A report on Mesoamerica

A pair of swinging Remojadas figurines, Classic Veracruz culture, 300 to 900 CE.

Page 9 of the Dresden Codex (from the 1880 Förstermann edition)

El Mirador flourished from 600 BCE to 100 CE, and may have had a population of over 100,000.

Tikal is one of the largest archaeological sites, urban centers, and tourist attractions of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization. It is located in the archaeological region of the Petén Basin in what is now northern Guatemala.

Pyramid of the Moon viewed from atop of the Pyramid of the Sun.

Xochicalco, Temple of the Feathered Serpent, 650–900 CE

Detail of the Nunnery Quadrangle at Uxmal, 10th century

Mesoamerica and Central America in the 16th century before Spanish arrival

K'inich Kan B'alam II, the Classic period ruler of Palenque, as depicted on a stele

Illustration that recreates the structures of the archaeological site of Yarumela or El Chircal in Honduras, this place reflects the Olmec influence that existed in Central America in the pre-classic period.

"Head Variant" or "Patron Gods" glyphs for Maya days

One of the earliest examples of the Mesoamerican writing systems, the Epi-Olmec script on the La Mojarra Stela 1 dated to around 150 CE. Mesoamerica is one of the five places in the world where writing has developed independently.

The xoloitzcuintle is one of the naguales of the god Quetzalcoatl. In this form, it helps the dead cross the Chicnahuapan, a river that separates the world of the living from the dead.

Ritual human sacrifice portrayed in Codex Laud

A small ceremonial ballcourt at Uaxactun.

Ballgame marker from the classic Lowland Maya site of Chinkultic, Mexico depicting a ballplayer in full gear

The Avenue of the Dead in Teotihuacan, an example of a Mesoamerican settlement planned according to concepts of directionality

Art with ideological and political meaning: depiction of an Aztec tzompantli (skull-rack) from the Ramirez Codex

Sculpture of "The Acrobat" from Tlatilco

Pyramid of the archaeological site of La Venta 1000-400 BCE

The partly excavated main structure of San José Mogote 1500–500 BCE

Monte Albán, Building J in the foreground. 200 BCE – 200 CE

A reconstruction of Guachimontones, flourished from 200 to 400 CE

Acanceh, 200–300 CE<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mesoweb.com/features/acanceh/history.html|title=Mesoweb Articles|work=mesoweb.com}}</ref>

Mask located on the "Temple of the Masks" Kohunlich c. 500 CE

K'inich Janaab Pakal I of Palenque 603–683 AD

Copan Stela H commissioned by Uaxaclajuun Ubʼaah Kʼawiil 695–738 AD

Jaina Island type figure (Maya) 650–800 AD

Cacaxtla, Mural depicting the Bird Man 650–900 AD

Chichen Itza, Temple of the Jaguars 900–1000 AD

Governor's Palace rear view and details, 10th century CE, Uxmal

Chichen Itza, "Temple of Three Dintels" 600–1000 CE

The Calendar temple of Tlatelolco, 1200 CE

Detail of page 20 from the Codex Zouche-Nuttall, 14–15th century

Historical region and cultural area in southern North America and most of Central America.

- Mesoamerica

151 related topics with Alpha

Maya civilization

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Remains in Joya de Cerén, a Classic-era settlement in El Salvador buried under volcanic ash around 600 AD. Its preservation has greatly helped in the study of everyday life in a Maya farming community.

Stela D from Quiriguá, representing king Kʼakʼ Tiliw Chan Yopaat

Calakmul was one of the most important Classic period cities.

Chichen Itza was the most important city in the northern Maya region.

Zaculeu was capital of the Postclassic Mam kingdom in the Guatemalan Highlands.

Mayapan was an important Postclassic city in the northern Yucatán Peninsula.

Page from the Lienzo de Tlaxcala showing the Spanish conquest of Iximche, known as Cuahtemallan in the Nahuatl language

Drawing by Frederick Catherwood of the Nunnery complex at Uxmal

1892 photograph of the Castillo at Chichen Itza, by Teoberto Maler

Stela from Toniná, representing the 6th-century king Bahlam Yaxuun Tihl

Classic period sculpture showing sajal Aj Chak Maax presenting captives before ruler Itzamnaaj Bʼalam III of Yaxchilan

Lintel 16 from Yaxchilán, depicting king Yaxun Bʼalam in warrior garb

The Puuc-style Labna gateway. The passage is formed by a corbel arch, a common element in Maya architecture.

