MESOAMERICAN POSTCLASSIC PERIOD: TIMELINE, CHARACTERISTICS - HISTORY - 2025

The Mesoamerican Postclassic period was the last stage of splendor of the civilizations that inhabited this part of Mexico and Central America before the Spanish Conquest. It began in 900 AD. C. and ended in 1521 with the arrival of the conqueror Hernán Cortés and the fall of Tenochtitlán.

In this period the pre-Columbian Mesoamerican history ended and another period of Mexican history began. After the Mesoamerican Postclassic, the process of the Spanish Conquest and the establishment of the Colony began. Some anthropologists claim that it began in 750 AD. C., but there are two facts that support its location in 900.

Ruins of Monte Alban in Oaxaca, Mexico

The first fact is that in the 10th century there was the collapse of the Mayan civilization that inhabited the lowlands. Likewise, monumental works dated by the Long Count were no longer erected. Second, around the year 900, the city of Tula was founded in central Mexico and the Toltec people emerged.

The Toltecs were the builders of the first great Mesoamerican Empire, according to historical records. The Postclassic period is often described as the militaristic, decadent, and degenerate stage in the history of the Mayan civilization.

It is the last stage of development of the pre-Columbian Mesoamerican peoples. It was characterized by agricultural-technological development, with the modernization of irrigation and water storage systems.

Timeline

In the 1950s, archaeologists and historians agreed to adopt the term "cultural horizon" to divide the history of Mesoamerican civilizations into stages. With the name of cultural horizon, this cultural period was defined and characterized, in which some general characteristics or trends predominated.

These characteristics include the way of life, beliefs, architecture, technological advances and craftsmanship of the peoples who inhabited this region. Mesoamerica was a cultural region made up of much of the current territory of Mexico and the countries of Central America.

So, the history of Mesoamerican civilization was divided into three periods: Preclassic, Classic, and Postclassic. Some add a fourth period called Epiclassic, which would be prior to Postclassic.

The Preclassic period, also called the Formative period, extends from 1500 BC. Until 300 d. C. The Classic period goes from 300 to 950 AD. C., and the Postclassic period is between 950 and 1521 d. C.

By 750, some Mayan towns had already declined and their cities were abandoned, but others continued until 1200.

The Postclassic period is generally divided into two stages: the Early Postclassic (900-1200) and the Late Postclassic (1200-1519). The first is the culture of the Toltecs and the second the Aztecs. The arrival of the Spanish in Mexico at the beginning of the 16th century meant the end of the Mesoamerican Postclassic civilizations.

General characteristics

- During this period there were prolonged droughts, especially in northern Mesoamerica, which led to a true ecological disaster. Furthermore, it involved the total abandonment of the highlands.

- Mass migrations were one of its most representative characteristics at the beginning of the Postclassic period. Large cities like Monte Albán in the current state of Oaxaca or the cities built by the Mayan peoples in the Highlands, were abandoned. These changes or social phenomena occurred between the 8th and 10th centuries.

- Historically, the Postclassic is usually presented as a time of great wars between Mesoamerican civilizations. However, the war conflicts were not exclusive to this period. New archaeological evidence indicates that there were also them in the Classic period, as was the case with the Teotihuacans and the Mayans.

- The towns belonging to this period obtained an important agricultural development that contributed to the consolidation of the Aztecs.

- Another characteristic of the Postclassic was the high segmentation of regional governments together with a stratified society in classes, in addition to the marked orientation towards local and interregional trade and also with the pre-Columbian peoples of the south of the continent.

- The great military and economic alliances (Triple Alliance) were produced between the peoples that inhabited the Valley of Mexico, through family unions. This occurred at the end of the period with the alliance of the peoples of Tenochtitlán, Tlacopa and Texcoco, which increased the power of the Mexica.

- The economy and development of the Mesoamerican peoples of this period was based on agriculture. Modern cultivation and irrigation techniques were developed, which were the basis of the vertiginous growth achieved. Also, hydraulic systems were created to transport and store water for crops and human consumption.

- Their main crops were corn (their staple food) and beans, a very important source of protein. They also grew chili peppers, squash, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, cassava, cotton, cocoa, papaya, tobacco, pineapple, maguey, nopales, peanuts and avocados, among others.

- They implemented crop rotation and terrace cultivation to avoid soil erosion, while recovering large swamps.

- At the end of the period, the process of extinction of the Mayan and Aztec civilizations began due to diseases brought from Spain. Other causes were the armed confrontations with the conquerors and the slave labor of the natives. In the Postclassic came the collapse of Mesoamerican cultures and the suppression of their traditions.

Scientific and technological advances

The chinampas or Aztec floating gardens.

- The revolutionary agricultural development achieved in the Postclassic was the product of the advanced cultivation techniques used. The Mexica improved the "chinampas", very fertile artificial islets, built with soil and organic material. In this way they managed to conquer new agricultural spaces in the lakes.

- In addition to the floating gardens, irrigation canals and dams were also built to store water, making it possible to increase production and population.

- However, the basic tools of agricultural work were very rudimentary compared to those of the Spanish. They mainly used stone and wood, metals (gold, copper and silver) were reserved only for objects of art.

- It was a period of flourishing for pre-Columbian crafts and metallurgy, especially for the Mixtec people. The Mixtecs were the great artisans and metallurgists. They notably developed goldsmithing, ceramics, textiles and engravings. The Aztecs developed sculpture and the Zapotecs, architecture.

