoamerica between 1200-400 BC.

The Maya people located mainly in Uspantan

1250–800 BCE culture in the Valley of Mexico

Mesoamerican empire

Chupícuaro is an important prehispanic archeological site in what is now Guanajuato, Mexico, from the late preclassical or formative period. The culture that takes its name from the site dates to 400 BC to 200 AD, or alternatively 500 BC to 300 AD, although some academics suggest an origin as early as 800 BC.

ethnic group of Guatemala and Mexico

ethnic subgroup of the Maya

pre-Hispanic archaeological culture

Ethnic group in Mexico and Guatemala

Mesoamerican civilization, occupying a territory on the Gulf coast of Mexico

mountain range in Mexico

ethnic subgroup of the Maya from Sipacapa, Guatemala

The Kowoj [koʔwox] (also recorded as ''Ko'woh, Couoh, Coguo, Cohuo, Kob'ow and Kob'ox, and Kowo'') was a Maya group and polity, from the Late Postclassic period (ca. 1250–1697) of Mesoamerican chronology. The Kowoj claimed to have migrated from Mayapan sometime after the city's collapse in 1441 AD. Indigenous documents also describe Kowoj in Mayapan and linguistic data indicate migrations between the Yucatán Peninsula and the Petén region.

nahua ethnic group of Nicaragua

Archaeological site in Jacona, Mexico

period in Maya history