Reconstruction of the urban core of Tikal in the 8th century AD

Fired bricks with animal designs from Comalcalco. Made from brick since there was a lack of readily available stone, it is unique among major Maya sites.

Terminal Classic palace complex at Sayil, in northern Yucatán

Temple I, at Tikal, was a funerary temple in honour of king Jasaw Chan Kʼawiil I.

Model of a triadic pyramid at Caracol, Belize

Pages from the Postclassic period Paris Codex, one of the few surviving Maya books in existence

Maya script on Cancuén Panel 3 describes the installation of two vassals at Machaquilá by Cancuén king Taj Chan Ahk.

Ceramic vessel painted with Maya script in the Ethnologisches Museum, Berlin

Representation of an astronomer from the Madrid Codex

Relief sculpture of a decapitated ballplayer, adorning the Great Ballcourt at Chichen Itza

The Museo Nacional de Arqueología y Etnología, in Guatemala City

The Maya civilization was a Mesoamerican civilization developed by the Maya peoples, and noted for its logosyllabic script—the most sophisticated and highly developed writing system in pre-Columbian Americas—as well as for its art, architecture, mathematics, calendar, and astronomical system.

Mesoamerican chronology

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Vessel from the Capacha culture, found in Acatitan, Colima.

Several of the most prominent Formative Period sites in the central Mexican plateau and Gulf Coast regions.

A typical Pre-Classic figurine from central Mexico, Tlatilco culture.

Important Classic Era settlements, circa 500 CE

Central Plaza of Monte Albán, a city constructed on a hill that dominates the Central Valley of Oaxaca

Mural of the Portic A, in Cacaxtla, Tlaxcala

View of the Calzada de los Muertos (Avenue of the Dead) from the Pyramid of the Moon, Teotihuacan, Mexico

Location of the Mayan people and their principal cities

Bas-relief in the museum of Palenque, Chiapas

Codex vessel of the Aztatlan culture of Nayarit, in the LACMA

Present day view of the chinampas of Xochimilco, in the Federal District

Mesoamerica and Central America in the 16th century before the arrival of the Spanish.

Mesoamerican chronology divides the history of prehispanic Mesoamerica into several periods: the Paleo-Indian (first human habitation until 3500 BCE); the Archaic (before 2600 BCE), the Preclassic or Formative (2500 BCE – 250 CE), the Classic (250–900 CE), and the Postclassic ; as well as the post European contact Colonial Period (1521–1821), and Postcolonial, or the period after independence from Spain (1821–present).

Mexico

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Country in the southern portion of North America.

Depiction of the founding myth of Mexico-Tenochtitlan from the Codex Mendoza. The eagle perched on a cactus has been incorporated into the Mexican flag since its independence, and was a motif in colonial-era art.

View of the Pyramid of the Sun of Teotihuacan with first human establishment in the area dating back to 600 BCE

Cultivation of maize, shown in the Florentine Codex (1576) drawn by an indigenous scribe, with text in Nahuatl on this folio

1945 mural by Diego Rivera depicting the view from the Tlatelolco markets into Mexico-Tenochtitlan, the largest city in the Americas at the time

Hernán Cortés and his multilingual cultural translator, Doña Marina ("Malinche"), meeting Moctezuma II from the Lienzo de Tlaxcala, a document created ca. 1550 by the Tlaxcalans to remind the Spanish of their loyalty and the importance of Tlaxcala during the conquest of the Aztec Empire.

Smallpox depicted by an indigenous artist in the 1576 Florentine Codex

View of the Plaza Mayor (today Zócalo) in Mexico City (ca. 1695) by Cristóbal de Villalpando

New Spain was essential to the Spanish global trading system. White represents the route of the Spanish Manila Galleons in the Pacific and the Spanish convoys in the Atlantic. (Blue represents Portuguese routes.)

