In the classification of the

archaeology of the Americas The archaeology of the Americas is the study of the archaeology of the Western Hemisphere, including North America (Mesoamerica), Central America, South America and the Caribbean. This includes the study of pre-historic/Pre-Columbian and historic ...

, the Post-Classic Stage is a term applied to some Precolumbian cultures, typically ending with local contact with Europeans. This stage is the fifth of five

archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscape ...

stages posited by Gordon Willey and Philip Phillips' 1958 book ''Method and Theory in American Archaeology''. # The Lithic stage # The Archaic stage # The

Formative stage Several chronologies in the archaeology of the Americas include a Formative Period or Formative stage etc. It is often sub-divided, for example into "Early", "Middle" and "Late" stages. The Formative is the third of five stages defined by Gor ...

# The Classic stage # The Post-Classic stage Cultures of the Post-Classic Stage are defined distinctly by possessing developed

metallurgy Metallurgy is a domain of materials science and engineering that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their inter-metallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are known as alloys. Metallurgy encompasses both the sci ...

. Social organization is supposed to involve complex

urbanism Urbanism is the study of how inhabitants of urban areas, such as towns and cities, interact with the built environment. It is a direct component of disciplines such as urban planning, which is the profession focusing on the physical design and m ...

and

militarism Militarism is the belief or the desire of a government or a people that a state should maintain a strong military capability and to use it aggressively to expand national interests and/or values. It may also imply the glorification of the mili ...

. Ideologically, Post-Classic cultures are described as showing a tendency towards the

secularization In sociology, secularization (or secularisation) is the transformation of a society from close identification with religious values and institutions toward non-religious values and secular institutions. The ''secularization thesis'' expresses t ...

of society. Postclassic Mesoamerica runs from about 900 to 1519 AD, and includes the following cultures:

Aztec The Aztecs () were a Mesoamerican culture that flourished in central Mexico in the post-classic period from 1300 to 1521. The Aztec people included different ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl ...

, Tarascans,

Mixtec The Mixtecs (), or Mixtecos, are indigenous Mesoamerican peoples of Mexico inhabiting the region known as La Mixteca of Oaxaca and Puebla as well as La Montaña Region and Costa Chica Regions of the state of Guerrero. The Mixtec Cultur ...

Totonac The Totonac are an indigenous people of Mexico who reside in the states of Veracruz, Puebla, and Hidalgo. They are one of the possible builders of the pre-Columbian city of El Tajín, and further maintained quarters in Teotihuacán (a cit ...

, Pipil, Itzá, Kowoj, K'iche',

Kaqchikel Kaqchikel, also spelled Kaqchickel, Kakchiquel, Cachiquel, Cakchikel, Caqchikel, or Cakchiquel, may refer to: * Kaqchikel people, an ethnic subgroup of the Maya * Kaqchikel language, the language spoken by that people {{disamb Language and national ...

, Poqomam,

Mam Mam or MAM may refer to: Places * An Mám or Maum, a settlement in Ireland * General Servando Canales International Airport in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico (IATA Code: MAM) * Isle of Mam, a phantom island * Mam Tor, a hill near Castleton in t ...

. In the North American chronology, the "Post-Classic Stage" followed the Classic stage in certain areas, and typically dates from around AD 1200 to modern times.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Post-Classic Stage 900 establishments 1519 disestablishments 1958 introductions 1950s neologisms +5 +5 +5 History of indigenous peoples of North America

See also

References