Natural Areas of Mesoamerica Tim Roufs University of Minnesota Duluth

Physiographic Regions of Middle America

Principal Geological Provinces of Middle America Western Sierra Madre Central High Plateau Coastal Plain of the Gulf of Mexico Neovolcanic Axis Southern Sierra Madre Isthmus of Tehuantepec Yucatán Peninsula Mountains of northwestern Central America Volcanoes of El Salvador and Nicaragua Coastal Plains of the Pacific Ocean Coastal Plains of the Caribbean Sea Isthmus of Costa Rica- Panama

Surface Geology of Middle America

Major Cultural Areas of Middle America, ca. A.D nonagricultural areas agricultural areas limit of high cultures limits of “Mesoamerican” Culture (Kirchoff, 1943)

“Mesoamerica” (cultural) “Middle America” (geological)

Regional Divisions of the Mesoamerican Cultural Area Maya Highlands Maya Lowlands Southern Periphery Southern Veracruz-Tobasco Oaxaca Central Mexico Central Veracruz The Huasteca Guerrero Western Mexico and the Northern Frontier Central Highlands

Valley of Mexico

Istaccihuatl and Popocatepetl

Popocatepetl

Popocatepetl and Istaccihuatl

archaeology.la.asu.edu/tm/pages2/mtm04.htm

Schematic Diagram of the Central Highland Area – Patrick F. Gallagher

The Mesa Central of Mexico

Interior Drainage and Lakes of the Central Plateau of Mexico, ca. A.D. 1500

The Northern Portion of Tulancingo Basin, Northeastern Mesa Central

A Portion of the Tarascan Sierra, Michoacan

A Portion of the Highly Dissected Mesa Del Sur, East of Oaxaca City

Northern Part of the Valley of Oaxaca

Mean Annual Precipitation, Mexico and Central America

Normal Hurricane Tracks

Vegetation

Surface Configuration of the Yucatán Penninsula

The Continental Shelf and Areas of Certain Fisheries

Miocene-Pliocene Routes of Animal Migrations

Who Were the First Americas? Tim Roufs University of Minnesota Duluth

Tim Roufs University of Minnesota Duluth

Chinampas