Silver peso mined and minted in colonial Mexico, which became a global currency

Viceroyalty of New Spain following the signing of the 1819 Adams-Onís Treaty

Luis de Mena, Virgin of Guadalupe and castas, showing race mixture and hierarchy as well as fruits of the realm, ca. 1750

Father Hidalgo used this banner of the Virgin of Guadalupe as their emblem

Siege of the Alhondiga de Granaditas, Guanajuato, 28 Sept. 1810.

Flag of the Army of the Three Guarantees, the force formed by ex-royalist Iturbide and insurgent Vicente Guerrero in February 1821

Flag of the First Mexican Empire under Agustín I, 1822-23, with the eagle wearing a crown

Flag of the First Republic of Mexico, with the eagle without a crown, signaling the new republic

Portrait of Liberal President Benito Juárez

The Execution of Emperor Maximilian, 19 June 1867. Gen. Tomás Mejía, left, Maximiian, center, Gen. Miguel Miramón, right. Painting by Édouard Manet 1868.

President Porfirio Díaz linking himself to independence hero Hidalgo and liberal hero Juárez September 1910.

Francisco I. Madero, who challenged Díaz in the fraudulent 1910 election and was elected president when Díaz was forced to resign in May 1911.

Revolutionary Generals Pancho Villa (left) and Emiliano Zapata (right)

General Álvaro Obregón (far left) shown with a cigar in his left hand and his right arm missing, center with the white beard is First Chief Venustiano Carranza

Pemex, the national oil company created in 1938 for reasons of economic nationalism; it continues to provide major revenues for the government

NAFTA signing ceremony, October 1992. From left to right: (standing) President Carlos Salinas de Gortari (Mexico), President George H. W. Bush (U.S.), and Prime Minister Brian Mulroney (Canada)

Vicente Fox and his opposition National Action Party won the 2000 general election, ending one-party rule.

Mexico map of Köppen climate classification

The National Palace on the east side of Plaza de la Constitución or Zócalo, the main square of Mexico City; it was the residence of viceroys and Presidents of Mexico and now the seat of the Mexican government.

Andrés Manuel López Obrador President of Mexico

Alfonso García Robles diplomat who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1982

Demonstration on 26 September 2015, in the first anniversary of the disappearance of the 43 students in the Mexican town of Iguala

The territorial evolution of Mexico after independence: secession of Central America (purple), Chiapas annexed from Guatemala (blue), losses to the U.S. (red, white and orange) and the reannexation of the Republic of Yucatán (red)

A proportional representation of Mexico's exports. The country has the most complex economy in Latin America.

Historical GDP per capita development of Mexico

The Central Eólica Sureste I, Fase II in Oaxaca. The Isthmus of Tehuantepec is the region of Mexico with the highest capacity for wind energy. (see Tehuantepecer, a strong wind that affects the region)

Guillermo Haro Observatory in Cananea, Sonora.

Cancun and the Riviera Maya is the most visited region in Latin America

The Baluarte Bridge is the highest cable-stayed bridge in the world, the fifth-highest bridge overall and the highest bridge in the Americas.

Las castas. Casta painting showing 16 racial groupings. Anonymous, 18th century, oil on canvas, 148×104 cm, Museo Nacional del Virreinato, Tepotzotlán, Mexico.

Colonial caste painting of Mexican family in Viceroyalty of New Spain

Octavio Paz was awarded the 1981 Miguel de Cervantes Prize, the 1982 Neustadt International Prize for Literature, and the 1990 Nobel Prize in Literature.

Our Lady of Guadalupe, patron saint of Mexico. This painting of her at the Basilica of Guadalupe is among her most notable depictions. Scientists debate if it should be dated 1531, the year of the first apparition was said to appear, or the 1550s.

General Hospital of Mexico in Mexico City.

Central Library of the National Autonomous University of Mexico

Olga Sánchez Cordero, Minister of the Interior (Gobernacion) in President López Obrador's cabinet

Palacio de Bellas Artes (Palace of Fine Arts), with murals, other artwork, and a major performance space

Mexican Muralism. A cultural expression starting in the 1920s created by a group of Mexican painters after the Mexican Revolution.

