Costa Rica
The Guayabo National Monument, located in the canton of Turrialba, Costa Rica, was an important political and religious center of the indigenous Costa Rican societies, belonging to the Central archaeological region of the country, being used as a ceremonial site between the year 1000 and 1400 AD. C. Mounds, roads, aqueducts, petroglyphs, monoliths, stone basements, archaeological pieces of jade, stone, ceramics, gold, etc. have been found there. Guayabo is located on the slopes of the Turrialba volcano. In the cultural heritage of Costa Rica, volcanoes play a fundamental role, being considered sacred mountains.
The Bribris represent the largest indigenous ethnic group in Costa Rica and are located mainly in the Talamanca Mountain Range with references dating back 6,000 years, but the oral tradition refers to more than 12,000 years. Among the main archetypes in the construction of the collective imagination of the people of Costa Rica, the Usuré and Suráyum stand out as symbolic and physical references that intermingle in the syncretism between the ancestral and the Christian.
The region of the Grande de Térraba River (in the Boruca language, Diquís, "big water"), in the South Pacific of Costa Rica, was the site of settlement of several complex chieftain societies that were characterized by the production of stone spheres. 45 stone sphere deposits have been identified in Costa Rica, one in the North Pacific, six in the Central region, and the rest in the South Pacific,[3] specifically in the Diquís subregion, where about 200 spheres have been documented, whose size varies from a few centimeters to 2.5 meters, with weights between several kilos and 30 tons, and which are characterized by the purification of their production techniques. These spheres began to be made around 300 to 800 years of our era, the oldest sites being Bolas de Buenos Aires de Puntarenas and Piedra Pintada, in San Vito de Coto Brus "San Vito (Costa Rica)"). The Palmar Sur region is an important archaeological site where these spheres are found. Their manufacture continued until the period of the late chiefdoms, especially in the area of the delta formed by the Térraba and Sierpe rivers, and they are considered distinctive of the so-called Diquís culture,[3] and currently, they are symbols of national identity.
Mexico
The Aztecs or Mexica are the dominant people in northern and central Mesoamerica between the beginning of the century and the arrival of the Spanish in approximately 1521. They have a syncretic religion that absorbs and adds to their pantheon the gods of the peoples conquered throughout the centuries, especially once they settled in the Anáhuac valley, in central Mexico.
The Mayan culture develops in southern Mexico, Guatemala, Belize and part of Honduras and El Salvador. Its history begins in prehistory, but only from the year 1000 BC. C. their language and culture develop. Its two periods of splendor take place between the years 320 and 987 (classical period) and 1000 and 1687 (postclassical period). In all cities there are sacred places and any of their archaeological sites can be considered as such. We highlight only the most important cities, but among the many that are worth mentioning are, in addition to those cited below: Chacmultún, Dzibilchaltún "Dzibilchaltún (archaeological site)"), Ek Balam, Izamal, Kabáh, Kulubá, Labná, Mayapán, Xcambó, Yaxuná, Calakmul, Cobá and Caracol in Mexico; Aguateca, Cancuén, Cival, Dos Pilas, El Naranjo "El Naranjo (Guatemala)") (from Petén) and Naranjo "Naranjo (Guatemala)") (from the Valley of Guatemala), Holtún, Machaquilá, Nakún"), Quiriguá, Uaxactún, Piedras Negras, Nakbé (the oldest), El Mirador "El Mirador (Mayan city)") and Ceibal in Guatemala. Bonampak: located In the jungle of Chiapas, its ruins have the most beautiful and illustrative paintings in all of pre-Hispanic America.
It was the first great civilization of Mesoamerica, developed between the years 1500 BC. C. and 100 d. C., although some historians take them to 500 AD. C. in the states of Veracruz and Tabasco, on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. It is a jungle and swampy region and the remains that have reached us are few, such as the monumental stone heads and ceramics known as "baby faces." They worshiped the snake and the jaguar and practiced, like other cultures in the area, human sacrifices in honor of the gods.
The Toltec culture dominated most of central Mexico in the 2nd centuries, between the current state of Zacatecas and southeastern Yucatán. Some archaeologists consider that the expression Toltec encompasses different peoples of the Mesoamerican area and that Tollan, its capital, could designate Teotihuacán, the capital of the Aztecs, from whom the inhabitants of Tula would be descendants, or Cholula "Cholula (archaeology)"), a nearby city and main ally of the Aztecs, which would have also been inhabited by the Toltecs.
The Totonac culture develops in the area of Veracruz, Puebla and Tabasco, in southeastern Mexico. It reached its splendor between the years 300 and 1200, and when the Spanish arrived it was under the rule of the Mexica.
The Zapotec culture develops in the state of Oaxaca, in Mexico. There is evidence of its existence in 2500 BC. C., they form a notable culture since 1500 BC. C., reached their peak between the years 500 and 150 BC. C. and disappear around the century AD. C. due to internal struggles and confrontations with the Aztecs.
Peru
It takes place between the 12th and 16th centuries, between southern Colombia, northern Argentina and the central area of Chile.
It takes place in the Lambayeque region between 200 BC. C. and 700 AD. C. It lacks recognized sacred places, perhaps because it occupies the same place as the immediately subsequent Sicán culture, but the most recognizable is in the vicinity of Sipán "Sipán (Peru)"), where the remains of the Lord of Sipán are found.
Also known as the Lambayeque culture, between the years 700 and 1375, northwest of Peru.
Pre-Columbian civilization located between Peru and Bolivia that lasted between 400 BC. C. and 1200 AD. C. approximately.