after 900 many of the lowland Mayan
cities were mysteriously abandoned.
Despite this collapse in the southern
reaches of the empire which ended the
Classic period, Mayan civilization survived
in the Yucatán until the Spanish arrived in
the 16th century. This latter period is
known as the Post-Classic period.
The Maya shared present-day
Mexico with another Mesoamerican peo-
ple, the inhabitants of Teotihuacán in
central Mexico northeast of what is now
Mexico City. A small settlement in 400
b.c., Teotihuacán developed into a major
city by the 1st century a.d. and flourished
until about 700, dominating the valley of
Mexico. After Teotihuacán went into
decline, the Toltec arrived in the region,
migrating south from northern Mexico.
During the 10th century, the Toltec built
an empire in central Mexico, gaining con-
trol of neighboring peoples, including the
Maya, through warfare. The Toltec
empire collapsed in the 12th century, and
in the 14th century another remarkable
people, the Aztec or Mexica, began to gain
dominance in central Mexico. Their cap-
ital, Tenochtitlán, located at present-day
Mexico City, was founded by 1325. They
formed military alliances with other peo-
ples, establishing an empire that stretched
from central Mexico into northern
Guatemala. This empire was still power-
ful when the first Spanish explorers
arrived in the early 15th century.
When the Spanish conquered
Mexico and Central America, the Aztec
were the most prominent people in the
region. Their capital, Tenochtitlán, was a
dazzling city of 250,000 people, built on
an island with causeways linking it to the
mainland. They expanded upon the
achievements of previous Mesoamerican
peoples by constructing enormous pyra-
mids to honor the gods; by practicing
an elaborate system of astronomy andTHE ROOTS OF A PEOPLE 9Ancient Mesoamerica, 1200 B.C.–A.D.