Monument to Cuauhtémoc, Paseo de la Reforma, Mexico City (1887)

The colonial-era Cathedral Mexico City dominates one side of the main square of the capital

David Alfaro Siqueiros by Héctor García Cobo at Lecumberri prison, Mexico City, 1960.

Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, "The Tenth Muse." Posthmous portrait Juan Cabrera

Actress Dolores del Río, Hollywood star in the 1920s and 1930s and prominent figure of the Golden Age of Mexican cinema in the 1940s and 1950s

Mole sauce, which has dozens of varieties across the Republic, is seen as a symbol of Mexicanidad and is considered Mexico's national dish.

Portrait of composer Carlos Chávez by Carl van Vechten

Plaque in Mexico City commemorating Lucha libre as an intangible cultural heritage

View of the Pyramid of the Sun of Teotihuacan, the first human establishment in the area dating back to 600 BCE

View of the Pyramid of the Sun in the ancient city-state of Teotihuacan, which was the 6th largest city in the world at its peak (1 AD to 500 AD)

Temple of Kukulcán (El Castillo) in the maya city of Chichen Itza

Storming of the Teocalli by Cortez and his Troops (1848)

The Baluarte Bridge was the highest cable-stayed bridge in the world, the fifth-highest bridge overall and is the highest bridge in the Americas.

Students in a burned bus during the protests of 1968

Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo, two of the most famous mexican artists

Pico de Orizaba, the highest mountain in Mexico

Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of the Congress of Mexico

Alfonso Cuarón, the first mexican filmmaker to win the Academy Award for Best Director

Headquarters of the Secretariat of Foreign Affairs

El Santo, one of the most iconic Mexican luchadores

Mexico City, the financial center of Mexico

Lake Chapala is Mexico's largest freshwater lake.

Regional variation of ancestry according to a study made by Ruiz-Linares in 2014, each dot represents a volunteer, with most coming from south Mexico and Mexico City.

Map for the year 2000 of the indigenous languages of Mexico having more than 100,000 speakers.

Mexico–United States barrier between San Diego's border patrol offices in California, USA (left) and Tijuana, Mexico (right)

Secretary of Health, Mexico City, Mexico.

Frida Kahlo, the most famous woman artist in Mexican history.

Octavio Paz was awarded the 1990 Nobel Prize in Literature

El Santo, one of the most famous and iconic Mexican luchadores

In particular, the Mesoamerican region was home to many intertwined civilizations; including the Olmec, Maya, Zapotec, Teotihuacan, and Purepecha.

The Aztec Empire in 1519 within Mesoamerica

Aztecs

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Aztec metal axe blades. Prior of the arrival of the European settlers, see: Metallurgy in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica

Large ceramic statue of an Aztec eagle warrior

A page from the Codex Boturini depicting the departure from Aztlán

The Valley of Mexico with the locations of the main city states in 1519

The coronation of Motecuzuma I, Tovar Codex

The meeting of Moctezuma II and Hernán Cortés, with his cultural translator La Malinche, 8 November 1519, as depicted in the Lienzo de Tlaxcala

"The Martyrdom of Cuauhtémoc", (1892) painting by Leandro Izaguirre

Folio from the Codex Mendoza showing a commoner advancing through the ranks by taking captives in war. Each attire can be achieved by taking a certain number of captives.

Jaguar warrior uniform as tax pay method, from Codex Mendoza

Folio from the Codex Mendoza showing the rearing and education of Aztec boys and girls in an ages list, how they were instructed in different types of labor, and how they were harshly punished for misbehavior

Pre-Hispanic "Tepeyac" Road of city-state of Tlatelolco ruins with semi-underground unidentified small and simply built buildings, probably houses (left). Tlatelolco archaeological site.

