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127-574: Xochicalco ( Nahuatl pronunciation: [ʃot͡ʃiˈkaɬko] ) is a pre-Columbian archaeological site in Miacatlán in the western part of the Mexican state of Morelos . The name Xochicalco may be translated from Nahuatl as "in the house of Flowers". The site is located 38 km southwest of Cuernavaca , about 122 km by road from Mexico City . The site is open to visitors all week, from 10 am to 5 pm, although access to

254-569: A central town, with its temple, plaza, palace, and the surrounding countryside and villages. The largest of these were Cuauhnáhuac and Huaxtepec ( Oaxtepec ). These people had advanced knowledge of astronomy and a highly developed agricultural system. They were especially known for growing cotton, which was planted wherever the land could be irrigated. Tlahuica women spun and wove cloth, which became an important item for exchange and for paying tribute. The Mexica or Aztec began to arrive as early as 1398, but efforts to dominate this area began in

381-453: A chimney that measured from the base to the surface 8.7 meters, and which is hexagonal in the top. The chimney has a slight slope allowing the sun's rays to be to projected on the floor of the cave. In the 105 days running from 30 April to 15 August, the sun shines into the cave. In the sun's movement towards the Tropic of Cancer and upon their return, respectively, on 14/15 May and 28/29 July,

508-532: A community of artists from other parts of Mesoamerica . Other monuments at the site include several other step-pyramid temples, palaces, three ballcourts , sweat-baths, an unusual row of circular altars, and a cave with steps carved down into it. The site also has some free-standing sculptured stelae; others were removed from their original location and are now on display in the INAH museum in Mexico City and at

635-607: A different social structure. Until the accurate dating of Watson Brake and similar sites, the oldest mound complex was thought to be Poverty Point , also located in the Lower Mississippi Valley . Built about 1500 BCE, it is the centerpiece of a culture extending over 100 sites on both sides of the Mississippi . The Poverty Point site has earthworks in the form of six concentric half-circles, divided by radial aisles, together with some mounds. The entire complex

762-487: A great new demand for the water and land resources needed to grow sugar cane. As a result, the haciendas expanded steadily, but only at the expense of the peasants, who were unfairly deprived of their land by the hacienda owners. Between 1884 and 1905, eighteen towns in Morelos disappeared as lands were taken by the haciendas. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Cuernavaca was established in 1894 with Fortino Hipólito Vera as

889-987: A number of fortifications in the area, notably in the hills called El Sombrerito and Tlatoani near Tlayacapan . The pyramid of Tepozteco in Tepoztlán may have been designed as a fort and lookout post. During this time, the Tlauhuica built the double-pyramid known as Teopanzolco in Cuernavaca. Population estimates for the beginning of the 16th century are: Cuauhnáhuac, 50,000; Huaxtepec, 50,000; Yautepec, 30,000; Tepoztlán , 20,000; Totolapan , 20,000; and 12,000 each for Tlayacapan , Tetela, Yecapixtla , and Ocuituco . The Spanish under Hernán Cortés arrived in central Mexico in 1519. After Cortés's defeat in Tenochtitlan ( La Noche Triste ) and retreat into Tlaxacala in 1520, he sent expeditions to Morelos. One of

1016-862: A number of restrictions on the Catholic Church, precipitating the so-called Cristero War . While the Catholic Church generally opposed the Mexican Revolution , many former Zapatistas joined the rebellion in Morelos. Groups led by Benjamin Mendoza in Coatlán del Río; Nicolas Zamora in Tetlama, Temixco; and Rafael Castañada in Alpuyeca, Xochitepec, joined the Cristeros. They were quickly put down by Governor Ambrosia Punte in 1927. Since

1143-483: A place called Tamoanchan which he associates with Morelos. He writes, "1st - That being in the region of Tamoanchan... they fixed the ritual calendar ... 2nd - That Tamoanchan was not very far from Teotihuacan; 3rd - That to go from Tamoanchan to Teotihuacan they passed through Xumiltepec; 4th - That Tepuztecal (sic) and his companions discovered pulque in the Tamoanchan region. But as all these facts happened in...

1270-762: A population of over 20,000. Other chiefdoms were constructed throughout the Southeast, and its trade networks reached to the Great Lakes and the Gulf of Mexico. At its peak, between the 12th and 13th centuries, Cahokia was the most populous city in North America. (Larger cities did exist in Mesoamerica and the Andes.) Monks Mound , the major ceremonial center of Cahokia, remains the largest earthen construction of

1397-579: A single unified empire. The Mixtecs would eventually be conquered by the Aztecs until the Spanish conquest. The Mixtecs saw the Spanish conquest as an opportunity for liberation and established agreements with the conquistadors that allowed them to preserve their cultural traditions, though relatively few sections resisted Spanish rule. The Totonac civilization was concentrated in the present-day states of Veracruz and Puebla . The Totonacs were responsible for

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1524-610: Is an UNESCO World Heritage Site and a tourist destination. The site also has a well-stocked museum. Of special interest are sculptured reliefs on the sides of some buildings. The Temple of the Feathered Serpent has fine stylized depictions of that deity in a style which includes apparent influences of Teotihuacan and Maya art. The high taluds of the pyramid bear relief carvings that depict towns that paid tribute to Xochicalco as well as several seated figures that look Mayan. It has been speculated that Xochicalco may have had

1651-476: Is atop an artificially leveled hill, with remains of residential structures, mostly unexcavated, on long terraces covering the slopes. The site was first occupied by 200 BC, but did not develop into an urban center until the Epiclassic period (AD 700 – 900). Nearly all the standing architecture at the site was built at this time. At its peak, the city may have had a population of up to 20,000 people. Xochicalco

1778-511: Is celebrated in a number of communities in the state. It is also home to the Monasteries on the slopes of Popocatépetl , a designated World Heritage Site . Historian Ward Barrett considers that the "region now known as Morelos has a physical unity sufficient to define and set it in strong contrast to other regions of Mexico." Much of this definition comes from its geography, which is a basin into which abundant water flows. The arrival of

1905-399: Is centered on the city of Cuernavaca but also Cuautla and other places. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the major crime problem was kidnapping for ransom. The kidnapping crime wave caused investment in the state to drop from a high of US$ 245 million in 1999 to $ 102 million in 2002, with the state lagging behind the country in job creation. The state broke the kidnapping rings in

