MAP of Mesoamerica Aridoamérica and Oasisamérica and CHARACTERISTICS

The huge size of America It has been for centuries that the region has been divided into zones to make it easier to study, one of these types of division being those focused on the cultural zones. To talk about some of the most relevant areas in American history, in this lesson from a Professor we must talk about Mesoamerica Aridoamérica and Oasisamérica: map and characteristics.

Index

1. Map of Mesoamerica and characteristics
2. Map of Aridoamérica and characteristics
3. Map of Oasisamerica and characteristics

The region known as Mesoamerica It is located in the central zone of the American continent, being a cultural region that includes the countries of Guatemala, El Salvador, Belize, half of Mexico, and part of Guatemala, Costa Rica and Nicaragua. This enormous expansion demonstrates the great relevance of the region, influenced by all these nations for years.

It must be taken into account that Mesoamerica was not a region properly with its physical borders and the like, rather, its location varied depending on the cultures of Mesoamerican influence that inhabited the zone; therefore, we can say that Mesoamerica is a

In the Mesoamerica region we found some of the main acient towns of American history, some of the most important being the olmec, the Mayans, the Aztecs or the Zapotec.

Mesoamerica characteristics

To better understand the Mesoamerican area, it tends to be divided into 7 different cultural zones, being groupings created by elements such as cultural similarities. These cultural zones are the following:

• Central Mexico: Characterized by the city of Teotihuacan being located.
• Maya: The predominant area of ​​the Mayans.
• Oaxaca: The region of the Zapotecs.
• Guerrero: Birthplace of Mesoamerican cultures due to the existence of the Olmecs.
• West: An area characterized by cultures with fewer Mesoamerican similarities.
• North: An area with little Mesoamerican influence.
• Central America: It only belonged to the Mesoamerican culture for a few centuries.

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The area known as Aridoamerica it is the way we call a cultural region located north of what we know as Mesoamerica. This pre-Columbian region is located in the northern Mexico and southwestern United States covering, therefore, from the Mesoamerican North to the wildest area of ​​the American nation.

Today we could say that the Aridoamerica area is the Mexican states of Tamaulipas, Nuevo León, Baja California and Baja California Sur, while that the regions of the United States that were part of this region are the present states of California, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, Texas and Arizona.

In this region there were many pre-Columbian peoples, although all of them with less relevance than those existing in the Mesoamerican zone; among the main peoples of the region we can speak of the acaxee and of the zacatecos.

All the cultures of the Aridoamérica zone were grouped into two important cultural zones, the first being the Sierra de Tamaulipas in the northeastern Mexican area where American agriculture began to stand out; and the second that of Chihuahuan Desert, where some of the main cultures of the region stood out.

Characteristics of Aridoamérica

To learn more about this culture, we must talk about the main characteristics of Aridoamérica, these being the following:

• They were cultures semi-nomadic for the difficulties of life in such an arid area.
• The hunting and gathering They were their main commercial activities, although they also had commercial activities with Mesoamericans.
• The harsh environment created species very ferocious animals, being common the deaths of natives by attacks of the fauna.
• The cultures of the region did not make great advances, surely due to the complexity of their situation.
• They had a lot religious influence, although not much information about their beliefs has arrived to this day.

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To end this lesson from a teacher we must talk about Oasisamerica, possibly the cultural region less known of those that make up this group.

Oasisamerica is a pre-Columbian cultural region located between the States of Mexico and United States before the arrival of the European colonizers, being located in the same area as the Aridoamérica region, but characterized by the oases that were in their area.

The main reason they are the least known cultural region is because they were not able to develop a great writing system, causing it to be difficult to find sources about its history and to know details about its existence.

Characteristics of Oasisamérica

Unlike their arid neighbors, the inhabitants of this area were sedentary Y they lived from agriculture, since, although the climate continued being dry and hot, the existence of the oases facilitated the crops.

Like Mesoamerica, when talking about this area we must list its cultural areas to better understand the region; these were the following:

• Anasazi: The most complex culture in the region, being ancestors of Native Americans.
• Hohokam: A town that rested on the Colorado and Gila rivers.
• Mogollon: A culture located in the Arizona and New Mexico area.
• Fremont: A culture that dominated the Utah area.
• Pataya: Located near Colorado they had a great Mesoamerican influence

If you want to read more articles similar to Mesoamerica, Aridoamérica and Oasisamérica: map and characteristics, we recommend that you enter our category of Story.

• Wolf, E. R. (1967). Peoples and cultures of Mesoamerica (Vol. 81, No. 14). Editions Era.
• Chávez, H. D., & Aguilar, R. TO. C. (2008). The gatherer and hunter peoples of Aridoamérica.
• Chávez, H. D., & Aguilar, R. TO. C. (2008). The farming peoples of Oasisamérica.