Cultivation of maize, the main foodstuff, using simple tools. Florentine Codex

Typical Aztec black on orange ceramic ware

Diorama model of the Aztec market at Tlatelolco

A folio from the Codex Mendoza showing the tribute paid to Tenochtitlan in exotic trade goods by the altepetl of Xoconochco on the Pacific coast

Mexico-Tenochtitlan urban standard, Templo Mayor Museum

Great Temple in Historic center of Mexico City

The deity Tezcatlipoca depicted in the Codex Borgia, one of the few extant pre-Hispanic codices

Aztec cosmological drawing with the god Xiuhtecuhtli, the lord of fire in the center and the four corners of the cosmos marked by four trees with associated birds, deities and calendar names, and each direction marked by a dismembered limb of the god Tezcatlipoca. From the Codex Fejérváry-Mayer

The "Aztec calendar stone" or "Sun Stone", a large stone monolith unearthed in 1790 in Mexico City depicting the five eras of Aztec mythical history, with calendric images.

Ritual human sacrifice as shown in the Codex Magliabechiano

Ma (hand) and pach (moss). In Nahuatl, handmoss is synonym of raccoon.

Frame drum huehuetl played by a youth in Aztec-themed costume in Amecameca, State of Mexico, 2010

Page from the pre-Columbian Codex Borgia a folding codex painted on deer skin prepared with gesso

The Coatlicue statue in the National Museum of Anthropology

Aztec feather shield displaying the "stepped fret" design called xicalcoliuhqui in Nahuatl (c. 1520, Landesmuseum Württemberg)

Codex Kingsborough, showing the abuse by Spaniards of a Nahua under the encomienda Spanish labor system

Depiction of smallpox during the Spanish conquest in Book XII of the Florentine Codex

José Sarmiento de Valladares, Count of Moctezuma, viceroy of Mexico

Motecuhzoma II's Teocalli of the Sacred War emblem, this depiction mythologically describes the reason when Aztecs searched an eagle on a cactus hunting a rattlesnake for begin the new city, the founding myth of Mexica.

Tezontle is a material for elements in architectural styles.

Virgin of Guadalupe and the symbols of the founding of Tenochtitlan, Josefus De Ribera Argomanis. (1778)

Monument to Cuauhtémoc, inaugurated 1887 by Porfirio Díaz in Mexico City

Detail of Diego Rivera's mural depicting the Aztec market of Tlatelolco at the Mexican National palace

President Porfirio Díaz in 1910 at the National Museum of Anthropology with the Aztec Calendar Stone. The International Congress of Americanists met in Mexico City in 1910 on the centennial of Mexican independence.

Las Tortilleras, an 1836 lithograph after a painting by Carl Nebel of women grinding corn and making tortillas.

Chapulines, grasshoppers toasted and dusted with chilis, continue to be a popular delicacy.

Urban standard details; Mexico-Tenochtitlan wall remnants stone bricks in Templo Mayor Museum (Mexico City)

The Mask of Xiuhtecuhtli; 1400–1521; cedrela wood, turquoise, pine resin, mother-of-pearl, conch shell, cinnabar; height: {{convert|16.8|cm|in|abbr=on}}, width: {{convert|15.2|cm|in|abbr=on}}; British Museum (London)

The Mask of Tezcatlipoca; 1400–1521; turquoise, pyrite, pine, lignite, human bone, deer skin, conch shell and agave; height: {{convert|19|cm|in|abbr=on}}, width: {{convert|13.9|cm|in|abbr=on}}, length: {{convert|12.2|cm|in|abbr=on}}; British Museum

Double-headed serpent; 1450–1521; Spanish cedar wood (Cedrela odorata), turquoise, shell, traces of gilding & 2 resins are used as adhesive (pine resin and Bursera resin); height: {{convert|20.3|cm|in|abbr=on}}, width: {{convert|43.3|cm|in|abbr=on}}, depth: {{convert|5.9|cm|in|abbr=on}}; British Museum

Chalchihuite relief of Ehecatl Temple; basalt; overall: {{convert|31.4|x|33.82|cm|in|abbr=on}}; discovered in August 2005 during repairs on the Mexico City Cathedral's floor; Ehecatl Temple in Cathedral archeological site (Mexico City)

Page 12 of the Codex Borbonicus, (in the big square): Tezcatlipoca (night and fate) and Quetzalcoatl (feathered serpent); before 1500; bast fiber paper; height: {{convert|38|cm|in|abbr=on}}, length of the full manuscript: {{convert|142|cm|in|abbr=on}}; Bibliothèque de l'Assemblée nationale (Paris)

