Understanding the influence of Mexico's ancient people--the people who inhabited and influenced Mexico prior to the Spanish invasion--provides one with a greater appreciation for the rich tapestry of history of this country. There is so much more to the Mexican native than the influence and impact of the European model laid atop this land in the 1500s. Indeed, civilization in Mexico had existed for one thousand years prior to the invasion of Fernando Cortes in 1519. The achievements of those civilizations-from the Olmecs to the Aztecs, do not reveal the simple explanation of a savage and violent people which Europeans and Catholic priests described when the Spanish host set foot on this land. Instead, Pre-Columbian Mexico was home for a complex people who had already evolved to become capable of art, medicine, philosophy, science, architecture, government and organized religion.
Not unlike elsewhere in North America, early man was a nomad. Historians and archaeologists believe the Mexican inhabitant was a descendant of those who crossed the Bering Strait from Asia's mainland to Alaska and who then migrated south in search of fertile food supplies. For between 40,000-50,000 BC man's primary goal was to secure food and shelter.
According to the text, The Course of Mexican History by Michael C. Meyer and William L. Sherman, archaeological evidence suggests that "humans roamed northern Mexico at least 40,000 years ago but our ignorance of their society is almost complete." It is therefore assumed that for at least twenty five to thirty thousand years, man's existence in Mexico remained unchanged--as nomadic hunters and food gatherers.
Climatic conditional changes between 10,000-8,000 BC provided the Mexican human with a more ample and available food supply in fixed regions. Lakes, lush foliage and grassland drew animals to predictable areas where they could be hunted, and food gathered. Big game was available; providing large food supplies, and requiring the technique and skill of more than one individual to kill. Villages developed. Hunting techniques improved, as did other primitive social and political skills required for group living.
Another climatic change occurred around 7,000 BC, , and drought set in. Man in Mexico began to experiment with agriculture and to hunt smaller game. Though Sherman and Meyer concede that it would be "thousands of years before domesticated plants provided a reliable source of food ,... no discovery of man in his long quest for security was more momentous that that of agriculture."
Between 1500-200 BC, rudimentary civilization began to refine. Homes were constructed of branches, reeds, and mud. People lived in larger villages. As a result political and social organization became more complex, and class structure became more defined as wealth and power was distributed. Trade began, and with trade, the refinement of artisans excelled. The exchange of knowledge, technique and skill in agriculture,
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