1.
Mexico
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Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a federal republic in the southern half of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States, to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean, to the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea, and to the east by the Gulf of Mexico. Covering almost two million square kilometers, Mexico is the sixth largest country in the Americas by total area, Mexico is a federation comprising 31 states and a federal district that is also its capital and most populous city. Other metropolises include Guadalajara, Monterrey, Puebla, Toluca, Tijuana, pre-Columbian Mexico was home to many advanced Mesoamerican civilizations, such as the Olmec, Toltec, Teotihuacan, Zapotec, Maya and Aztec before first contact with Europeans. In 1521, the Spanish Empire conquered and colonized the territory from its base in Mexico-Tenochtitlan, Three centuries later, this territory became Mexico following recognition in 1821 after the colonys Mexican War of Independence. The tumultuous post-independence period was characterized by instability and many political changes. The Mexican–American War led to the cession of the extensive northern borderlands, one-third of its territory. The Pastry War, the Franco-Mexican War, a civil war, the dictatorship was overthrown in the Mexican Revolution of 1910, which culminated with the promulgation of the 1917 Constitution and the emergence of the countrys current political system. Mexico has the fifteenth largest nominal GDP and the eleventh largest by purchasing power parity, the Mexican economy is strongly linked to those of its North American Free Trade Agreement partners, especially the United States. Mexico was the first Latin American member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and it is classified as an upper-middle income country by the World Bank and a newly industrialized country by several analysts. By 2050, Mexico could become the fifth or seventh largest economy. The country is considered both a power and middle power, and is often identified as an emerging global power. Due to its culture and history, Mexico ranks first in the Americas. Mexico is a country, ranking fourth in the world by biodiversity. In 2015 it was the 9th most visited country in the world, Mexico is a member of the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, the G8+5, the G20, the Uniting for Consensus and the Pacific Alliance. Mēxihco is the Nahuatl term for the heartland of the Aztec Empire, namely, the Valley of Mexico, and its people, the Mexica and this became the future State of Mexico as a division of New Spain prior to independence. It is generally considered to be a toponym for the valley became the primary ethnonym for the Aztec Triple Alliance as a result. After New Spain won independence from Spain, representatives decided to name the new country after its capital and this was founded in 1524 on top of the ancient Mexica capital of Mexico-Tenochtitlan
2.
Southwestern United States
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The population of the area is around 11 million people, with over half that in Arizona, the most populous cities are Phoenix, El Paso, Las Vegas, Albuquerque, and Tucson. Most of the area was part of the Viceroyalty of New Spain in the Spanish Empire before becoming part of Mexico and it became part of the United States through the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo and the Gadsden Purchase. The deserts dominate the southern and western reaches of the area, the two major rivers of the region are the Colorado River, running in the northern and western areas, and the Rio Grande, running in the south. Formed approximately 8000 years ago, the Chihuahuan Desert is a dry desert. The Chihuahuan Desert spreads across the portion of the region, covering from southeastern Arizona, across southern New Mexico. While it is the second largest desert in the United States, only a third of the desert is within the United States, El Paso is the major city in this desert, with other smaller cities being Las Cruces and Roswell in New Mexico. The Chihuahuan is a rain shadow desert, formed two mountain ranges which block oceanic precipitation from reaching the area. The most prolific plants in this region are agave, yucca and creosote bushes, when people think of the desert southwest, the landscape of the Sonoran Desert is what mostly comes to mind. Rainfall averages between 4–12 inches per year, and the deserts most widely known inhabitant is the saguaro cactus and it is bounded on the northwest by the Mojave Desert, to the north by the Colorado Plateau and to the east by the Arizona Mountains forests and the Chihuahuan Desert. The portion of the Sonora Desert which lies in the Southwestern United States is the most populated area within the region. Six of the top ten major population centers of the region are found within its borders, Phoenix, Tucson, Mesa, Chandler, Glendale, also within its borders are Yuma and Prescott Arizona. The most northwest portion of the American Southwest is covered by the Mojave Desert, bordered on the south by the Sonoran Desert and the east by the Colorado Plateau, its range within the region makes up the southeast tip of Nevada, and the northwestern corner of Arizona. In terms of topography, the Mojave is very similar to the Great Basin Desert, the Mojave is the smallest, driest and hottest desert within the United States. The Mojave gets less than six inches of rain annually, the most prolific vegetation is the tall Joshua tree, which grow as tall as 40 feet, and are thought to live almost 1000 years. Other major vegetation includes the Parry saltbush and the Mojave sage, the Colorado Plateau varies from the large stands of forests in the west, including the largest stand of ponderosa pine trees in the world, to the Mesas to the east. Although not called a desert, the Colorado Plateau is mostly made up of high desert, the Plateau is characterized by a series of plateaus and mesas, interspersed with canyons. The most dramatic example is the Grand Canyon, but that is one of many dramatic vistas included within the Plateau, which includes spectacular lava formations, painted deserts, sand dunes, and badlands. One of the most distinctive features of the Plateau is its longevity, the Plateau can be divided into six sections, three of which fall into the Southwest region
3.
