linked to the identity, property rights, and social status of the corresponding social
group.
These patterns probably came to form the ideological foundation of the city-
states, kingdoms, and empires that followed in subsequent periods.The Rise of the Mesoamerican Theocratic States
Upon the base of thousands of village cultures there evolved in what is known as the
Preclassic or Formative period (2000 B.C.–A.D. 200) composite and large units of so-
cial integration. Characterized by expanding ideological, economic, and political in-508 UNIT 4 MESOAMERICAN CULTURAL FEATURES
Figure 14.2 A Tlatilco
ceramic figurine in what is
known as the “Pretty
Lady” style. Provenance:
Central Mexico, circa
1200 B. C. Courtesy of
Gillett G. Griffin/Princeton
University Art Museum;©
Photo SCALA, Florence