Zapotec culture flourishes in modern-day Mexico
The Zapotec civilization was an indigenous pre-Columbian civilization that flourished in the Valley of Oaxaca in Mesoamerica.
Mexico
The Olmec civilization begins to flourish in modern-day Mexico
The mysterious Olmec civilization, located in ancient Mexico, prospered in Mesoamerica from c. 1200 B.C.E. to c. 400 B.C.E. and is generally considered the forerunner of all subsequent Mesoamerican cultures including the Maya and Aztecs.
The Mixtec culture begins using psilocybin in religious rituals, perhaps the first ever to do so
A codex known as the “Yuta Tnoho” that belonged to the Mixtec culture in the 1500s B.C.E. is the earliest historical record of psilocybin use in human history.
Maya culture emerges in the Yucatan
The Maya Long Count Calendar gives a Maya creation date of 11 August, 3114 B.C.E., and traces of Maya habitation at Cuello, in Belize, were recently carbon dated to around 2600 B.C.E.
Humans begin cultivating cotton, perhaps in modern-day Mexico
The history of the domestication of cotton is very complex and is not known exactly. Several isolated civilizations in both the Old and New World independently domesticated and converted cotton into fabric.
Squash is domesticated for the first time in modern-day southern Mexico
The earliest known evidence of the domestication of Cucurbita dates back at least 8,000 years ago, predating the domestication of other crops such as maize and beans in the region by about 4,000 years.
Humans of the Tlatilco culture found Tlapacoya, perhaps the first city in the Americas
Tlapacoya is an important archaeological site in Mexico, located at the foot of the Tlapacoya volcano, southeast of Mexico City, on the former shore of Lake Chalco.
Humans in modern-day southern Mexico domesticate maize
Maize, also known as corn, is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. Maize has become a staple food in many parts of the world, with total production surpassing that of wheat or rice.
Agriculture develops independently in the Americas
Agriculture arose independently in at least three regions: South America, Mesoamerica, and eastern North America.
Humans migrate to Mesoamerica
It is currently unclear whether 21,000-year-old campfire remains found in the Valley of Mexico are the earliest human remains in Mexico.