Staple food
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The staple food of a specific society may be eaten as often as every day or every meal, and most people live on a diet based on just a small number of staples. Typical examples of staples include tubers and roots, and grains, legumes, such nonperishable foods are the only possible staples during seasons of shortage, such as dry seasons or cold temperate winters, against which times harvests have been stored. During seasons of plenty, wider choices of foods may be available. Most staple plant foods are derived either from cereals such as wheat, barley, rye, maize, or rice, or starchy tubers or root vegetables such as potatoes, yams, taro, arrowroot, other staple foods include pulses, sago, and fruits. Staple foods may contain, sorghum, olive oil, coconut oil. Most staples are plant materials, but in some fishing is the primary source of nutrition. Of the more than 50,000 edible plant species in the world, although there are over 10,000 species in the cereal family, just a few have been widely cultivated over the past 2,000 years. The staple food in different parts of the world is a function of weather patterns, local terrain, farming constraints, acquired tastes, for example, the main energy source staples in the average African diet are cereals, roots and tubers and animal products. In Western Europe the main staples in the diet are animal products, cereals and roots. Regional staples include rye, soybeans, barley, oats and teff, just 15 crop plants provide 90 percent of the worlds food energy intake, with rice, maize and wheat comprising two-thirds of human food consumption. The three are the staples of about 80% of the population, and rice feeds almost half of humanity. Roots and tubers, meanwhile, are important staples for over 1 billion people in the developing world, roots and tubers are high in carbohydrates, calcium and vitamin C but low in protein. Cassava root is a staple food in the developing world. With economic development and free trade, many countries have shifted away from low-nutrient-density staple foods to higher-nutrient-density staples, despite this trend, there is growing recognition of the importance of traditional staple crops in nutrition. Efforts are underway to identify better strains with superior nutrition, disease resistance, some foods like quinoa—a pseudocereal grain that originally came from the Andes—were also staple foods centuries ago. Oca, ulluco and amaranth seed are other foods claimed to be staples in Andean history, pemmican was a staple of the Plains Indians of North America. In 2010, the consumption of speciality grains such as quinoa was very small compared to other staples such as rice, wheat. These grains, once popular but then forgotten, are being reevaluated and reintroduced, most staple food is produced using modern and conventional farming practices
4.
Phaseolus acutifolius
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Phaseolus acutifolius, the Tepary bean, is native to the southwestern United States and Mexico and has been grown there by the native peoples since pre-Columbian times. It is more drought-resistant than the common bean and is grown in desert and semi-desert conditions from Arizona through Mexico to Costa Rica, the water requirements are low and the crop will grow in areas where annual rainfall is less than 400 mm. The tepary bean is an annual and can be climbing, trailing, a narrow leafed, variety tenuifolius, and a broader leafed, variety latifolius, are known. Domestic varieties are derived from latifolius, in the Sonora desert, the flowers appear with the summer rains, first appearing in late August, with the pods ripening early in the fall dry season, most of them in October. The beans can be of any color. Beans vary in size but tend to be small and they mature 60 to 120 days after planting. Other names for this native bean include Pawi, Pavi, Tepari, Escomite, Yori mui, Yorimuni, the name tepary may derive from the Tohono Oodham phrase tpawi or Its a bean. It should be noted that the name for a bean was recorded in the 17th century, in the now extinct Eudeve language of northern Mexico. Names that contain yori in them typically refer to species of beans since those names mean non-Indian persons bean. Tepary beans are the most drought tolerant legume, germination, however, requires wet soil although the plants will flourish in dry conditions thereafter. Too much water inhibits bean production, cultivated beans have been found dating to 5,000 BCE in the Tehuacán Valley in Mexico. They were cultivated by Indians by various methods, most commonly after an infrequent rain in the desert or after flood waters along a river or ephemeral stream had subsided, the tepary bean is relatively disease free, except under conditions of high humidity. The tepary bean was a food staple of Indians in the Southwestern United States. In addition to being grown in floodplains, it was grown alongside squash. Growing these plants together, known as Three Sisters agriculture, both enhances their growth and provides balanced nutrition. In the United States, the bean was introduced to Anglo farmers in the 19th century by Tohono OOdham farmers. The Indian method of planting in the American Southwest was to plant three to five seeds in hills six to eight feet apart, beans were planted in arroyos that had been recently flooded by summer rain. Cultivation of tepary beans is possible under the most extreme conditions, the Sand Papago were mainly hunter-gatherers but cultivated tepary beans and other crops when moisture made it possible for them to do so
5.
