>>37982726>>37982409cont:
>Gulf CoastThe gulf coast area has a long history in Mesoamerica. THe Olmec, the first complex civilization in the region, had thir origins here, and it was as such the most important place in Mesoamerica during the mid to mid-late preclassic (the early preclassic is before civilization comes up). THe olmec would be succeeded by the Epi-olmec, and evolution of their culture, and then the Classic Veracruz in the classical period, and finally, the Totonac and Huastecs during the postclassic, though how much the olmec/epi-olmec, the classic vercruz, and the totonac had to do with one another is up in the air
>WesternWestern Mesoamerica is the most culturally isolate part of the region: Technically, it had it's own indepedent development of complex culture from the Olmec in the Capacha culture, but it is unclear how much this led and contrivbuted to it's city-states and empires vs how much came from influence from the rest of Mesoamerica. In any case, West Mexico developed slower, seeing fewer urban, state level cultures then the rest of mesoamerica untill the late classic/early postclassic, though there were a few before then (such as in Colmia, and some less then urban/state, but still complex ones like Teuchitlan tradition). In the postclassic, had a ton of scattrered indepedent city-states, and the Purepecha/Tarascan Empire, the biggest state in Mesoamerica after the Aztec and who BTFO'd multiple Aztec invasions
>YucatanHome of the Maya, the Yucatan can really easily be divided furhter into the Lowland and Highland Maya or even further, as "Maya" is a huge broad category. While the Maya didn't develop into a true civilization till after the Olmec, either due to olmec influence or both devloping together, the Maya had been around since around 2000 BC, and this region is qas such the longest culturally congrous part of mesoamerica, since the Maya stuck around under native city-states all the way till 1697, when the last one fell.
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