II.

Early Human Settlement

The earliest people to live in Mesoamerica arrived sometime during the Pleistocene Epoch, when glaciers covered much of the earth’s surface. The precise period when they arrived is not known with certainty but the oldest well-documented site dates back 12,500 years ago. However, many people believe that they arrived in the region much earlier. Most anthropologists believe these early inhabitants were descendants of groups who had migrated to the Americas from northeast Asia, crossing a wide land bridge that spanned the Bering Strait and linked present-day Siberia and Alaska. They hunted big-game mammals, such as mammoths and mastodons, using sophisticated and efficient spears. They also collected a wide variety of wild plant foods, such as seeds, nuts, and berries. These people lived in small, nomadic bands of 15 to 20 people. All members were regarded as equal to one another.

The end of the Pleistocene Epoch in about 9000 bc was marked by major environmental changes. As the glaciers melted, sea levels rose, vegetation changed, and the large mammals became extinct. Responding to these changes, Mesoamerican groups of the Archaic period developed a way of life that included hunting and trapping small game (especially deer and rabbits), gathering wild plant foods, and experimenting with the cultivation of certain plants. As a result, they learned to grow many important food crops, including corn, beans, and squash. One of the earliest cultivated plants was the bottle gourd, a type of squash that could be hollowed out and used as a container for water and other liquids. Other important Mesoamerican plants domesticated during the Archaic period include chili peppers, tomatoes, avocados, and cotton.

Between 5000 and 3000 bc full-time agriculture gradually replaced hunting and gathering in Mesoamerica, and people began living in settled villages. In some areas, abundant natural resources allowed people to stay in one place without dependency on farming. For instance, in the lowlands along the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean, village life was based on fishing and shellfish collecting. Some highland regions, such as the Valley of Mexico in central Mexico, contained lakes that provided settlements with fish, birds, and other aquatic life. However, even these well-endowed regions eventually adopted agriculture.

During this early period, villages were small communities containing about a dozen houses made of wattle and daub (interwoven sticks and twigs covered with clay), with outdoor cooking sheds, work areas, and storage pits. Work, including farming, was organized by extended family. Society was not divided according to rank, and power, prestige, and resources were shared among its members. Differences in social status were based strictly on age, gender, and personal achievement.

By 2000 bc, the beginning of the Preclassic period, agriculture was widespread throughout Mesoamerica. Over time, farming came to provide a reliable, abundant food supply, which allowed the population to increase in most regions. As settlements grew, divisions developed according to social rank, and a wide gulf came to separate the elite class from the common people. Some high-ranking individuals, or chiefs, and their close relatives wielded more power and enjoyed better access to food, land, and other resources than did commoners.

The villages of chiefs were greater in size and importance than other settlements, possibly housing more than 1000 residents. These villages became centers of political and economic activity. They were also important religious centers, boasting more elaborate ceremonial sites—such as temple mounds and sacred enclosures—than other villages. From these chiefly villages, Mesoamericans began to form the complex societies that would come to define the region.

Another important hallmark of this period of early settlement is the introduction of pottery. The earliest ceramics known in Mesoamerica appeared in various regions around 2000 bc or shortly after. In some regions, such as the Tehuacán Valley and the Valley of Oaxaca, the wares were rather crude and utilitarian, probably used only for cooking. In other regions, the earliest ceramics are more sophisticated technically and aesthetically. At around 1800 bc in the Pacific coastal region of Soconusco (in what is now southeastern Chiapas State, Mexico), the earliest pottery was very complex both in forms and decoration. It seems to have had a social function and been used primarily for ritual feasting.