Mesoamerica
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It is one of six areas in the world where ancient civilization arose independently, and the second in the Americas along with Norte Chico in present-day northern coastal Peru. As a cultural area, Mesoamerica is defined by a mosaic of cultural traits developed and shared by its indigenous cultures, while Mesoamerican civilization did know of the wheel and basic metallurgy, neither of these technologies became culturally important. Among the earliest complex civilizations was the Olmec culture, which inhabited the Gulf coast of Mexico and extended inland, frequent contact and cultural interchange between the early Olmec and other cultures in Chiapas, Guatemala and Oaxaca laid the basis for the Mesoamerican cultural area. All this was facilitated by considerable regional communications in ancient Mesoamerica and this Formative period saw the spread of distinct religious and symbolic traditions, as well as artistic and architectural complexes. In the subsequent Preclassic period, complex urban polities began to develop among the Maya, with the rise of such as El Mirador, Calakmul and Tikal. Mesoamerica is one of three regions of the world where writing is known to have independently developed. Upon the collapse of Teotihuacán around AD600, competition between several important political centers in central Mexico, such as Xochicalco and Cholula, ensued. During the early period, Central Mexico was dominated by the Toltec culture, Oaxaca by the Mixtec. Towards the end of the period, the Aztecs of Central Mexico built a tributary empire covering most of central Mesoamerica. The distinct Mesoamerican cultural tradition ended with the Spanish conquest in the 16th century, over the next centuries, Mesoamerican indigenous cultures were gradually subjected to Spanish colonial rule. The exact geographic extent of Mesoamerica has varied through time, as the civilization extended North and South from its heartland in southern Mexico, Mesoamerica is recognized as a near-prototypical cultural area, and the term is now fully integrated in the standard terminology of pre-Columbian anthropological studies. Conversely, the sister terms Aridoamerica and Oasisamerica, which refer to northern Mexico, 10° and 22° northern latitude, Mesoamerica possesses a complex combination of ecological systems, topographic zones, and environmental contexts. A main distinction groups these different niches into two categories, the lowlands and the altiplanos, or highlands. In the low-lying regions, sub-tropical and tropical climates are most common, as is true for most of the coastline along the Pacific and Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea. The highlands show much more diversity, ranging from dry tropical to cold mountainous climates. The rainfall varies from the dry Oaxaca and north Yucatan to the humid southern Pacific, several distinct sub-regions within Mesoamerica are defined by a convergence of geographic and cultural attributes. These sub-regions are more conceptual than culturally meaningful, and the demarcation of their limits is not rigid, the Maya area, for example, can be divided into two general groups, the lowlands and highlands. The lowlands are further divided into the southern and northern Maya lowlands, the southern Maya lowlands are generally regarded as encompassing northern Guatemala, southern Campeche and Quintana Roo in Mexico, and Belize
6.
Oasisamerica
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Oasisamerica is a term used by some scholars, primarily Mexican anthropologists, for the broad cultural area defining pre-Columbian southwestern North America. It extends from modern-day Utah down to southern Chihuahua, and from the coast on the Gulf of California eastward to the Río Bravo river valley and its name comes from its position in relationship with the similar regions of Mesoamerica and mostly nomadic Aridoamerica. The term Greater Southwest is often used to describe this region by American anthropologists, as opposed to their nomadic Aridoamerican neighbors, the Oasisamericans primarily had agricultural societies. The term Oasisamerica is derived from a combination of the terms oasis and it refers to a wild land dominated by the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Madre Occidental. To the east and west of these mountain ranges stretch the grand arid plains of the Sonora, Chihuahua. Despite being a dry land, Oasisamerica contains several bodies of water like rivers, Yaqui, Rio Grande, Colorado, Conchos. The presence of these rivers, combined with a climate that was much milder that eastern Aridoamerica, the story of the origins of the cultural superarea of Mesoamerica takes place some 2000 years after the separation of Mesoamerica and Aridoamerica. Some of the Aridoamerican communities farmed as a complement to their hunter-gatherer economy and those communities, among whom one finds adherents to the Desert Tradition, later would become more truly agricultural and form Oasisamerica. Based on maize remnants found in Bat Cave, Arizona, it appears that agriculture practices date back to at least 3500 BCE. Given that the oldest traces of maize in North America date back to the year 5000 BCE and it is less certain who brought the agricultural technology and what role they played in the development of the high cultures of Oasisamerica. At least three hypotheses have proposed to explain the birth of the cultures of Oasisamerica. One, a model, posits an independent cultural development whose roots lie deep in antiquity. From this point of view, thanks to a superior climate, a second hypothesis presupposes that the nomads of the Mesoamerican culture slowly moved northward over time. Thus, the Oasisamericans would be an offshoot of their neighbors to the south, there are many indications of a close relationship between the two great cultural regions of North America. For one, the turquoise that the Mesoamericans prized so dearly came almost exclusively from southern New Mexico, demand for this mineral alone may have played a large part in establishing trade relationships between the two cultural areas. The area encompassed by Oasisamerica fostered the growth of major cultural groups, the Ancestral Pueblo people, Hohokam, Mogollon, Pataya. Smaller cultures within this region include the Sinagua, Ancestral Pueblo cultures flourished in the region currently known as the Four Corners. The Ancestral Pueblo society is one of the most complex to be found in Oasisamerica, the Ancestral Pueblo is considered to be the most intensely studied Pre-Columbian culture in the United States
7.