Aztec calendar stone; 1502–1521; basalt; diameter: {{convert|3.58|m|ft|abbr=on}}; thick: {{convert|98|cm|in|abbr=on}}; discovered on 17 December 1790 during repairs on the Mexico City Cathedral; National Museum of Anthropology (Mexico City)

Underground Great Temple's Chacmool statue; 1440–1469; painted earthenware; length: {{convert|1.26|m|ft|abbr=on}}; Templo Mayor (Mexico City)

Tlāloc effigy vessel; 1440–1469; painted earthenware; height: {{convert|35|cm|in|abbr=on}}; Templo Mayor Museum (Mexico City)

Kneeling female figure; 15th–early 16th century; painted stone; overall: {{convert|54.61|x|26.67|cm|in|abbr=on}}; Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York City)

Frog-shaped necklace ornaments; 15th–early 16th century; gold; height: {{convert|2.1|cm|in|abbr=on}}; Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York City)

The Aztecs were a Mesoamerican culture that flourished in central Mexico in the post-classic period from 1300 to 1521.

View of the Avenue of the Dead and the Pyramid of the Moon.

Teotihuacan

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Teotihuacan and other important Classic Era settlements

View of the Pyramid of the Moon from the Pyramid of the Sun

Platform along the Avenue of the Dead showing the talud-tablero architectural style

Restored portion of Teotihucan architecture showing the typical Mesoamerican use of red paint complemented on gold and jade decoration upon marble and granite.

Teotihuacán-style mask, Classical period. Walters Art Museum.

Incensario Lid, Teotihuacan style, 400–700 CE, Brooklyn Museum

A mural showing what has been identified as the Great Goddess of Teotihuacan

Human sacrifices found at the foundations of La Ciudadela.

Pyramid of the Sun and the Teotihuacán Diorama at the Teotihuacán Museum.

Teotihuacan - Temple of the Feathered Serpent - architectural detail to the right of the steps.

Avenue of the Dead, Teotihuacán, Mexico.

A recreation of a map of the city featured in the June 1967 issue of Scientific American and the captioned source.

Courtyard of the Palace of Quetzalpapálotl

Alabaster statue of an Ocelot from Teotihuacan, 5th–6th centuries, possibly a ritual container to receive sacrificed human hearts (British Museum)<ref>British Museum Collection</ref>

Detail of a collective burial of those sacrificed humans as part of the rites of consecration for the Pyramid of the Feathered Serpent (phase Miccaotli, c. AD 200) In this case, all buried bodies had their hands tied behind their backs. The necklace is made of pieces that simulate human jaws, but other subjects buried wore necklaces with actual jaws.

Detail of the murals of the palace of Atetelco, dated in Xolalpan phase (c. 450–650).

Green Bird Procession, Temple of the Feathered Serpents

Teotihuacan (Spanish: Teotihuacán) is an ancient Mesoamerican city located in a sub-valley of the Valley of Mexico, which is located in the State of Mexico, 40 km northeast of modern-day Mexico City.

The ball in front of the goal during a game of pok-ta-pok.

Mesoamerican ballgame

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Map showing sites where early ballcourts, balls, or figurines have been recovered

Relief of the Crown showing a scene from the Mesoamerican Ball Game.

Some ballcourts had upper goals, scoring on which would end the match instantly.

The yoke and kneepads identify this molded ceramic Maya figurine as a ballplayer. Like many of these Jaina Island style figurines, it also functions as a whistle. 600–900 CE.

A modern Sinaloa ulama player. The outfit is similar to that worn by Aztec players.

Two palmas from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. These palmas were equipment used in the Mesoamerican ballgame and come from Veracruz, Mexico, ca. 700 - 1000 CE/AD. They are approximately 1½ feet (50 cm) high.

National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City – a figure of a pelota player

A solid rubber ball used or similar to those used in the Mesoamerican ballgame, from Kaminaljuyu, 300 BC to 250 AD, with a manopla, or handstone, used to strike the ball.

