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

12 INTRODUCTION

Figure A.3 The natural areas of Mesoamerica. After Robert C. West, “The Natural Regions of

Middle America,” The Handbook of Middle American Indians, Volume I: Natural Environment

and Early Cultures,volume editor Robert C. West, general editor Robert Wauchope. Austin,

TX: University of Texas Press, 1964, p. 368.

arid lowland zones. These and other ecological considerations help explain why

some of the most powerful lowland polities of Mesoamerica were located in dry low-

land subzones.

Natural Areas

With the basic highland/lowland division in mind, we will now briefly describe

Mesoamerica’s “natural areas,” that is to say, subregional geographic divisions that de-

fine the critically important natural conditions for the inhabitants of the region. For

the purposes of this study, five main natural areas warrant consideration (West 1964):

(l) Northern Highlands, (2) Southern Highlands, (3) Gulf Coast Lowlands, (4) Pa-

cific Coast Lowlands, and (5) Northern Mexico Dry Lands (Figure A.3). The geo-

graphic conditions of these five areas differ markedly from one another, and the

peoples of the Mesoamerican region have had to adapt to them in fundamentally dif-

ferent ways.

Northern Highlands. The Northern Highland area is composed of Mexico’s Mesa

Central, or Central Plateau, and the highlands of Oaxaca and Guerrero (Figure A.4).

The Central Plateau has been a major focus of human activity within the Mesoamer-

ican region for several thousand years. This remains true today: Mexico City is not

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