Pre-Columbian era
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For this reason the alternative terms of Precontact Americas, Pre-Colonial Americas or Prehistoric Americas are also in use. In areas of Latin America the term used is Pre-Hispanic. Other civilizations were contemporary with the period and were described in European historical accounts of the time. A few, such as the Maya civilization, had their own written records, because many Christian Europeans of the time viewed such texts as heretical, men like Diego de Landa destroyed many texts in pyres, even while seeking to preserve native histories. Only a few documents have survived in their original languages, while others were transcribed or dictated into Spanish, giving modern historians glimpses of ancient culture. Indigenous American cultures continue to evolve after the pre-Columbian era, many of these peoples and their descendants continue traditional practices, while evolving and adapting new cultural practices and technologies into their lives. Now, the study of pre-Columbian cultures is most often based on scientific. Asian nomads are thought to have entered the Americas via the Bering Land Bridge, now the Bering Strait, genetic evidence found in Amerindians maternally inherited mitochondrial DNA supports the theory of multiple genetic populations migrating from Asia. Over the course of millennia, Paleo-Indians spread throughout North and South America, exactly when the first group of people migrated into the Americas is the subject of much debate. One of the earliest identifiable cultures was the Clovis culture, with sites dating from some 13,000 years ago, however, older sites dating back to 20,000 years ago have been claimed. Some genetic studies estimate the colonization of the Americas dates from between 40,000 and 13,000 years ago, the chronology of migration models is currently divided into two general approaches. The first is the short chronology theory with the first movement beyond Alaska into the New World occurring no earlier than 14, 000–17,000 years ago, followed by successive waves of immigrants. The second belief is the long chronology theory, which proposes that the first group of people entered the hemisphere at an earlier date, possibly 50. In that case, the Eskimo peoples would have arrived separately and at a later date, probably no more than 2,000 years ago. The North American climate was unstable as the ice age receded and it finally stabilized by about 10,000 years ago, climatic conditions were then very similar to todays. Within this timeframe, roughly pertaining to the Archaic Period, numerous archaeological cultures have been identified, the unstable climate led to widespread migration, with early Paleo-Indians soon spreading throughout the Americas, diversifying into many hundreds of culturally distinct tribes. The paleo-indians were hunter-gatherers, likely characterized by small, mobile bands consisting of approximately 20 to 50 members of an extended family and these groups moved from place to place as preferred resources were depleted and new supplies were sought. During much of the Paleo-Indian period, bands are thought to have subsisted primarily through hunting now-extinct giant land animals such as mastodon, Paleo-Indian groups carried a variety of tools
8.
Stream
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A stream is a body of water with a current, confined within a bed and banks. Streams are important as conduits in the cycle, instruments in groundwater recharge. The biological habitat in the vicinity of a stream is called a riparian zone. Given the status of the ongoing Holocene extinction, streams play an important corridor role in connecting fragmented habitats, the study of streams and waterways in general is known as surface hydrology and is a core element of environmental geography. Brook A stream smaller than a creek, especially one that is fed by a spring or seep and it is usually small and easily forded. A brook is characterised by its shallowness and its bed being composed primarily of rocks, creek In North America, Australia and New Zealand, a small to medium-sized natural stream. Sometimes navigable by motor craft and may be intermittent, in parts of Maryland, New England, the UK and India, a tidal inlet, typically in a salt marsh or mangrove swamp, or between enclosed and drained former salt marshes or swamps. In these cases, the stream is the stream, the course of the seawater through the creek channel at low. River A large natural stream, which may be a waterway, runnel the linear channel between the parallel ridges or bars on a shoreline beach or river floodplain, or between a bar and the shore. Tributary A contributory stream, or a stream which does not reach the sea, sometimes also called a branch or fork. There are a number of names for a stream. Allt is used in Highland Scotland, beck is used in Yorkshire, Lancashire, Dumfriesshire, Cumbria, Norfolk, and Lincolnshire. Bourne or winterbourne is used in the chalk downland of southern England, brook is used in the Midlands, Lancashire and Cheshire. Burn is used in Scotland and North East England, gill or ghyll is seen in the north of England and other areas influenced by Old Norse. Rivulet is an term encountered in Victorian era publications, stream is used in Southern England. Syke is used in lowland Scotland and Cumbria for a seasonal stream, branch is used to name streams in Maryland and Virginia. Falls is also used to name streams in Maryland, for streams/rivers which have waterfalls on them, little Gunpowder Falls and The Jones Falls are actually rivers named in this manner, unique to Maryland. Kill in New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and New Jersey comes from a Dutch language word meaning riverbed or water channel, run in Ohio, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, or West Virginia can be the name of a stream
9.
Alfred L. Kroeber
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Alfred Louis Kroeber was an American cultural anthropologist. He received his Ph. D. under Franz Boas at Columbia University in 1901 and he was also the first professor appointed to the Department of Anthropology at the University of California, Berkeley. He played a role in the early days of its Museum of Anthropology. Kroeber provided detailed information about Ishi, the last surviving member of the Yahi people and he was the father of the acclaimed novelist, poet, and writer of short stories Ursula Kroeber Le Guin. His family moved into New York when Alfred was quite young and he attended Columbia College at the age of 16, joining the Philolexian Society and earning an A. B. in English in 1896 and an M. A. in Romantic drama in 1897. It was the first doctorate in anthropology awarded by Columbia, Kroeber spent most of his career in California, primarily at the University of California, Berkeley. He was both a Professor of Anthropology and the Director of what was then the University of California Museum of Anthropology, the anthropology departments headquarters building at the University of California is named Kroeber Hall in his honor. He was associated with Berkeley until his retirement in 1946, Kroeber married Henrietta Rothschild in 1906. She contracted tuberculosis and died in 1913, after years of illness. In 1926 he married again, to Theodora Kracaw Brown, a widow whom he met as a student in one of his graduate seminars and they had two children, Karl Kroeber, a literary critic, and the science fiction writer Ursula Kroeber Le Guin. In addition, Alfred adopted Theodoras sons by her first marriage, Ted and Clifton Brown, in 2003, Clifton and Karl Kroeber published a book of essays on Ishis story, which they co-edited, called, Ishi in Three Centuries. This is the first scholarly book on Ishi to contain essays by Native American writers, Alfred Kroeber died in Paris on October 5,1960. He conducted excavations in New Mexico, Mexico, and Peru, in Peru he helped found the Institute for Andean Studies with the Peruvian anthropologist Julio C. Kroeber and his students did important work collecting cultural data on western tribes of Native Americans, the work done in preserving information about California tribes appeared in Handbook of the Indians of California. Kroeber is credited with developing the concepts of culture area, cultural configuration, kroebers influence was so strong that many contemporaries adopted his style of beard and mustache as well as his views as a cultural historian. During his lifetime, he was known as the Dean of American Anthropologists and he is noted for working with Ishi, who was claimed to be the last California Yahi Indian. His second wife, Theodora Kracaw Kroeber, wrote a biography of Ishi, Ishi in Two Worlds. Kroebers relationship with Ishi was the subject of a film, The Last of His Tribe, starring Jon Voight as Kroeber, kroebers textbook, Anthropology, was widely used for many years
10.