2032-678: Is currently divided into two general approaches. The first is the short chronology theory with the first movement beyond Alaska into the Americas occurring no earlier than 14,000–17,000 years ago, followed by successive waves of immigrants. The second belief is the long chronology theory , which proposes that the first group of people entered the hemisphere at a much earlier date, possibly 50,000–40,000 years ago or earlier. Artifacts have been found in both North and South America which have been dated to 14,000 years ago, and accordingly humans have been proposed to have reached Cape Horn at

2159-411: Is nearly a mile across. Mound building was continued by succeeding cultures, who built numerous sites in the middle Mississippi and Ohio River valleys as well, adding effigy mounds , conical and ridge mounds, and other shapes. The Woodland period of North American pre-Columbian cultures lasted from roughly 1000 BCE to 1000 CE. The term was coined in the 1930s and refers to prehistoric sites between

2286-522: Is reflected in the oral histories of the indigenous peoples, described by a wide range of traditional creation stories which often say that a given people have been living in a certain territory since the creation of the world. Throughout thousands of years, paleo-Indian people domesticated, bred, and cultivated many plant species, including crops that now constitute 50–60% of worldwide agriculture. In general, Arctic, Subarctic, and coastal peoples continued to live as hunters and gatherers, while agriculture

2413-462: Is remembered as the force behind the growth of basic ecclesial communities (Spanish: Comunidades Eclesiales de Base) (CEB) in Mexico during the 1970s, for his support of Austrian philosopher Ivan Illich and his Centro Intercultural de Documentación (English: Intercultural Documentation Center), and as a supporter of both human rights and liberation theology . Mendez Arceo was also responsible for

2540-540: Is the Olmec. This civilization established the cultural blueprint by which all succeeding indigenous civilizations would follow in Mexico. Pre-Olmec civilization began with the production of pottery in abundance, around 2300 BCE in the Grijalva River delta. Between 1600 and 1500 BCE, the Olmec civilization had begun, with the consolidation of power at their capital, a site today known as San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán near

2667-634: Is the determinant factor for the number of gene lineages and founding haplotypes present in today's Indigenous populations . Human settlement of the Americas occurred in stages from the Bering Sea coastline , with an initial 20,000-year layover on Beringia for the founding population . The microsatellite diversity and distributions of the Y lineage specific to South America indicate that certain Amerindian populations have been isolated since

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2794-704: The Americas via the Bering Land Bridge (Beringia), now the Bering Strait , and possibly along the coast. Genetic evidence found in Indigenous peoples ' maternally inherited mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) supports the theory of multiple genetic populations migrating from Asia. After crossing the land bridge, they moved southward along the Pacific coast and through an interior ice-free corridor. Throughout millennia, Paleo-Indians spread throughout

2921-601: The Archaic Period , numerous archaeological cultures have been identified. The unstable climate led to widespread migration, with early Paleo-Indians soon spreading throughout the Americas, diversifying into many hundreds of culturally distinct tribes. The Paleo-Indians were hunter-gatherers , likely characterized by small, mobile bands consisting of approximately 20 to 50 members of an extended family. These groups moved from place to place as preferred resources were depleted and new supplies were sought. During much of

3048-670: The Archaic period and the Mississippian cultures . The Adena culture and the ensuing Hopewell tradition during this period built monumental earthwork architecture and established continent-spanning trade and exchange networks. This period is considered a developmental stage without any massive changes in a short period but instead has a continuous development in stone and bone tools, leatherworking, textile manufacture, tool production, cultivation, and shelter construction. Some Woodland people continued to use spears and atlatls until

3175-457: The Centro del Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH) Morelos. At some point around 900 CE the city of Xochicalco was burned and destroyed. Many of the excavated houses and temples have layers of burning and destruction that cover the deposits from the main Epiclassic occupation. Underneath destruction layers, numerous objects were left in place in the houses, indicating that the site

3302-702: The Cliff Palace of Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado and the Great Houses in Chaco Canyon , New Mexico . The Puebloans also constructed a road system that stretched from Chaco Canyon to Kutz Canyon in the San Juan Basin . The Ancestral Puebloans are also known as "Anasazi", though the term is controversial, as the present-day Pueblo peoples consider the term to be derogatory, due to

3429-681: The Federal Entities of Mexico . It is divided into 36 municipalities and its capital city is Cuernavaca . Morelos is bordered by Mexico City to the north, and by the states of México to the northeast and northwest, Puebla to the east and Guerrero to the southwest. Morelos is the second-smallest state in the nation, just after Tlaxcala . It was part of a very large province, the State of Mexico, until 1869 when Benito Juárez decreed that its territory would be separated and named in honor of José María Morelos y Pavón , who defended

3556-543: The Jardin Borda in Cuernavaca as his summer residence, and he built La Casa del Olindo in Acapantzingo, Cuernavaca supposedly for Margarita Leguizmo Sedano, his mistress known as "La India Bonita." The French emperor improved the roads from Mexico City to Cuernavaca; telegraph service between the two began in 1866. However, resistance to French rule was well underway. On January 1, 1867, Republican troops under

3683-672: The Lagunas de Zempoala National Park in Huitzilac, killing 22 and injuring 36. An earthquake in Cuernavaca in May killed 22, injured dozens, and destroyed two buildings. Four Roman Catholic bishops served during this period: Francisco Uranga y Sáenz (April 21, 1922 - 8 July 8, 1930), Francisco María González y Arias (January 30, 1931 - 20 August 20, 1946), Alfonso Espino y Silva (August 2, 1947 - May 15, 1951), and Sergio Méndez Arceo † (11 March 11, 1952 - December 28, 1982). Mendez Arceo He

3810-697: The Maya script . Other accounts also suggest that the Huastecs migrated as a result of the Classic Maya collapse around the year 900 CE. The Zapotecs were a civilization that thrived in the Oaxaca Valley from the late 6th century BCE until their downfall at the hands of the Spanish conquistadors. The city of Monte Albán was an important religious center for the Zapotecs and served as the capital of

3937-667: The Morelos railway accident on June 23, 1881. Rail lines would continue to be built into the 20th century, connecting the state further with Mexico City and the Pacific Ocean. On May 11, 1874, the capital was moved to Cuautla; it was returned to Cuernavaca on January 1, 1876. During the long presidency of Porfirio Diaz (1877–1911), the economy of Morelos continued to be dominated by the large sugar plantations. The sugar cane estates were modernized and began to use steam-driven mills and centrifugal extractors. These changes created