Ballcourt at Uaxactun, in the Petén Basin region of the Maya lowlands

Classic I, heavily serifed.png-shape ball court in Cihuatan site, El Salvador

Ruins at Wupatki National Monument, Arizona. There is disagreement among archaeologists whether these structures in the American Southwest were used for ballgames, although the consensus appears that they were. There is further discussion concerning the extent that any Southwest ballgame is related to the Mesoamerican ballgame.

Cross sections of some of the more typical ballcourts

Stela from El Baúl in the Cotzumalhuapa Nuclear Zone, showing two ballplayers.

One of a series of murals from the South Ballcourt at El Tajín, showing the sacrifice of a ballplayer

In this detail from the late 15th century Codex Borgia, the Aztec god Xiuhtecuhtli brings a rubber ball offering to a temple. The balls each hold a quetzal feather, part of the offering.

Ballcourt marker, from the Maya site of Chinkultic, dated to 591. The ball itself displays the finely incised portrait of a young deity.

An I-shaped ballcourt with players and balls depicted in the Codex Borgia Folio 45. Note that the four players are all holding batons, perhaps indicating that they are playing a type of racquet- or stick-ball.

Aztec ullamaliztli players performing for Charles V in Spain, drawn by Christoph Weiditz in 1528.

Ballplayer painting from the Tepantitla murals.

Ballplayer painting from the Tepantitla, Teotihuacan murals. Note the speech scroll issuing from the player's mouth.

Detail of a Tepantitla mural showing a hip-ball game on an open-ended ballcourt, represented by the parallel horizontal lines.

Ballcourt at Tikal, in the Petén Basin region of the Maya lowlands

The Mesoamerican ballgame (ōllamalīztli,, ) was a sport with ritual associations played since at least 1650 BC by the pre-Columbian people of Ancient Mesoamerica.

Olmecs

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Seated figurine; 12th–9th century BC; painted ceramic; height: 34 cm, width: 31.8 cm, depth: 14.6 cm; Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York City)

Bird-shaped vessel; 12th–9th century BC; ceramic with red ochre; height: 16.5 cm; Metropolitan Museum of Art

One of the mosaics from the La Venta Olmec site.

The major Formative Period (Pre-Classic Era) sites in present-day Mexico which show Olmec influences in the archaeological record.

Olmec tomb at La Venta Park, Villahermosa, Tabasco.

Olmec Chief or King. Relief from La Venta Archaeological Site in Tabasco.

Kunz Axe; 1000-400 BCE; jadeite; height: 31 cm (12 in.), width 16 cm (6 in.), 11 cm (4 in.); American Museum of Natural History (New York, NY, USA). The jade Kunz Axe, first described by George Kunz in 1890. Although shaped like an axe head, with an edge along the bottom, it is unlikely that this artifact was used except in ritual settings. At a height of 11 in, it is one of the largest jade objects ever found in Mesoamerica.

Ornamental mask; 10th century BCE; serpentine; height: 9.2 cm, width: 7.9 cm, depth: 3.2 cm; Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York City)

Mask; 10th–6th century BCE; jadeite; height: 17.1 cm, width: 16.5 cm; Metropolitan Museum of Art

Mask; c. 900-500 BCE; jadeite; Dallas Museum of Art (Dallas, Texas, US)

Mask with cinnabar "tattoos"; c. 900-300 BCE; jadeite with cinnabar; Minneapolis Institute of Art (Minneapolis, US)

1200-400 BCE; polished green quartz (aventurine); height: 29 cm, width: 13.5 cm; British Museum (London)

900-500 BCE; stone; Dallas Museum of Art (Texas, US)

12th–3rd century BCE; stone; height: 32.2 cm, width: 14 cm, depth: 11.5 cm; Cleveland Museum of Art (Ohio, US)

800-400 BCE; serpentine, cinnabar; Dallas Museum of Art

La Venta stele 19 with an early depiction of a feathered serpent

The "twins" from El Azuzul, 1200–900 BCE

Carved travertine vessel with an incised pattern, 12th–3rd century BCE

Olmec style bottle, reputedly from Las Bocas, 1100–800 BCE

Olmec-style painting from the Juxtlahuaca cave

Olmec-style bas relief "El Rey" from Chalcatzingo

The Olmecs were the earliest known major Mesoamerican civilization.