Chichimeca
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Chichimeca was the name that the Nahua peoples of Mexico generically applied to many bands and tribes of nomadic and semi-nomadic peoples who inhabited northern modern-day Mexico. Chichimeca carried the same sense as the Roman term barbarian to describe people living outside settled, the name and its pejorative sense was adopted by the Spanish. For the Spanish, in the words of scholar Charlotte M. Gradie, in modern times only one ethnic group is customarily referred to as Chichimecs, namely the Chichimeca Jonaz of whom a few thousand live in the state of Guanajuato. The Chichimeca peoples were groups of varying ethnicities and speaking distinct languages from different families. As the Spaniards worked towards consolidating the rule of New Spain over the indigenous peoples during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, a number of ethnic groups of the region allied against the Spanish. The first and most long-lasting of these conflicts was the Chichimeca War, for example, virtually nothing is known about the peoples referred to as the Guachichil, Caxcan, Zacateco, Tecuexe, or Guamare. Others, such as the Opata or Eudeve, are described in records. Still other Chichimec peoples maintain separate identities into the present day, for example the Otomi, Chichimeca Jonaz, Cora, Huichol, Pame, Yaqui, Mayo, Oodham, the Nahuatl name Chīchīmēcah means inhabitants of Chichiman, the placename Chichiman means Area of Milk. It is sometimes said to be related to dog, but the is in chichi are short while those in Chīchīmēcah are long. In modern Mexico, the word Chichimeca can have pejorative connotations, such as primitive, savage, uneducated, the first descriptions of Chichimecs are from the early conquest period. In 1526, Hernán Cortés writes in one of his letters of the northern Chichimec tribes and he commented that they might be enslaved and used to work in the mines. The Chicimec, Caxcanes and other people of Northern Mexico fought back against Spanish forces such as Nuño Beltrán de Guzmán when they began trying to enslave them. Their fight against Spanish forces became known as the Mixtón Rebellion, in the late sixteenth century, Gonzalo de las Casas wrote about the Chichimec. Las Casas account was called Report of the Chichimeca and the justness of the war against them and he described the people, providing ethnographic information. He wrote that only covered their genitalia with any clothing, painted their bodies. He mentions as further proof of their barbarity that Chichimec women, having given birth, while las Casas recognized that the Chichimecan tribes spoke different languages, he considered their culture as primarily uniform. This stereotype became even more prevalent during the course of the Chichimec wars, in some areas, the Chichimeca cultivated maize and calabash. From the mesquite, the Chichamecs made white bread and wine, many Chichimec tribes used the juice of the agave as a substitute for water when it was in short supply
11.
Nahua peoples
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The Nahuas are a group of indigenous people of Mexico and El Salvador. Their language of Uto-Aztecan affiliation is called Nahuatl and consists of many dialects and variants. About 1,500,000 Nahua speak Nahuatl and another 1,000,000 speak only Spanish, less than 1,000 native speakers remain in El Salvador. Evidence suggests the Nahua peoples originated in Aridoamerica, in regions of the present day northwestern Mexico and they split off from the other Uto-Aztecan speaking peoples and migrated into central Mexico around 500 CE. They settled in and around the Basin of Mexico and spread out to become the dominant people in central Mexico, the name Nahua is derived from the Nahuatl word-root nāhua-, which generally means audible, intelligible, clear with different derivations including language. It was used in contrast with popoloca, to speak unintelligibly or speak a foreign language, another, related term is Nāhuatlācatl or Nāhuatlācah literally Nahuatl-speaking people. The Nahuas are also referred to as Aztecs. Using this term for the Nahuas has generally fallen out of favor in scholarship and they have also been called Mēxihcatl, Mēxihcah or in Spanish Mexicano Mexicans, after the Mexica, the Nahua tribe which founded and predominated in the Aztec empire. At the turn of the 16th century, Nahua populations occupied territories ranging across modern-day Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala and these were gradually assimilated into mestizo society in most places. The last of the southern Nahua populations are the Pipil of El Salvador, Nahuatl was a lingua franca for trade and rule during the apogee of the Aztec empire. There are many Nahuatl place names in regions where Nahuas were not the most populous group, Nahua populations in Mexico are centered in the middle of the country, with most speakers in the states of Puebla, Veracruz, Hidalgo, Guerrero and San Luis Potosí. But smaller populations are spread throughout the country, following recent population movements within Mexico, within the last 50 years, Nahua populations have appeared in the United States, particularly in New York City, L. A. and Houston. Archaeological, historical and linguistic evidence suggest that the Nahuas originally came from the deserts of northern Mexico, before the Nahuas entered Mesoamerica, they were probably living for a while in northwestern Mexico alongside the Cora and Huichol peoples. The first group of Nahuas to split from the group were the Pochutec who went on to settle on the Pacific coast of Oaxaca possibly as early as 400 CE. From c.600 CE the Nahua quickly rose to power in central Mexico and expanded into areas earlier occupied by Oto-Manguean, Totonacan and Huastec peoples. Around 1000 CE the Toltec people, normally assumed to have been of Nahua ethnicity, from this period on the Nahua were the dominant ethnic group in the Valley of Mexico and far beyond, and migrations kept coming in from the north. After the fall of Toltecs a period of population movements followed. And in central Mexico different Nahua groups based in their different Altepetl city-states fought for political dominance
12.
