Historical dictionary of Mesoamerica
By: Walter R. T. Witschey, Clifford T. Brown
Contributors: Brown, Clifford T., 1962-
Series: Historical dictionaries of ancient civilizations and historical eras
Publisher: Scarecrow Press, Inc.
Published: 2012
Place of publication: Lanham, MD
Language: eng
Number of pages: 416
ISBN-13: 9780810871670; 9780810870963
Subjects: Indians of Mexico; Indians of Central America; Dictionaries; History
Description: Mesoamerica is one of six major areas of the world where humans independently changed their culture from a nomadic hunter-gatherer lifestyle into settled communities, cities, and civilization. In addition to China (twice), the Indus Valley, the Fertile Crescent of southwest Asia, Egypt, and Peru, Mesoamerica was home to exciting and irreversible changes in human culture called the ?Neolithic Revolution.{7f2000} The changes included domestication of plants and animals, leading to agriculture, husbandry, and eventually sedentary village life. These developments set the stage for the growth of cities, social stratification, craft specialization, warfare, writing, mathematics, and astronomy, or what we call the rise of civilization. These changes forever transformed humankind.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references.