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4064-664: The Olmec , Teotihuacan , Mayas , Zapotecs , Mixtecs , Huastecs , Purepecha , Toltecs , and Mexica / Aztecs . The Mexica civilization is also known as the Aztec Triple Alliance since they were three smaller kingdoms loosely united together. These Indigenous civilizations are credited with many inventions: building pyramid temples, mathematics , astronomy , medicine, writing, highly accurate calendars , fine arts , intensive agriculture, engineering , an abacus calculator, and complex theology . They also invented

4191-590: The Plan de Ayala . Contrary to popular belief, the state's motto, Tierra y Libertad (Land and Liberty) did not originate with Zapata or the Plan de Ayala; it was first used by Ricardo Flores Magón in the magazine Regeneración on October 1, 1910. With the outbreak of Revolution, a new bishop, Manuel Fulcheri y Pietrasanta was chosen to head the Roman Catholic diocese (May 6, 1912 - April 21, 1922) Madero

4318-517: The Spanish conquest of El Salvador , Cuzcatlan was forced to surrender to conquistador Pedro de Alvarado in 1528. Morelos Morelos ( Spanish pronunciation: [moˈɾelos] ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Morelos ( Spanish : Estado Libre y Soberano de Morelos ), is a landlocked state located in south-central Mexico. It is one of the 32 states which comprise

4445-463: The Tlingit , Haida , Chumash , Mandan , Hidatsa , and others, and some established large settlements, even cities, such as Cahokia , in what is now Illinois . Mesoamerica is the region extending from central Mexico south to the northwestern border of Costa Rica that gave rise to a group of stratified, culturally related agrarian civilizations spanning an approximately 3,000-year period before

4572-661: The Xochimilcas , who settled in places such as Tetela , Hueyapan , Tepoztlán , and Xumiltepec . Shortly afterwards the Tlahuicas arrived and settled in and around Cuauhnáhuac ( Cuernavaca ) by 1250. There is evidence that indicates the Tlauhuicas probably would have been expelled from Morelos by the Xochimilcas if they had not been protected by Xólotl , lord of Acolhua , who granted territory to Tochintecutli ,

4699-461: The 1420s. In the 1420s and 1430s, Cuauhnáhuac and Xiutepec ( Jiutepec ) were conquered by Itzcoatl . In the middle of the 15th century, other city-states in Morelos made war on Aztec-held Cuauhnahuac and the Aztecs used this as an excuse to conquer areas such as Yautepec, Tetlama and other locations, eventually dominating the entire state. The inclusion of the area into the Aztec Empire

4826-630: The Americas and oral histories. Other civilizations, contemporaneous with the colonial period, were documented in European accounts of the time. For instance, the Maya civilization maintained written records, which were often destroyed by Christian Europeans such as Diego de Landa , who viewed them as pagan but sought to preserve native histories. Despite the destruction, a few original documents have survived, and others were transcribed or translated into Spanish, providing modern historians with valuable insights into ancient cultures and knowledge. Before

4953-719: The Constitution of 1857, the State of Mexico and all other states would keep their federal status permanently. Cuernavaca gained the title of city in 1834. During the Mexican–American War , this city was taken by the Americans under General Cadwalader . The next conflict was the uprising against President Antonio López de Santa Anna under the Plan of Ayutla in 1854. Armed rebellion broke out in Cuautla, and Santa Anna responded by burning entire villages. However,

5080-811: The Cortés family until 1809 when the government confiscated all of the lands of the Marquis. There are house-to-house censuses from the mid-1530s from communities around Cuernavaca that are the earliest extant local-level documentation in Nahuatl , likely due to a dispute between Cortés and the crown about the number of tributaries of the Marquesado del Valle de Oaxaca . These Indigenous censuses make it possible to establish an early colonial-era base-line for household structure, land holding, tribute obligations, and rates of baptism and Church marriage. The conditions on

5207-460: The Cuernavaca police killed Jorge Garrigós in 1957. The municipal president of Jiutepec was assassinated on May 26, 1958. In 1960, three government officials in Cuernavaca were fired because of embezzlement. From 1943 to 1944, and again from 1953 to 1958, Rubén Jaramillo led peasant revolts against the government. Despite promises and a guarantee of his safety from presidents Manuel Ávila Camacho in 1944 and Adolfo López Mateos in 1958, Jaramillo

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5334-477: The Europeans arrived, Indigenous peoples of North America had a wide range of lifeways from sedentary, agrarian societies to semi-nomadic hunter-gatherer societies. Many formed new tribes or confederations in response to European colonization. These are often classified by cultural regions , loosely based on geography. These can include the following: Numerous pre-Columbian societies were sedentary, such as

5461-540: The Gualupita neighborhood of Cuernavaca and three mounds in Santa María Ahuacatitlán , which are probably the remains of houses. Francisco Plancarte y Navarrete , Cuernavaca's second bishop (1898–1911), wrote Tamoanchan—El Estado de Morelos y El Principio de la Civilizacion en Mexico in 1911. In it, he proposes that the first agriculturally based settlements in Mexico appeared around 1500 B.C. in

5588-668: The Hohokam, they constructed kivas and great houses as well as ballcourts . Several of the Sinagua ruins include Montezuma Castle , Wupatki , and Tuzigoot . The Salado resided in the Tonto Basin in southeastern Arizona from 1150 CE to the 15th century. Archaeological evidence suggests that they traded with far-away cultures, as evidenced by the presence of seashells from the Gulf of California and macaw feathers from Mexico. Most of

5715-734: The Maya city of Chichen Itza . The Toltecs established vast trading relations with other Mesoamerican civilizations in Central America and the Puebloans in present-day New Mexico . During the Post-Classic era, the Toltecs suffered a subsequent collapse in the early 12th century, due to famine and civil war. The Toltec civilization was so influential to the point where many groups such as the Aztecs claimed to be descended from. With

5842-454: The Maya civilization cannot be overstated: it transformed political power, artistic depictions, and the nature of economics. Within the city of Teotihuacan was a diverse and cosmopolitan population. Most of the regional ethnicities of Mexico were represented in the city, such as Zapotecs from the Oaxaca region. They lived in apartment communities where they worked their trades and contributed to