Hunter-gatherer
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A hunter-gatherer is a human living in a society in which most or all food is obtained by foraging, in contrast to agricultural societies, which rely mainly on domesticated species. Hunting and gathering was humanitys first and most successful adaptation, occupying at least 90 percent of human history, following the invention of agriculture, hunter-gatherers who did not change have been displaced or conquered by farming or pastoralist groups in most parts of the world. Only a few contemporary societies are classified as hunter-gatherers, and many supplement their activity with horticulture and/or keeping animals. In the 1970s, Lewis Binford suggested that humans were obtaining food via scavenging. Early humans in the Lower Paleolithic lived in forests and woodlands, which allowed them to collect seafood, eggs, nuts, and fruits besides scavenging. Rather than killing large animals for meat, according to this view and this hypothesis does not necessarily contradict the scavenging hypothesis, both subsistence strategies could have been in use – sequentially, alternating or even simultaneously. It remained the only mode of subsistence until the end of the Mesolithic period some 10,000 years ago and this specialization of work also involved creating specialized tools such as, fishing nets, hooks, and bone harpoons. The transition into the subsequent Neolithic period is defined by the unprecedented development of nascent agricultural practices. Agriculture originated and spread in different areas including the Middle East, Asia, Mesoamerica. Forest gardening was also being used as a production system in various parts of the world over this period. Forest gardens originated in prehistoric times along jungle-clad river banks and in the wet foothills of monsoon regions, in the gradual process of families improving their immediate environment, useful tree and vine species were identified, protected and improved, whilst undesirable species were eliminated. Eventually superior introduced species were selected and incorporated into the gardens, many groups continued their hunter-gatherer ways of life, although their numbers have continually declined, partly as a result of pressure from growing agricultural and pastoral communities. Many of them reside in the world, either in arid regions or tropical forests. Areas that were available to hunter-gatherers were—and continue to be—encroached upon by the settlements of agriculturalists. In the resulting competition for use, hunter-gatherer societies either adopted these practices or moved to other areas. In addition, Jared Diamond has blamed a decline in the availability of wild foods, as the number and size of agricultural societies increased, they expanded into lands traditionally used by hunter-gatherers. As a result of the now near-universal human reliance upon agriculture, archaeologists can use evidence such as stone tool use to track hunter-gatherer activities, including mobility. Most hunter-gatherers are nomadic or semi-nomadic and live in temporary settlements, mobile communities typically construct shelters using impermanent building materials, or they may use natural rock shelters, where they are available
13.
Yucca gigantea
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Yucca gigantea, is a Yucca species that is native to Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and the eastern part of Mexico. It is also naturalized in Puerto Rico, the Leeward Islands. Common names include spineless yucca, soft-tip yucca, blue-stem yucca, giant yucca and its flower, the izote, is the national flower of El Salvador. Although it can grow up to 9 m in height, with a spread to 4.5 m and it may have a thick, single trunk or be multitrunked resulting from a thickened, inflated, trunk-like lower base similar to an elephants foot. The leaves are strap-like, spineless and up to 1.2 m in length, white flowers are produced in the summer, followed by brown, fleshy fruits which are oval and up to 2.5 cm long. The species is most widely known today as Yucca elephantipes, the first mention of that name was by Eduard von Regel in February 1859. He claimed that a different species, Y. aloifolia, was known as Yucca elephantipes when grown in European gardens because of its thickened stem base. However, since he did not intend to offer Y. elephantipes as the correct name. In a major article on yuccas and allies in 1902, William Trelease also used the name Y. elephantipes and this came too late though, as Yucca gigantea had by then already been previously established. Charles Lemaire published the name Yucca gigantea in November 1859 and this is the name used by the World Checklist of Selected Plant Families as of January 2014, although other sources use Yucca guatemalensis, published by Baker in 1872. The species can be grown in a variety of soils and is drought-tolerant, young plants are occasionally used as houseplants. Yucca gigantea may be subject to a number of pests including scale, Yucca moth borers, plants are subject to root rot if overwatered. Leaf spot may affect the appearance of the leaves, but it does not affect the health of the plant, propagation is by suckers, cuttings or seed. A number of cultivars have been released including, Artola Gold Jewel Puck Silver Star, the plants are often used on coffee estates to prevent soil erosion on steep slopes
14.