Tikal

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Ruin of an ancient city, which was likely to have been called Yax Mutal, found in a rainforest in Guatemala.

Map of the Maya area within the Mesoamerican region. Both Tikal and Calakmul lie near the center of the area.

The great metropolis of Teotihuacan in the Valley of Mexico appears to have decisively intervened in Tikal politics.

The main plaza during winter solstice celebrations

The site core seen from the south, with Temple I at center, the North Acropolis to the left and Central Acropolis to the right

One of Maudsley's photos of Tikal from 1882, taken after vegetation had been cleared

The Lost World Pyramid in the Mundo Perdido complex

Contrasting photo, scan shot, and isometric images for the roof comb of Temple IV, using data acquired by a laser scan collected by nonprofit CyArk

Detail of Teotihuacan-related imagery decorating the sloping talud sections of the talud-tablero sides of Structure 5D-43.

A large stucco mask adorning the substructure of Temple 33

The elaborately carved wooden Lintel 3 from Temple IV. It celebrates a military victory by Yik'in Chan K'awiil in 743.

Stela 31, with the sculpted image of Siyaj Chan K'awiil II

A ceramic censer representing an elderly deity, found in Burial 10.

During this time, the city dominated much of the Maya region politically, economically, and militarily, while interacting with areas throughout Mesoamerica such as the great metropolis of Teotihuacan in the distant Valley of Mexico.

Guatemala

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Country in Central America.

The Conquistador Pedro de Alvarado led the initial Spanish efforts to conquer Guatemala.

Criollos rejoice upon learning about the declaration of independence from Spain on 15 September 1821.

The Federal Republic of Central America (1823–1838) with its capital in Guatemala City.

Proclamation Coin 1847 of the independent Republic of Guatemala

Captain General Rafael Carrera after being appointed president for Life in 1854.

Vicente Cerna y Cerna was the president of Guatemala from 1865 to 1871.

Manuel Estrada Cabrera ruled Guatemala between 1898 and 1920.

Guatemala's democratically elected president Jacobo Árbenz was overthrown in a coup planned by the CIA, The United Fruit Company had lobbied the U.S. to overthrow him.

Memorial to the victims of the Río Negro massacres

An outdoor market in Chichicastenango, 2009

Guatemala City is the capital and largest city of Guatemala and the most populous urban area in Central America.

A town along the Pan-American Highway within a volcanic crater.

The Congress of the Republic of Guatemala.

Historical GDP per capita development of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras

A proportional representation of Guatemala exports, 2019

Indigenous Guatemalan women in Antigua Guatemala.

Language map of Guatemala. The "Castilian" areas represent Spanish.

The Catedral Metropolitana, Guatemala City.

Estadio Doroteo Guamuch Flores in Guatemala City.

The core of the Maya civilization, which extended across Mesoamerica, was historically based in the territory of modern Guatemala.

An Olmec colossal head at the Xalapa Museum of Anthropology, in Veracruz, Mexico

Pre-Columbian era

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In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era spans from the original settlement of North and South America in the Upper Paleolithic period through European colonization, which began with Christopher Columbus's voyage of 1492.

Schematic illustration of maternal (mtDNA) gene-flow in and out of Beringia, from 25,000 years ago to present

Major cultural areas of the pre-Columbian Americas:

Artist's reconstruction of Poverty Point, 1500 BCE

Hopewell mounds from the Mound City Group in Ohio

One of the pyramids in the upper level of Yaxchilán

Geoglyphs on deforested land in the Amazon rainforest

Muisca raft. The figure refers to the ceremony of the legend of El Dorado.

Larco Museum houses the largest private collection of pre-Columbian art. Lima, Peru.

Simplified map of subsistence methods in the Americas at 1000 BCE
hunter-gatherers
simple farming societies
complex farming societies (tribal chiefdoms or civilizations)

Mesoamerica is the region extending from central Mexico south to the northwestern border of Costa Rica that gave rise to a group of stratified, culturally related agrarian civilizations spanning an approximately 3,000-year period before the visits to the Caribbean by Christopher Columbus.