ABSTRACT
Pre-columbian civilizations in Mesoamerica flourished in three very different environments: the tierra caliente-warm, humid and thickly forested lowlands below 1,000 m above sea level along the Atlantic, Caribbean and Pacific coasts of Mexico and adjacent Central America; the tierra templada-subhumid to semi-arid, frost-free, temperate highlands between 1,000 and 1,800 m in Guatemala and southern Mexico; and the tierra fría-semi-arid and arid highlands, with average annual rainfall as low as 300 mm, and with severe winter frosts, at elevations above 1,800 m in central and northcentral Mexico (Fig. 16.1).
