Urbanisation in preclassic period

In the early preclassic 2500 to 1200 BC

2500 BCE

Tribal groups tended to be very egalitarian and small, so the community structure of the times of The nomadism, because in the perimeters of the cultivated fields villages were built that did not there were more than 20 huts.17 The modest dwellings were built with branches, grass and clay, with a very similar architectural typology, which reflected the homogeneity of the group.

Appearance of the village around 2,500 BC

2500 BCE

In Mesoamerica, the villages multiplied from the generalization of agriculture, during the Middle Preclassic (1200 to 400 BC). In the Basin of Mexico, some “28 villages were detected at the beginning of the period, two of which were larger, perhaps with a thousand inhabitants each.

San José Mogote between 1400 and 450 BC

1400 BCE

One of the first manifestations of monumental architecture in Mesoamerica is the ceremonial center of San José Mogote. Possibly the first town to be founded in the village stage, and it was the largest at that time. Located in the Etla Valley of Oaxaca, it was the most important and reached its peak towards the end of the Early Preclassic.

San Lorenzo between 1200 and 900 BC

1200 BCE

A primitive ceremonial center with buildings built on platforms and drainage systems” in San Lorenzo, southeast of Veracruz, in the lowlands of the Gulf of Mexico. San Lorenzo was the first Mesoamerican proto-city, which never became a city as it regressed and disappeared around 600 BC, when it had just 500 inhabitants.

The Venta between 900 and 400 BC

900 BCE

San Lorenzo established the largest-scale Mesoamerican ceremonial architecture known until then, which was perfected in La Venta

Chalcatzingo between 800 and 500 BC

800 BCE

It was a key point in the operation of the first trade routes in Mesoamerica. Its heyday dates back between 700 and 500 BC. You can see architectures such as the Central Plaza on whose platform several ceremonial precincts with luxurious burials were erected, as well as sculptures and bas-reliefs carved in rock

Los tres Zapotes between 400 and 200 BC

400 BCE

The 3 Zapotes stands on the hills of the Papaloapan river basin, on a site where around 50 buildings and numerous stelae were built. After 400 BC, the Olmecs are considered to have disappeared as a cultural unit, although throughout the Late Preclassic Tres Zapotes continued to be inhabited by people from the same linguistic family as the Olmecs, the Mixezoque.

Cuicuilco: first city between 300 BC and 1 AD

300 BCE

Cuicuilco was located on the western shore of Lake Xochimilco, where it was buried by the eruption of the Xitle volcano around 100 BC. The buildings are distributed along long avenues, it had an urban area of 400 hectares where 20,000 people lived. The ruins of large irrigation canals show the intensity of agricultural activities and it is considered “The first Mesoamerican city-state