Late Preclassic

(500 BCE to 200CE)

Ángel Núñez Zamudio
• This period was characterized by regional • Similarly, there were changes in
diversity, new architectural styles that tended the ritual ceramic and in the
towards monumentality appeared. symbolic order
• In several regions there was a very important demographic growth that allowed the consolidation of the
regional nobles that monopolized all the fuctions of the government and for these elites to remain in
power they had to guarantee a prosperous market, triumph militarily and organize urban growth.

• At the begining of the Late Preclassic period, olmec cities disappeared and new centers of regional power
emerged, such as Monte Albán, Cuicuilco, and Teotihuacán.
 Monte Albán
(Oaxaca) To the northwest of the Valley of Mexico was
Teotihuacán, although it was larger than Cuicuilco,
in the Late Preclassic it was a congregation of
Cuicuilco (Valley villages basically united by the obsidian trade, wich
is a glass produced in the last phase of the volcano
of Mexico) eruption, used as a tool or weapon.
It is considered that between 200 BCE and 100 BCE
Cuicuilco was the great city of the Valley of Teotihuacán could have approximately 40 000
Mexico before Teotihuacán, its magnitude and inhabitants.
Teotihuacán (Valley importance is unknown because most of the city
of Mexico) was buried by the lava emitted by the Xitle
volcano.
In some places great similiraties with Olmec sculptural
traditions were found, such as in áreas of the south
between Veracruz, Chiapas and Guatemala, wich is
Izapa (Chiapas) known as the Izapa Complex. The area that goes from
the alluvial plain of the Gulf and crosses the Isthmus
of Tehuantepec coincides with the location of the
Monte Albán was the result of the alliance
Mixe-Zoque linguistic family of this period.
between populations in the area that became a
This suggests that the descendants of the olmecs
great center of regional hegemony, due to the
strengthened ther relations with their own ethnic
intense military activity.
roots once the comercial and political relations of the
By the end of Late Preclassic had exceded 15 000
Olmec era ended
inhabitants.

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Cuicuilco
This city began to lose
population after an eruption
of the Xitle Volcano in 50BCE.
This área was characterized
by the circular-based
ceremonial platform and the
bottle shaped tombs.
Monte Albán
Mezcala (Guerrero)
The Gallery of the Dancers
During the Late Preclassic
is the first public structure.
some regions of
They are figures sculpted
Mesoamerica had a clear
from a flat stone, that
relationship with the
represent captive warriors.
Olmecs as in Mezcala,
Funerary art is present in
where figures carved in
carve stone tombs, placed
Mesoamerica Stone with Olmec
in rows and decorated with
characteristics were found
stucco and paint.
Gulf of Mexico
Izapa
One of the most
transcendental inventios in
Mesoamerica occurred at
Izapa: Mexico
the Long Count
Calendar, a system for Kimanaljuyú (Guatemala)
creating a calendar that Some sites on Guatemalan
makes it posible to date Altiplano fostered
Teotihuacán any event with precisión assimilation of the two
At the end of this period, based on a fixed date, later tendencies, the Mixe- Olmec Tradition
the ascent of Teotihuacán adopted by the Mayans. Zoque and the Maya Between the years 500 and
began, marked by the Belize was
400 BCE La Venta
construction of the Calzada Tikal abandoned but some
de los Muertos and the Pacific Ocean Some Mayan agricultural minor sites like Tres
pyramids of the Sun and settlements were cradles of Zapotes and Cerro de las
the Moon. powerful lordships that Mesas remained inhabited
developed compact elevated and continued the tradition
ceremonial areas. of sculpting steles and
The Petén groups achieved some Guatemala
altars.
expansion that allowed them to
came into contact with the Izapa El Salvador
tradition. This influenced in Honduras
making Tikal one of the most
prosperous regions.
 Fuentes

• http://www.famsi.org/spanish/maps/index.html
• https://www.inah.gob.mx/zonas-arqueologicas
• https://mediateca.inah.gob.mx/repositorio/islandora/search/?f[0]=mods_su
bject_temporal_ms:%22Periodo%20Precl%C3%A1sico%20Tard%C3%A
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