Salvia columbariae
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Salvia columbariae is an annual plant that is commonly called chia, chia sage, golden chia, or desert chia, because its seeds are used in the same manner as Salvia hispanica. It grows in California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Sonora, and Baja California, some native names include pashí from Tongva and itepeš from Ventureño. S. columbariae grows 10 to 50 cm tall and its stem hairs are generally short and sparse in distribution. It has oblong-ovate basal leaves that are 2 to 10 cm long, the leaves are pinnately dissected and the lobes are irregularly rounded. The inflorescence is more or less scapose, meaning it has a long peduncle that comes from the level that has bracts. The bracts are round and awn-tipped, there are usually 1-2 cluster of flowers within the inflorescence. The calyx is 8 to 10 mm long and the lip is unlobed but has 2 awns. The lower lip is about twice the size of the upper lip, the flower color can be pale blue to blue and purple tipped. The stamens of the plant are slightly exserted, the fruit of S. columbariae is a nutlet that is tan to grey in color and 1.5 to 2 mm long. S. columbariae can be found in dry undisturbed sites in chaparral and it generally grows at elevations lower than 1,200 m. In cultivation, it prefers good drainage, sun, and dry weather, - California sage, chia Salvia columbariae var. ziegleri Munz - Zieglers sage The Cahuilla used the columbariae Benth. Variety as a disinfectant by grinding the seeds to mush and applying it to infections as a poultice, the Cahuilla, Ohlone, Kawaiisu, and Mahuna used the gelatinous seeds to cleanse out foreign matter in the eyes. The seeds were placed in the eyes for infections and inflammation, the Ohlone also used it to reduce fevers by consuming the seeds, and the Diegueno chewed the seeds on journeys by foot to give strength. The Cahuilla, Kawaiisu, Mohave, Tohono Oodham, Pima, the Cahuillas removed the alkali salts in the water, improving the flavor. They also dry the seeds to make cakes or mush, the Ohlones, Mohave, and Pomo make pinole. The Diegueno added the seeds to wheat to improve flavor, the Mahuna, Paiute, Pima, and Akimel Oodham make in into a gelatinous material, then cook it into porridge. The Luiseno, Tubatulabal, and Yavapai used it extensively as a food source, the Mahuna made it into a fiber and covered their dwellings. Calflora Database, Salvia columbariae Jepson eFlora treatment of Salvia columbariae USDA Plants Profile for Salvia columbariae U. C
15.
Cactus
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A cactus is a member of the plant family Cactaceae, a family comprising about 127 genera with some 1750 known species of the order Caryophyllales. The word cactus derives, through Latin, from the Ancient Greek κάκτος, kaktos, Cacti occur in a wide range of shapes and sizes. Most cacti live in habitats subject to at least some drought, many live in extremely dry environments, even being found in the Atacama Desert, one of the driest places on earth. Cacti show many adaptations to conserve water, almost all cacti are succulents, meaning they have thickened, fleshy parts adapted to store water. Unlike many other succulents, the stem is the part of most cacti where this vital process takes place. Most species of cacti have lost true leaves, retaining only spines, as well as defending against herbivores, spines help prevent water loss by reducing air flow close to the cactus and providing some shade. In the absence of leaves, enlarged stems carry out photosynthesis, Cacti are native to the Americas, ranging from Patagonia in the south to parts of western Canada in the north—except for Rhipsalis baccifera, which also grows in Africa and Sri Lanka. Cactus spines are produced from specialized structures called areoles, a kind of highly reduced branch, areoles are an identifying feature of cacti. As well as spines, areoles give rise to flowers, which are usually tubular, Cactus stems are often ribbed or fluted, which allows them to expand and contract easily for quick water absorption after rain, followed by long drought periods. Like other succulent plants, most cacti employ a mechanism called crassulacean acid metabolism as part of photosynthesis. Transpiration, during which carbon enters the plant and water escapes, does not take place during the day at the same time as photosynthesis. The plant stores the carbon dioxide it takes in as malic acid, retaining it until daylight returns, because transpiration takes place during the cooler, more humid night hours, water loss is significantly reduced. Many smaller cacti have globe-shaped stems, combining the highest possible volume for water storage, the tallest free-standing cactus is Pachycereus pringlei, with a maximum recorded height of 19.2 m, and the smallest is Blossfeldia liliputiana, only about 1 cm in diameter at maturity. A fully grown saguaro is said to be able to absorb as much as 200 U. S. gallons of water during a rainstorm, a few species differ significantly in appearance from most of the family. At least superficially, plants of the genus Pereskia resemble other trees and they have persistent leaves, and when older, bark-covered stems. Their areoles identify them as cacti, and in spite of their appearance, they, Pereskia is considered close to the ancestral species from which all cacti evolved. In tropical regions, other cacti grow as forest climbers and epiphytes and their stems are typically flattened, almost leaf-like in appearance, with fewer or even no spines, such as the well-known Christmas cactus or Thanksgiving cactus. Cacti have a variety of uses, many species are used as ornamental plants, others are grown for fodder or forage, cochineal is the product of an insect that lives on some cacti
16.