5969-508: The Mississippian groups had vanished, and vast swaths of their territory were virtually uninhabited. The Ancestral Puebloans thrived in what is now the Four Corners region in the United States. It is commonly suggested that the culture of the Ancestral Puebloans emerged during the Early Basketmaker II Era during the 12th century BCE. The Ancestral Puebloans were a complex Oasisamerican society that constructed kivas , multi-story houses, and apartment blocks made from stone and adobe, such as

6096-483: The Olmec resulted in a power vacuum in Mexico. Emerging from that vacuum was Teotihuacan, first settled in 300 BCE. By 150 CE, Teotihuacan had risen to become the first true metropolis of what is now called North America. Teotihuacan established a new economic and political order never before seen in Mexico. Its influence stretched across Mexico into Central America, founding new dynasties in the Maya cities of Tikal , Copan , and Kaminaljuyú . Teotihuacan's influence over

6223-586: The Olmecs, Teotihuacan, the Toltecs, the Mexica, and the Mayas. These civilizations (except for the politically fragmented Maya) extended their reach across Mesoamerica—and beyond—like no others. They consolidated power and distributed influence in matters of trade, art, politics, technology, and theology. Other regional power players made economic and political alliances with these civilizations over 4,000 years. Many made war with them, but almost all peoples found themselves within one of their spheres of influence. Regional communications in ancient Mesoamerica have been

6350-550: The Paleo-Indian period, bands are thought to have subsisted primarily through hunting now-extinct giant land animals such as mastodon and ancient bison . Paleo-Indian groups carried a variety of tools, including distinctive projectile points and knives, as well as less distinctive butchering and hide-scraping implements. The vastness of the North American continent, and the variety of its climates, ecology , vegetation , fauna , and landforms, led ancient peoples to coalesce into many distinct linguistic and cultural groups. This

6477-438: The Revolution, the state's history has centered on development and crime. There were several assaults along the Mexico City-Cuernavaca highway in 1928 and again in 1934. There was a train robbery in 1928, and several major train accidents in the 1930s. The statue of the Virgin of Guadalupe in El Calvario (Cuernavaca) was destroyed by vandals in 1934. Striking police went of a crime wave in 1937. Five thousand rioters protested when

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6604-459: The Spanish colonists. The Wichita people were a loose confederation that consisted of sedentary agriculturalists and hunter-gatherers who resided in the eastern Great Plains . They lived in permanent settlements and even established a city called Etzanoa , which had a population of 20,000 people. The city was eventually abandoned around the 18th century after it was encountered by Spanish conquistadors Jusepe Gutierrez and Juan de Oñate . When

6731-478: The Spanish shifted agriculture from subsistence maize production and cotton cultivation to sugar cane and the refining of such into sugar in nearby mills. This system would remain more or less intact until the Mexican Revolution . Evidence of the first human inhabitants in what is now Morelos dates back to 6000 B.C. and shows these people as nomadic hunters and gatherers in the areas of Yautepec and Chimalacatlan . Other early finds include clay jars and figures in

6858-422: The State of Morelos ... and accordingly that Tamoanchan is not a mythological and fantastic country... but true..." The earliest identified culture is the Olmec , which was dominant from 200 B. C. to about A.D. 500. Evidence of this culture is found in reliefs such as those in the Cantera Mountain in Chalcatzingo and clay figures. After the Olmec period, the area was invaded by several waves of migration from

6985-445: The Tlaxcalans for preserving their culture and for their assistance in defeating the Aztecs. The Tlaxcalans would once again assist to the Spaniards during the Mixtón War and the conquest of Guatemala . Cuzcatlan was a Pipil confederacy of kingdoms and city-states located in present-day El Salvador . According to legend, Cuzcatlan was established by Toltec migrants during the Classic Maya collapse in approximately 1200 CE. During

7112-468: The Valley of Mexico in the north. The settlement of Mazatepec was founded in A. D. 603 by the Toltecs . A second wave of Toltecs established the city-state of Xochicalco (the City of Flowers). Their influence is evident in Teotihuacan at the temple of Quetzalcoatl , but there are also signs of Mayan , Mixtec and Zapotec influences. The last wave of Toltecs arrived in the 12th century. There are two groups from this wave. The first to arrive were

7239-518: The bloody Battle of Cuautla (May 11–19, 1911) brought about Porfirio Diaz 's abdication, but also led to the press labeling Zapata the Attila of the South . But then, Government forces led by Victoriano Huerta attacked towns and cities in the state, trying to take it back. Shortly afterwards, on August 17, revolutionaries sacked Jojutla . Zapata felt betrayed by Francisco Madero , and following Madero's election as president on November 6, 1911, Zapata and his followers called for agrarian reform in

7366-443: The calendar, were bequest from the former inhabitants of Tula, the Toltecs. The Mexica-Aztecs were the rulers of much of central Mexico by about 1400 (while Yaquis , Coras, and Apaches commanded sizable regions of northern desert), having subjugated most of the other regional states by the 1470s. At their peak, the Valley of Mexico where the Aztec Empire presided, saw a population growth that included nearly one million people during

7493-408: The city of Cuautla from royalist forces during the Mexican War of Independence . Most of the state enjoys a warm climate year-round, which is good for the raising of sugar cane and other crops. Morelos has attracted visitors from the Valley of Mexico since Aztec times. The state is also known for the Chinelos , a type of costumed dancer that appears at festivals, especially Carnival , which

7620-457: The city's economic and cultural prowess. Teotihuacan's economic pull impacted areas in northern Mexico as well. It was a city whose monumental architecture reflected a monumental new era in Mexican civilization, declining in political power about 650 CE—but lasting in cultural influence for the better part of a millennium, to around 950 CE. Contemporary to Teotihuacan's greatness was that of the Maya civilization. The period between 250 CE and 650 CE

7747-404: The city, and the women were raped. After spending the night in nearby Acapantzingo , Cortes moved on to Coajomulco before marching on Xochimilco . Cortes returned to Cuernavaca after the fall of Tenochtitlan, where he established a hacienda and constructed the Palace of Cortés five years later. Only two years after the fall of Tenochtitlan (Mexico City), in the year 1523, the first church

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7874-406: The civilizations in its area, the Tarascan Empire was the most prominent in metallurgy, harnessing copper, silver, and gold to create items such as tools, decorations, and even weapons and armor. Bronze was also used. The great victories over the Aztecs by the Tarascans cannot be understated. Nearly every war they fought in resulted in a Tarascan victory. Because the Tarascan Empire had little links to

