"From ancient times, the diversity of climate and of natural products in Mesoamerica led to the development of a commercial and cultural exchange between distant areas. Although each Mesoamerican civilization had its own characteristics, trade, migrations and military expeditions spread the influence of the most advanced cultures. Certain customs, beliefs and working methods were therefore common to all the peoples of Mesoamerica." (Mexico for kids)

The evolution of the Mesoamerican civilizations is divided into three basic periods:

During this period people started to live in permanent villages, where life was still based on hunting, but the people started to cultivate crops such as maize, beans and squash. It is from this period that the first simple pottery vessles are found. By 1600 BC, large houses, mica mirrors, and fancy figurines suggest the emergence of differences in wealth and social status.

The Olmec culture, which begins to flourish around 1150 BC on the Gulf Coast of Mexico represents the rise of chiefdom-level societies. It is characterized by elaborate stone sculpture, massive building projects, highly crafted artifacts of jade and other precious materials. Evidence for Olmec religious influence in artistic styles is found outside the Gulf Coast at sites like Chalcatzingo, Oxotitlan, and Juxtlahuaca Cave.

In both the Guatemalan highlands and the lowlands of the Petén and the Yucatán Peninsula we find evidence of ealy villages, like for instance at the site of Cuello, Belize, where early pottery, house platforms and possible ceremonial structures have been uncovered. It's during this period that sites like Nakbe, El Mirador, Tikal and Uaxactún first develop into large villages. Increased population growth and sophisticated local religious traditions lead to the appearance of important centers in the Valley of Mexico, the Gulf Coast and the Maya area.

One of the most significant developments of this period is the invention of writing systems for recording names and dates. Writing appears earliest in the Oaxaca Valley, then in Chiapas (Chiapa de Corzo), the Gulf Coast region (Trez Zapotes) and highland Guatemala (Abaj Takalik, El Baúl, and Kaminaljuyu).

In Central Mexico Teotihuacán starts to take upon itself the role as the dominant religious and economic center in the Valley of Mexico.

Within this period falls the rise and fall of the city of Teotihuacan. Between 200 AD and 600 AD the city's population grew to perhaps as many as 250,000 people. The centre of Teotihuacan was characterized by centrally planned ceremonial architecture built on a large grid. Structures like the Sun and Moon Pyramid and Feathered Serpent Pyramid were built. Teotihuacan's belief and symbol systems had a profound influence on most of the other Mesoamerican cultures of this time., which lasted till about 600 AD-700 AD, when the city suffers from a dramatic decline.

The Classic period in the Maya area is marked by the appearance of dynastic records with Long Count dates in the Maya lowlands. This period also sees the flourishing of stone sculpture, architecture with corbelled vaults, elaborately painted polychrome ceramics, and finely crafted jades.

The period is characterized by conflicts between the ruling families of Maya city-states, which result in the capture and sacrifice of members of the nobility as well as the looting of royal tombs.

Maya vase painting becomes a fine art, with depictions of Maya royal life and scenes from mythology (such as the Popol Vuh).
Pyramid/tombs are constructed to honor Maya Lords.

During the Classic period, there is evidence for extensive trade networks that extend as far north as Teotihuacán, in Central Mexico and as far south as Costa Rica. It is also during the Classic period that the Zapotec civilization flourishes at the hilltop site of Monte Alban in the Oaxaca Valley.

Among the important markers of this period is evidence for the "collapse" of Classic Maya culture in the southern lowlands, including frequent images of warfare and sacrifice. At the sites of Dos Pilas, Aguateca, and Punta de Chimino in the Petexbatún region of Guatemala there is evidence for defensive fortifications in respons to large-scale warfare as well as significant environmental degradation. By contrast, in the northern lowlands (the Yucatán Peninsula), this period sees the flourishing of Maya culture at sites like Uxmal, Sayil, and Chichén Itzá.

During this period the Toltec culture, who had their centre at the city of Tula, started to flourish. And yet another civilization gained importance in the Valley of Mexico: the Aztecs.

The twin cities of Tenochtitlán and Tlatelolco, located on an island in Lake Texcoco, became the center of the Aztec Empire. The Aztecs had a highly centralized, tribute state based on the extraction of labor and goods from conquered populations.

Maya civilization survived into the Postclassic at important ceremonial centers. Among the last Maya sites in the Yucatán are Mayapán and Tulúm. In the highlands of Guatemala, the Quiché kingdoms of Utatlán and the Cakchiquel capital of Iximche prevail.