- Hydraulic systems were developed in some dry areas with low humidity. It was the case of Tetzcuco, where aqueducts were built that transported the water from the Sierra Nevada to the Acolhua manor. Irrigation systems were more efficient in other areas with abundant water resources, such as rivers and lakes.

- Hydraulic works were also developed in Oaxaca, particularly in Loma de la Coyotera. In Yucatán the so-called chultunes were implemented. They were systems of cisterns or tanks carved into the rock that served to collect and store rainwater.

- It is considered that there was a break with the artistic and architectural styles of the Classic period. During the Postclassic, the Mayans built the city of Mayapán and the Aztecs built their capital, Tenochtitlán, in 1325. The city of Tula had a great growth in the Early Postclassic, but later its importance was reduced in the Late Postclassic.

- The architecture and art of Tula and Tenochtitlán are very similar, which indicates that they had common roots. The Postclassic shows a certain uniformity and regional characteristics from the archaeological point of view.

- There was a great advance in the field of astronomy, from which their famous calendars of great accuracy were developed: the 365-day solar calendar and the 260-day divinatory.

- Another great advance was writing, which allowed the making of books made with the inner bark of the fig tree (the amoxtli). Paper books are one of his great inventions. The books were used to draw astronomical tables, make calendars, and record taxes, judicial activities, and dynastic successions.

Cultures (civilizations)

In the Postclassic period, the Toltec and Mexican civilizations of central Mexico flourished together with the Mixtecs in Oaxaca. On the other hand, there were the Tarascans in the western zone and the Huastecos located north of the Gulf of Mexico.

The Mayans were located in the Yucatan peninsula, in the western part of Guatemala and in the Pipiles of Central America.

Mexicas

The Aztecs or Mexica were a people that initially settled on an islet in Lake Texcoco and spread to southern Mexico.

They founded the city of Tenochtitlán (present-day Mexico City) which became a metropolis. From there they dominated much of Mesoamerica: from southern Michoacán to the Isthmus of Tehuantepec.

The Mexica arrived in the Valley of Mexico in the mid-12th century, and from then on they began a rapid process of growth and development.

Their economy based on a highly productive agriculture together with an extraordinary military organization, allowed them to become in little more than a century in the vast Aztec Empire.

Toltecs

The Toltec people emigrated from northern Mexico after the decline of Teotihuacán. It mixed with Chichimec groups and, according to legend, the god Mixcoatl managed to unify them, thus giving birth to the Toltec civilization. Its development occurred between the years 900 and 1200.

They founded the cities of Huapalcalco in Tulancingo and Tollan-Xicocotitlan (Tula). This was the most important city in the Central Highlands from the 10th century. Its decline occurred due to religious and political conflicts. The city was sacked and burned in 1184 by nomadic groups.

Mixtecos

This pre-Hispanic culture is one of the oldest, since it began in the Middle Preclassic period of Mesoamerica (that is, between the 15th and 2nd centuries BC) and continued until the arrival of the Spanish. Their descendants today still live in the territories that their ancestors occupied.

The Mixtecos inhabited the northwest territory of the state of Oaxaca, as well as the southwest of Puebla. Also the west of Oaxaca, the northwest of the state of Guerrero and the so-called Mixteca de la Costa, between Oaxaca and Guerrero. They were neighbors of the Zapotecs.

Tarascos

The Tarascans built the Purepecha Empire, which encompassed the territory of the current state of Michoacán, some areas of Guanajuato, Jalisco, Guerrero, Colima, Querétaro and the state of Mexico. It became the second largest Mesoamerican state at the time of the Spanish Conquest.

The Purépecha or Tarascan people were founded in the 14th century and were conquered by the Spanish in 1530. Within the Tarascan Empire other indigenous ethnic groups coexisted, such as the Otomí, the Nahuas, the Chichimecas and the Matlatzincas.

Huastecos

The Huasteca civilization is believed to have originated in 1000 BC. C., according to the archaeological evidence found, but it had its period of greatest splendor precisely in the Mesoamerican Postclassic, between the decline of Teotihuacán and the rise of the Aztecs.

They inhabited the states of Veracruz, Hidalgo, San Luis Potosí and Tamaulipas along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico and the Pánuco River.

They were related to the Mayans, as they spoke a related language. They built cities like Tampico and were prominent musicians. Around 1450 they were defeated and conquered by the Aztecs.

Mayas

Together with the Mexica, they were one of the most outstanding civilizations in Mesoamerica in terms of its cultural and economic development. They created the Mayan hieroglyphic writing and built monumental cities. They had great knowledge of architecture, mathematics and astronomy.

This culture originated around 2000 BC. C., populating most of the southeast of Mexico; that is, the states of Campeche, Tabasco, Quintana Roo, Yucatán and Chiapas. They also populated most of Guatemala, Honduras, Belize, and El Salvador.

Pipiles

This civilization still inhabits the central and western region of El Salvador. Their ancestors were the Toltecs, who emigrated from Mexico in the 10th century.

Around 900 AD. C. the Pipiles also emigrated to Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. Their language is Nahuat or Pipil. The Pipils of Isquintepeque were conquered by the Spanish in 1524.

References

1. Postclassic period. Consulted from marc.ucsb.edu
2. Aztec or Mexica culture. Consulted of lahistoriamexicana.mx
3. Postclassic period (900–1519). Consulted from britannica.com
4. Chronology: Timeline of Mesoamerica. Consulted of famsi.org
5. Mesoamerican Postclassic Period. Consulted of es.wikipedia.org
6. Huasteca culture. Consulted of historiacultural.com
7. Aztec or Mexica culture. Consulted of lahistoriamexicana.mx