8001-429: The cliff dwellings constructed by the Salado are primarily located in Tonto National Monument . The Iroquois League of Nations or "People of the Long House" was a politically advanced, democratic society, which is thought by some historians to have influenced the United States Constitution , with the Senate passing a resolution to this effect in 1988. Other historians have contested this interpretation and believe

8128-404: The coast in southeast Veracruz . The Olmec influence extended across Mexico, into Central America , and along the Gulf of Mexico . They transformed many peoples' thinking toward a new way of government, pyramid temples, writing, astronomy, art, mathematics, economics, and religion. Their achievements paved the way for the Maya civilization and the civilizations in central Mexico. The decline of

8255-432: The de Soto expedition wandered the American Southeast for four years, becoming more bedraggled, losing more men and equipment, and eventually arriving in Mexico as a fraction of its original size. The local people fared much worse though, as the fatalities of diseases introduced by the expedition devastated the populations and produced much social disruption. By the time Europeans returned a hundred years later, nearly all of

8382-463: The decline of the Toltec civilization came political fragmentation in the Valley of Mexico . Into this new political game of contenders to the Toltec throne stepped outsiders: the Mexica . They were also a desert people, one of seven groups who formerly called themselves "Azteca", in memory of Aztlán , but they changed their name after years of migrating. Since they were not from the Valley of Mexico , they were initially seen as crude and unrefined in

8509-432: The decline of the great Meso-American city states. The poor farming conditions in the area show that it was likely built for defense purposes and trading. The ruins were first described by explorer Antonio Alzate in 1777. In 1810, Alexander von Humboldt published a description and illustration of Xochicalco, based on Alzate's description and an engraving published in Mexico City in 1791. Emperor Maximilian of Mexico visited

8636-451: The development of archaeology in the 19th century, historians of the pre-Columbian period mainly interpreted the records of the European conquerors and the accounts of early European travelers and antiquaries. It was not until the nineteenth century that the work of people such as John Lloyd Stephens , Eduard Seler , and Alfred Maudslay , and institutions such as the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology of Harvard University , led to

8763-430: The empire from 700 BCE to 700 CE. The Zapotecs resisted the expansion of the Aztecs until they were subjugated in 1502 under Aztec emperor Ahuitzotl . After the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire , the Zapotecs resisted Spanish rule until King Cosijopii I surrendered in 1563. Like the Zapotecs, the Mixtecs thrived in the Oaxaca Valley. The Mixtecs consisted of separate independent kingdoms and city-states, rather than

8890-409: The end of the period when they were replaced by bows and arrows . The Mississippian culture was spread across the Southeast and Midwest of what is today the United States, from the Atlantic coast to the edge of the plains, from the Gulf of Mexico to the Upper Midwest, although most intensively in the area along the Mississippi River and Ohio River . One of the distinguishing features of this culture

9017-435: The entire site and conducted excavations of houses and obsidian workshops. In 1988 a large-scale program of excavation of monumental architecture was initiated by Norberto González Crespo and Silvia Garza of the INAH. A new museum was built to house the spectacular finds of this project. A 2009 concession granted to Canadian mining company Esperanza Silver threatens the site, according to archaeologist Silvia Garza Tarazona of

9144-523: The establishment of cities, such as El Tajín as important commercial trading centers. The Totonacs would later assist in the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire as an opportunity to liberate themselves from Aztec military imperialism. The Toltec civilization was established in the 8th century CE. The Toltec Empire expanded its political borders to as far south as the Yucatán peninsula , including

9271-403: The first Cazonci, Tariacuri, united these communities and built them into one of the most advanced civilizations in Mesoamerica. Their capital at Tzintzuntzan was just one of the many cities—there were ninety more under its control. The Tarascan Empire was among the largest in Central America, so it is no surprise that they routinely came into conflict with the neighboring Aztec Empire . Out of all

9398-468: The first Mexicas to accept Spanish authority was in Ocuituco . Gonzalo de Sandoval then set out with 8,000 men for Huaxtepec ( Oaxtepec ). After a two-day fight, Sandoval returned to Texcoco to inform Cortes of his victory. Cortes returned with 20,000 men and defeated Tlayacapan on April 8. Cortes then went to Huaxtepec, spent a night in the beautiful gardens, and moved on to Yautepec. The Spanish burned

9525-518: The first bishop (1894–1898). He was followed by Francisco Plancarte y Navarrete (1898–1911). This situation made the state ripe for the Mexican Revolution and the base for one of the best-known revolutionaries from this period, Emiliano Zapata , who was born in Anenecuilco , Ciudad Ayala . Some of the first outbreaks of violence took place in Cuernavaca under Genovevo de la O from Santa María Ahuacatitlán in 1910. Zapata's victory in

9652-679: The first companies to locate there. A major water park with capacity for 20,000 visitors, was opened in Oaxtepec by IMSS (Mexican Social Security Institution) in 1966. When Mexico hosted the XIX 1968 Summer Olympics , the Junior Games were in Oaxtepec. The water park was sold to Six Flags Hurricane Harbor in 2016. There were two major disasters in 1962: in March, a bus fell off a cliff near

9779-481: The first lord of Cuauhnáhuac (Cuernavaca). The Tlahuicas are believed to be an offshoot of the Toltec-Chichimec group of Nahuatl -speaking peoples who have occupied the area since the seventh century. The Tlahuica eventually became the dominant ethnic group in Morelos. They were organized into about fifty small city-states, each with a hereditary ruler ( tlatoani ). Each Tlahuica city-state consisted of

9906-481: The foot of a statue erected in his honor. When the Constitutionalists split and Minister of War Álvaro Obregón was forced to flee, he and Zapata's Chief of Staff and successor Gildardo Magaña joined forces and defeated Carranza. Obregón's government duly reciprocated with legislating a land reform in Morelos according to the Plan de Ayala principles. In 1926 President Plutarco Elias Calles ordered

10033-400: The former Toltec Empire , they were also quite independent in culture from their neighbors. The Aztecs, Tlaxcaltec , Olmec, Mixtec, Maya, and others were very similar to each other, however. This is because they were all directly preceded by the Toltecs, and they therefore shared almost identical cultures. The Tarascans, however, possessed a unique religion, as well as other things. Tlaxcala

