What is MESOAMERICA and its characteristics

One of the most important areas in the history of mankind is Mesoamerica, being an area in which numerous cultures coincided with great relevance and that all of them had a certain key influence on American history. To know this region in this lesson from a Teacher, we must talk about what is Mesoamerica and its characteristics.

The cultural region known as Mesoamerica It is located in the central part of the American continent, in the area known as Central America and part of North America. Therefore, it occupies the current countries of:

• Guatemala
• The Savior
• Belize
• Middle of Mexico
• Part of Guatemala
• Costa Rica
• Nicaragua

All these nations and territories have a culture born of the Mesoamerican peoples, being the reason why it is necessary to know the past of this location.

We must bear in mind that Mesoamerica is not a region as we usually think with its physical or united borders, but that it was a cultural region whose borders depend on the cultures that had a series of common characteristics, being the customs that create the map and not just a few lines on the map.

In addition, they are usually classified different Mesoamerican periods depending on the civilizations that inhabited the region.

To understand the importance of the Mesoamerican cultural region, we must talk about its main characteristics, in order to understand its importance in American history. The main characteristics of Mesoamerica are as follows:

• Existed two types of medicine, magic and scientific. Magic was used by shamans, using supposed incantations, rituals and sacrifices to cure the diseases of the population. The scientist was the one used by the healers, using plants to heal the most elemental wounds and diseases.
• All religions Mesoamericans had a huge pantheon full of gods. The gods could be related to elements of nature or to day-to-day situations, being worshiped and receiving sacrifices to help the Mesoamerican population. Some gods passed from one belief to another, the Feathered Serpent being especially known.
• Almost all Mesoamerican cultures they used sacrifices for various purposes, sacrificing animals or people to ask favors to the gods or to show great changes in society such as the change of the monarch.
• The Mesoamerican script It was always ahead of its time, the Maya being specially studied for its complexity and evolution over time.
• The calendars were a key element for Mesoamerican studies, the Mayans and Aztecs being studied by the Europeans who came to the area, and being very useful for learning about Mesoamerican cultures.
• The social classes could vary depending on the Mesoamerican culture, but generally the priests or shamans and the warriors had the most privileged position, followed by merchants and peasants and slaves and serfs at the base of the pyramid Social.
• A key element of the Mesoamericans was their incredible architecture, building huge pyramids throughout the Mesoamerican area that even today surprise by their complexity.
• It was custom dress up as animals or create creatures half animals and half people within mythological beliefs, especially fearsome and dangerous animals like the jaguar.
• The agriculture was the economic engine main of the Mesoamerican zone, being especially important the cultivation of corn as the main agricultural and economic good.

To continue with this lesson about what Mesoamerica is and its characteristics, we must list the main Mesoamerican cultures, in order to understand the enormous number of important civilizations that have occupied this region throughout the centuries. The main Mesoamerican cultures are the following:

• Olmec: Mother culture and where most Mesoamerican customs are born. Being considered the first great Mesoamerican culture, it was very influential for the birth of the later peoples of the area.
• Mayas: The oldest civilization in Mesoamerica, considered the most influential of the Mesoamerican ones, although with the Over the years it stopped being a people as such and more a series of cultures with features similar to the Mayans originals.
• Aztecs or Mexica: A huge empire that based its system on military life, conquering many regions until the arrival of Europe. It is considered the largest empire in Mesoamerican and American history, its military strength being its greatest resource.
• Zapotecs: Culture of the Valley of Oaxaca closely related to nature, being born a large part of the naturalistic deities of this town.
• Teotihuacanos: A mysterious town that founded the city of Teotihuacan, being worshiped for centuries by the people who came to the city without knowing them.
• Mixtecas: One of the oldest peoples in Mesoamerican history, born in the Mayan era and surviving until the European arrival.
• Toltecs: A warrior people whose characteristics passed to the Aztecs over time, being considered the first military culture of the Mesoamerican people.