The Legacy of Mesoamerica History and Culture of a Native American Civilization, 2nd Edition

2 INTRODUCTION complete protection against the rain and waves. Under this awning were the children and women and all the baggage ...

INTRODUCTION 3 Huejotzinco, the Spaniards were surprised to find cosmopolitan and highly politicized peoples. Their robust kingd ...

4 INTRODUCTION Figure A.1 The island city of Tenochtitlan at the time of Spanish contact. From a painting by Miguel Covarrubias ...

INTRODUCTION 5 In an attempt to put Aztec society (and his own exploits) into broader perspec- tive, Cortés summarized his obser ...

6 INTRODUCTION so-called Mesoamerican world but have resided in the region for centuries. There- fore, in this text for the most ...

INTRODUCTION 7 within the nation-states of Mexico and Central America after independence. Therein lies the controversy, for many ...

8 INTRODUCTION Mesoamerican region, especially Mexico and Guatemala, have stressed the impor- tance of developing alphabets for ...

INTRODUCTION 9 Figure A.2 Map showing the three major geographic zones of Mesoamerica. After Robert C. West, “The Natural Region ...

(continued) 10 INTRODUCTION These three zones can be further subdivided into geographically diverse subzones on the basis of var ...

INTRODUCTION 11 soils are generally thin and relatively infertile. The soils in the western lowlands tend to be more fertile as ...

12 INTRODUCTION Figure A.3 The natural areas of Mesoamerica. After Robert C. West, “The Natural Regions of Middle America,” The ...

INTRODUCTION 13 Figure A.4 Highland valley in Central Mexico. Photograph by the authors of the text. only the largest and most i ...

14 INTRODUCTION Figure A.5 Isthmus of Tehuantepec depression. Photograh by the authors of the text. highland zone of this area, ...

INTRODUCTION 15 Guatemala. The intermontaine basins and plateaus formed by the northern chain— for instance, San Cristobal (Chia ...

16 INTRODUCTION Gulf Coast Lowlands. This lowland area is part of a coastal plain that runs along the Gulf Coast of Mexico all t ...

INTRODUCTION 17 extensive existing in El Salvador (Gulf of Fonseca, Jilquilisco Lagoon), Guatemala, and Soconusco. Some of the t ...

18 INTRODUCTION Figure A.7 High plateau country of Northern Mexico. Photograph by the authors of the text. the edible prickly-pe ...

Box A.2 The Central American Isthmus The narrow territory of present-day Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama forms a “bridge” that ...

20 INTRODUCTION Modern biological studies reveal that the Mesoamericans share important ge- netic features with Asian peoples. N ...

INTRODUCTION 21 YEAR 1520 1800 1900 1950 2000 Mexico 21 4 2 3 30 Central America 6 1 1 4 8 Totals 27 5 3 7 38 Note: All figures ...