10160-607: The guerilla warfare that they had waged a few years earlier. They retook Cuernavaca in January, 1916, but he generally lost ground to the Constitutionalists . The Zapatistas imposed a heavy tax on haciendas; when the owners refused to pay, the rebels burned the cane fields such as those of Chinameca, Tenango, Treinta, Atilhuayan, Santa Iñes, and San Gabriel. Then, on April 17, 1919, Zapata was betrayed and ambushed at Chinameca . Zapata's remains are currently in Cuautla at

10287-596: The impact was minimal or did not exist, pointing to numerous differences between the two systems and the ample precedents for the constitution in European political thought. The Calusa were a complex paramountcy/kingdom that resided in southern Florida . Instead of agriculture, the Calusa economy relied on abundant fishing. According to Spanish sources, the "king's house" at Mound Key was large enough to house 2,000 people. The Calusa ultimately collapsed into extinction at around 1750 after succumbing to diseases introduced by

10414-687: The influence that astronomical activities had upon Mesoamerican people before the arrival of Europeans. Many of the later Mesoamerican civilizations carefully built their cities and ceremonial centers according to specific astronomical events. The biggest Mesoamerican cities, such as Teotihuacan , Tenochtitlan , and Cholula , were among the largest in the world. These cities grew as centers of commerce, ideas, ceremonies, and theology, and they radiated influence outwards onto neighboring cultures in central Mexico. While many city-states, kingdoms, and empires competed with one another for power and prestige, Mesoamerica can be said to have had five major civilizations:

10541-429: The initial colonization of the region. The Na-Dené , Inuit , and Indigenous Alaskan populations exhibit haplogroup Q-M242 (Y-DNA) mutations, however, and are distinct from other Indigenous peoples with various mtDNA mutations. This suggests that the earliest migrants into the northern extremes of North America and Greenland derived from later populations. Asian nomadic Paleo-Indians are thought to have entered

10668-472: The late Aztec period (1350–1519). Their capital, Tenochtitlan , is the site of modern-day Mexico City . At its peak, it was one of the largest cities in the world with population estimates of 200,000–300,000. The market established there was the largest ever seen by the conquistadores on arrival. Initially, the lands that would someday comprise the lands of the powerful Tarascan Empire were inhabited by several independent communities. Around 1300, however,

10795-607: The late twentieth century, archeologists have studied, analyzed, and dated these sites, realizing that the earliest complexes were built by hunter-gatherer societies, whose people occupied the sites on a seasonal basis. Watson Brake , a large complex of eleven platform mounds, was constructed beginning in 3400 BCE and added to over 500 years. This has changed earlier assumptions that complex construction arose only after societies had adopted agriculture, and become sedentary, with stratified hierarchy and usually ceramics. These ancient people had organized to build complex mound projects under

10922-459: The leadership of Francisco Leyva, Ignacio Figueroa , and Ignacio Manuel Altamirano began an eight-day siege of Cuernavaca. France, under Napoleon III , withdrew its troops soon after that, and Maximilian was defeated by Republican forces and executed. After the French were expelled by forces under Benito Juárez , there were efforts to divide the State of Mexico. This resulted in the approval of

11049-591: The liberal and conservative parts of the state remained through the French Intervention in Mexico . When the French Army invaded Mexico, Francisco Leyva raised an army in Morelos to fight in the Battle of Puebla of May 5, 1862. Despite the heroic efforts on that day, the French eventually managed to gain control of the country and install Maximilian of Habsburg as emperor in 1864. Maximilian chose

11176-461: The majority of the Y-chromosome is unique and does not recombine during meiosis . This has the effect that the historical pattern of mutations can easily be studied. The pattern indicates Indigenous peoples of the Americas experienced two very distinctive genetic episodes: first with the initial peopling of the Americas and second with European colonization of the Americas . The former

11303-557: The memory of this battle would lead to the future state being named after him. In the post-war period, the sugar industry of Morelos made this region one of the richest parts of the Mexican Republic. Much of this sugar made its way to European markets. As a result, the city of Cuernavaca, serving as an important trade center for exports, became a well-established outpost along the Camino Real (Royal Road) to Acapulco. But

11430-652: The observatory is only allowed after noon. The apogee of Xochicalco came after the fall of Teotihuacan and it has been speculated that Xochicalco may have played a part in the fall of the Teotihuacan empire. The architecture and iconography of Xochicalco show affinities with Teotihuacan, the Maya area, and the Matlatzinca culture of the Toluca Valley . Today the residents of the nearby village of Cuentepec speak Nahuatl . The main ceremonial center

11557-516: The only true writing system native to the Americas using pictographs and syllabic elements in the form of texts and codices inscribed on stone, pottery, wood, or perishable books made from bark paper. The Huastecs were a Maya ethnic group that migrated northwards to the Gulf Coast of Mexico. The Huastecs are considered to be distinct from the Maya civilization, as they separated from the main Maya branch at around 2000 BCE and did not possess

11684-464: The other centered on Huaxtepec. Each of these territories had a population of over 50,000 by the 16th century. Moctezuma Ilhuicamina succeeded Izcóatl, and tradition has it that he established a botanical garden in Huaxtepec ( Oaxtepec ). Moctezuma's favorite swimming area is thought to have been a pond called Poza Azul , now part of a resort run by Six Flags Hurricane Harbor . The Mexica built

11811-657: The people abandoned their settlements, likely due to drought. The Mogollon resided in the present-day states of Arizona , New Mexico, and Texas as well as Sonora and Chihuahua . Like most other cultures in Oasisamerica, the Mogollon constructed sophisticated kivas and cliff dwellings. In the village of Paquimé , the Mogollon are revealed to have housed pens for scarlet macaws , which were introduced from Mesoamerica through trade. The Sinagua were hunter-gatherers and agriculturalists who lived in central Arizona. Like

11938-422: The pre-Columbian era, many civilizations developed permanent settlements, cities, agricultural practices, civic and monumental architecture, major earthworks , and complex societal hierarchies. Some of these civilizations had declined by the time of the establishment of the first permanent European colonies, around the late 16th to early 17th centuries, and are known primarily through archaeological research of

12065-416: The prehistoric Americas . The culture reached its peak in about 1200–1400 CE, and in most places, it seems to have been in decline before the arrival of Europeans. Many Mississippian peoples were encountered by the expedition of Hernando de Soto in the 1540s, mostly with disastrous results for both sides. Unlike the Spanish expeditions in Mesoamerica, which conquered vast empires with relatively few men,

