Have you ever found yourself nodding politely in a Mexican archaeological site—be it the Pyramids of Teotihuacan, Monte Alban in Oaxaca, or the Mayan ruins of Chichen-Itzá or Tulum—while secretly wondering what exactly the guide means by Classic, Pre-Classic or Post-classic?
Maybe you struggle to understand what came first—the Aztecs or the Mayas. Well, consider this is a post you will want to keep in your pocket while exploring Mexico’s archaeological sites and museums, or simply while trying to figure out the chronological order of the wonders standing before you.
The Pre-Columbian history of present-day Mexico is complex and heavily subdivided. However, as a traveler, all you need to know are these three core periods:
Pre-classic (ca. 2,500 B.C. – 100 B.C.): The start-up phase. It begins when people shifted their dependence to agriculture, transforming from nomads into settlers who developed villages and ceremonial complexes. It is the time of the Olmecs—the crafters of those iconic giant stone heads—who arguably gave birth to the cultural and material features that would define the civilizations to follow in the next two periods. By the time the Pre-classic was reaching its peak, the Mediterranean was going through the Iron Age and Confucius was developing his philosophy in China.
Classic (ca. 100 B.C. – 900 A.D.): The golden days. Certain Pre-classic villages evolved into urban centers remarkably similar to our own. Some of these transformed into regional capitals that achieved high levels of social, political, economical, scientific, agricultural, urbanist, architectural and artistic sophistication. They managed the control of major trade routes, becoming vibrant, cosmopolitan, multilingual hubs. The Pyramids of Teotihuacan were in the making around the same time Jesus Christ was walking the Earth, and while the Romans were building the Colosseum.
Post-classic (ca. 900 A.D. – 1521): The savage decline. Interestingly, a long famine and socio-political degradation seem to be the common factor in the collapse of the Classic capitals. New players appeared on the board: they were ferocious warriors and yet no single city-state managed to seize the same degree of power and control held by their Classic predecessors. However, culture re-emerged just as sophisticated. Significant progress in manufacturing and engineering allowed the Aztec capital to settle in the middle of a lake, mastering a flood-control system. While these city-states rose and faded, the Vikings were reaching Newfoundland and the Song Dynasty was turning China into the most advanced economy of the age. It was a time of falls as meteoric as the rises.
These divisions apply primarily to Central and Southern Mexico. The Maya, for instance, were a world apart, moving through their own Pre-classic, Classic and Post-classic periods. Nonetheless, the dates we’ve used here remain an excellent reference if you are a traveler overwhelmed by the complex timelines guides often recite.
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