12192-560: The rebellion dislodged Santa Anna, naming Juan Álvarez as president. Alvarez moved the Mexican capital to Cuernavaca. A new constitutional convention was called and when the 1857 Constitution was proclaimed, Alvarez retired and the capital moved back to Mexico City. The new constitution did not stop fighting among conservative and liberal factions in Mexico, which escalated again into the Reform War from 1858 to 1861. While Cuautla

12319-624: The reconsideration and criticism of the early European sources. Now, the scholarly study of pre-Columbian cultures is most often based on scientific and multidisciplinary methodologies. The haplogroup most commonly associated with Indigenous Amerindian genetics is Y-chromosome haplogroup Q1a3a . Researchers have found genetic evidence that the Q1a3a haplogroup has been in South America since at least 18,000 BCE. Y-chromosome DNA , like mtDNA , differs from other nuclear chromosomes in that

12446-515: The rest of North and South America. Exactly when the first people migrated into the Americas is the subject of much debate. One of the earliest identifiable cultures was the Clovis culture , with sites dating from some 13,000 years ago. However, older sites dating back to 20,000 years ago have been claimed. Some genetic studies estimate the colonization of the Americas dates from between 40,000 and 13,000 years ago. The chronology of migration models

12573-588: The restoration and remodeling of the Cuernavaca Cathedral that led to the discovery of the murals about St. Philip of Jesus and companions . As it has been since Aztec times, the state, especially Cuernavaca, has been a favorite retreat for those in Mexico City due to its warm year-round climate. That, plus pollution and the September 19, 1985 Mexico City earthquake , have spurred a major housing boom which continues to this day. Most of this boom

12700-499: The ruins. The Temple of the Feathered Serpent was restored by Mexican archaeologist Leopoldo Batres in 1910. Major archaeological excavations and further restorations were done in a project from the 1940s through the 1960s by Eduardo Noguera and César Saenz. Jaime Litvak King also worked at the site. In 1976 archaeologist Kenneth Hirth of Pennsylvania State University began a multi-season fieldwork project in which he mapped

12827-504: The site museum. Xochicalco was founded in about 650 AD by the Olmeca-Xicalanca, which are a Mayan group of traders from Campeche, at a site that gave them an excellent position along several of the major Mesoamerican trade routes. The city-state had a population of 10,000 to 15,000 people, many of whom were engaged in craft production and long-distance trade. It was an important fortressed commercial and religious center following

12954-553: The southern tip of South America by this time. In that case, the Inuit would have arrived separately and at a much later date, probably no more than 2,000 years ago, moving across the ice from Siberia into Alaska. The North American climate was unstable as the ice age receded during the Lithic stage . It finally stabilized about 10,000 years ago; climatic conditions were then very similar to today's. Within this time frame, roughly about

13081-535: The state of Morelos on September 21, 1868, by the federal Congress, followed by the official admittance of Morelos as the country's 27th state on April 17, 1869. The territory of the state was the Third Military District of the State of Mexico as defined by the Juárez government; the name "Morelos" and the capital "Cuernavaca" were selected by the state's first legislature. The first state constitution

13208-564: The subject of considerable research. There is evidence of trade routes starting as far north as the Mexico Central Plateau , and going down to the Pacific coast. These trade routes and cultural contacts then went on as far as Central America . These networks operated with various interruptions from pre-Olmec times and up to the Late Classical Period (600–900 CE). The earliest known civilization in Mesoamerica

13335-434: The sugar cane estates were worlds unto themselves: great luxury for the (often absentee) owners and misery, debt, and poverty for the workers. After winning independence, what is now the state of Morelos was the district of Cuernavaca as part of the very large State of Mexico, created in 1824. The entity would change status between state and department depending on whether liberal or conservative factions were in charge. Under

13462-433: The sugar plantations of Morelos made Father Miguel Hidalgo 's call to take up arms well received by the indigenous and mestizo populations of the state. The first rebellions broke out in 1811, with some early successes. An early insurgent leader in the state was Francisco Ayala. Insurgents from the state managed to push as far as Chalco in what is now Mexico State when royalist forces pushed them back in 1812. After Hidalgo

13589-566: The sun is at its zenith and the astronomical noon, the beam of light falls directly through the chimney showing the image of the sun on the floor of the cave. Surely, taking advantage of the solar phenomenon, the site was also used for religious ceremonies. The Temple of the Feathered Serpent has fine stylized depictions of that deity in a style which includes apparent influences of Teotihuacan and Maya art 18°48′14″N 99°17′45.3″W  /  18.80389°N 99.295917°W  / 18.80389; -99.295917 Pre-Columbian During

13716-467: The town, and Tepoztlan surrendered. Cortes continued his march on Xiutepec ( Jiutepec ) and on April 13 faced the city of Cuauhnahuac ( Cuernavaca ). The bridges across the Ravine of Annanalco had been destroyed, but both Cortes and Bernal Diaz del Castillo relate how they were able to cross the ravine upriver via a fallen tree. The cacique of Cuauhnahuac surrendered quickly, and Cortes burned and sacked

13843-555: The visits to the Caribbean by Christopher Columbus. Mesoamerican is the adjective generally used to refer to that group of pre-Columbian cultures. This refers to an environmental area occupied by an assortment of ancient cultures that shared religious beliefs, art, architecture, and technology in the Americas for more than three thousand years. Between 2000 and 300 BCE, complex cultures began to form in Mesoamerica. Some matured into advanced pre-Columbian Mesoamerican civilizations such as

13970-553: The ways of the Nahua civilization. Through political maneuvers and ferocious martial skills, they managed to rule Mexico as the head of the 'Triple Alliance' which included two other Aztec cities, Tetxcoco and Tlacopan . Latecomers to Mexico's central plateau , the Mexica thought of themselves, nevertheless, as heirs of the civilizations that had preceded them. For them, arts, sculpture, architecture, engraving, feather-mosaic work, and

14097-420: The wheel, but it was used solely as a toy. In addition, they used native copper , silver , and gold for metalworking. Archaic inscriptions on rocks and rock walls all over northern Mexico (especially in the state of Nuevo León ) demonstrate an early propensity for counting. Their number system was base 20 and included zero . These early count markings were associated with astronomical events and underscore

14224-667: The word tracing its origins to a Navajo word meaning "ancestor enemies". The Hohokam thrived in the Sonoran desert in what is now the U.S. state of Arizona and the Mexican state of Sonora . The Hohokam were responsible for the construction of a series of irrigation canals that led to the successful establishment of Phoenix, Arizona via the Salt River Project . The Hohokam also established complex settlements such as Snaketown , which served as an important commercial trading center. After 1375 CE, Hohokam society collapsed and

14351-493: Was a Nahua republic and confederation in central Mexico. The Tlaxcalans fiercely resisted Aztec expansion during the Flower Wars ever since the Aztecs expelled them from Lake Texcoco . The Tlaxcalans would later ally with the Spanish conquistadors under Hernán Cortés as an opportunity to liberate them from the Aztecs and managed to successfully conquer the Aztecs with the help of the conquistadors. The Spaniards would reward

14478-500: Was a liberal bastion, Cuernavaca was a stronghold for the conservatives; roamed by bandits who burned and destroyed the haciendas of Pantitlán and Xochimancas, terrorizing villagers. Ignacio Manuel Altamirano wrote a novel, set in Yautepec, about the war and the bandits, called El Zarco: Episodios de la Vida Mexicana en 1861–63 . The war ended on January 11, 1861, when Benito Juárez took control of Mexico City. The division between

14605-416: Was a time of intense flourishing of Maya civilized accomplishments. While the many Maya city-states never achieved political unity on the order of the central Mexican civilizations, they exerted tremendous intellectual influence upon Mexico and Central America. The Maya built some of the most elaborate cities on the continent and made innovations in mathematics, astronomy, and calendrics. The Maya also developed

14732-583: Was adopted in more temperate and sheltered regions, permitting a dramatic rise in population. After the migration or migrations, it was several thousand years before the first complex societies arose, the earliest emerging about seven to eight thousand years ago. As early as 5500 BCE, people in the Lower Mississippi Valley at Monte Sano and other sites in present-day Louisiana , Mississippi , and Florida were building complex earthwork mounds , probably for religious purposes. Beginning in

14859-465: Was assassinated; Victoriano Huerta took over the government, but he was soon put on the run. In May 1914, Zapata, with a force of 3,600 men, took control of the southern Jojutla district. By this time, Cuernavaca was the only important town in Morelos that the Federal forces held onto. It took 72 days to take Cuernavaca, after which he marched on Milpa Alta (Mexico City). Huerta was defeated, and 1915

14986-575: Was built in Tlatenango , and over the next 50 years 500 religious constructions were built in the state. In 1529, Cortés was named the Marquis of the Valley of Oaxaca , which gave him control over 4,000 km (1,500 sq mi) of territory in Morelos with Cuernavaca as the seat of authority over about eighty communities, eight haciendas, and two sugar cane plantations. These lands stayed in

15113-802: Was built in 1936, and the Mexico City-Cuernavaca tollway opened in 1952. Highway construction eventually led to the closing of a number of rail lines including the Mexico City-Cuernavaca-Iguala line in 1963. Datsun began manufacturing automobiles in Jiutepec in 1961. The first industrial park of Morelos, Civac (Industrial City of the Valley of Cuernavaca), opened in 1966, confiscating 4,000 hectares (9,900 acres) of communal land in Tejalpa, Jiutepec with virtually no compensation. Mayekewa and Nissan were among

15240-580: Was destroyed and abandoned quickly. A small remnant population lived on, however, on the lower slopes of the hill. Later, around 1200, the site was recolonized by the Nahuatl-speaking Tlahuica peoples, ancestors to the Nahuatl-speaking populations of the modern state of Morelos . The observatory is a cave modified to allow study of the movement of the sun. The cave was covered with stucco and painted black, yellow and red with

15367-541: Was executed (July 30, 1811), José María Morelos y Pavon took over the insurgent effort, joined by Mariano Matamoros of Jantetelco . By 1812, insurgents had control of the city of Cuautla , and royalist forces began to put it under siege. Morelos and his men held out for 58 days when reinforcement arrived, breaking the Siege of Cuautla . This was one of the early vital wins for the insurgent movement. Morelos would eventually be captured by royalists and executed in 1815, but

15494-485: Was fairly peaceful in Morelos. However, by December 1915, Zapata was forced to fight a new enemy— Venustiano Carranza . Carranza embarked upon an offensive that retook significant parts of the state of Morelos. By the spring of 1916, Zapata was forced to abandon several of his strongholds. The biggest loss came on May 2, 1916, when Zapata lost Cuernavaca to enemy forces, which now numbered some 30,000 troops. As Zapata continued to lose ground, his forces were forced to return to

15621-508: Was finalized in 1870, and Francisco Leyva Arciniegas became the first Constitutional Governor of Morelos . There were boundary disputes between the new state with Mexico State and the Federal District, but these were resolved by the 1890s. A telegraph line from Mexico City to Cuernavaca had been laid between 1867 and 1869; in 1870 it was extended to Iguala , Chilpancingo , and Tixla. Another line, between Cuernavaca and Cuautla,

15748-616: Was gunned down in Xochicalco by federal police on May 23, 1962. A cache of weapons was discovered in Colonia Rubén Jaramillo , Temixco, in September 1973. As for development, Morelos adopted a new Constitution on November 20, 1930. Gambling was outlawed and the Casino de la Selva in Cuernavaca was closed in 1934, which had been a mecca for American mobsters and Hollywood film stars. The Buenavista-Tepoztlán highway

15875-630: Was laid in 1875. Attempts were made to improve education, but limited funds made that virtually impossible. Other infrastructure projects in the late 19th century included the Toluca -Cuernavaca highway, and a rail line between Mexico City and Cuautla. 200 people died when a train plunged into the San Antonio River at the Puente de Escontzin (Escontzin Bridge) near Cuautla in what became known as

16002-432: Was sealed with marriage of Aztec emperor Huitzilihuitl to Miahuaxochitl, daughter of the lord of Cuauhnáhuac. This union produced a son who would become Aztec emperor Moctezuma Ilhuicamina . These conquered areas were allowed to keep their local political structures so long as a tribute, which mostly consisted of cotton items, was paid. The territory was divided into two tributary provinces, one centered on Cuauhnáhuac and

16129-538: Was the construction of complexes of large earthen mounds and grand plazas, continuing the mound-building traditions of earlier cultures. They grew maize and other crops intensively, participated in an extensive trade network, and had a complex stratified society. The Mississippians first appeared around 1000 CE, following and developing out of the less agriculturally intensive and less centralized Woodland period. The largest urban site of these people, Cahokia —located near modern East St. Louis, Illinois —may have reached

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