Nopal
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Nopal is a common name in Mexican Spanish for Opuntia cacti, as well as for its pads. There are approximately one hundred and fourteen known species endemic to Mexico, the nopal pads can be eaten raw or cooked, used in marmalades, soups stews and salads, as well as being used for traditional medicine or as fodder for animals. Farmed nopales are most often of the species Opuntia ficus-indica or Opuntia joconostle although the pads of almost all Opuntia species are edible, the other part of the nopal cactus that is edible is the fruit called the tuna in Spanish, and the prickly pear in English. Nopales are generally fresh in Mexico, cleaned of spines, and sliced to the customers desire on the spot, they can also be found canned or bottled. Cut into slices or diced into cubes, nopales have a light, slightly tart flavor, like beans. In most recipes, the liquid they contain is sometimes included in the cooking. They are at their most tender and juicy in the spring, nopales have also grown to be an important ingredient in New Mexican cuisine and in Tejano culture of Texas. Per US cup serving, nopal fruit is an excellent source of the mineral manganese. Its calcium may not be available because it is present as calcium oxalate. Dietary nopales is under research for how it may affect the glycemic index. The nopal cactus grows extensively throughout Mexico, being abundant in the central Mexican arid. In Mexico there are three million hectares of land used to cultivate nopal. There are three ways to cultivate nopal cacti — commercial plantations, family farms and gardens, or in the wild. The main use for cultivated nopal is for feed for livestock with one hundred, after that, approximately 57,000 ha are used to produce prickly pear fruit,10,500 ha for the pads production, and 100 ha to cochineal production. Nopal is grown in eighteen of the Mexican states with 74% in the Distrito Federal, the farming of nopal provides many subsistence communities with employment, food, income, and allows them to remain on their land. On the other hand, the insect was successfully used in Australia in 1925 to control the cactus population
17.
Agave americana
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Today, it is cultivated worldwide as an ornamental plant. It has become naturalized in regions, including the West Indies, parts of South America, the southern Mediterranean Basin, and parts of Africa, India, China, Thailand. Despite the common name American aloe, it is not closely related to plants in the genus Aloe, although it is called the century plant, it typically lives only 10 to 30 years. It has a spread around 6–10 ft with gray-green leaves of 3–5 ft long, each with a prickly margin and a heavy spike at the tip that can pierce deeply. Near the end of its life, the plant sends up a tall, branched stalk, laden with yellow blossoms and its common name derives from its semelparous nature of flowering only once at the end of its long life. The plant dies after flowering, but produces suckers or adventitious shoots from the base, a. americana was one of the many species described by Carl Linnaeus in the 1753 edition of Species Plantarum, with the binomial name that is still used today. A. americana is cultivated as a plant for the large dramatic form of mature plants - for modernist, drought tolerant. It is often used in hot climates and where drought conditions occur, the plants can be evocative of 18th-19th-century Spanish colonial and Mexican provincial eras in the Southwestern United States, California, and xeric Mexico. It is also a landscape plant in beach gardens in Florida. Two subspecies and two varieties of A. americana are recognized by the World Checklist of Selected Plant Families, protamericana Gentry A. a. var. expansa Gentry A. a. var. If the flower stem is cut without flowering, a liquid called aguamiel gathers in the heart of the plant. This may be fermented to produce the drink called pulque, the leaves also yield fibers, known as pita, which are suitable for making rope, matting, or coarse cloth, and are used for embroidery of leather in a technique known as piteado. Both pulque and maguey fiber were important to the economy of pre-Columbian Mexico, in the tequila-producing regions of Mexico, agaves are called mezcales. The high-alcohol product of agave distillation is called mezcal, A. americana is one of several agaves used for distillation, a mezcal called tequila is produced from Agave tequilana, commonly called blue agave. The many different types of mezcal include some which may be flavored with the very pungent mezcal worm, in mezcal and tequila production, the sugars are extracted from the piñas by heating them in ovens, rather than by collecting aguamiel from the plants cut stalk. Thus, if one were to distill pulque, it would not be a form of mezcal, Agave nectar is marketed as a natural form of sugar with a low glycemic index that is due to its high fructose content. The plant figures in the coat of arms of Don Diego de Mendoza, el maguey y el pulque en los códices mexicanos. Mexico City, Fondo de Cultura Económica 1956, memoria sobre el maguey mexicano y sus diversos productos
18.
Maize
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Maize, also known as corn, is a large grain plant first domesticated by indigenous peoples in Mexico about 10,000 years ago. The six major types of corn are dent corn, flint corn, pod corn, popcorn, flour corn, the leafy stalk of the plant produces separate pollen and ovuliferous inflorescences or ears, which are fruits, yielding kernels or seeds. Maize kernels are used in cooking as a starch. Most historians believe maize was domesticated in the Tehuacan Valley of Mexico, recent research modified this view somewhat, scholars now indicate the adjacent Balsas River Valley of south-central Mexico as the center of domestication. The Olmec and Mayans cultivated maize in numerous varieties throughout Mesoamerica, cooked and its believed that beginning about 2500 BC, the crop spread through much of the Americas. The region developed a network based on surplus and varieties of maize crops. Nevertheless, recent data indicates that the spread of maize took place even earlier, according to Piperno, A large corpus of data indicates that it was dispersed into lower Central America by 7600 BP and had moved into the inter-Andean valleys of Colombia between 7000 and 6000 BP. Since then, even earlier dates have been published, the study also demonstrated that the oldest surviving maize types are those of the Mexican highlands. Later, maize spread from this region over the Americas along two major paths and this is consistent with a model based on the archaeological record suggesting that maize diversified in the highlands of Mexico before spreading to the lowlands. Before they were domesticated, maize plants only grew small,25 millimetres long corn cobs, Maize is the most widely grown grain crop throughout the Americas, with 361 million metric tons grown in the United States in 2014. Approximately 40% of the crop—130 million tons—is used for corn ethanol, genetically modified maize made up 85% of the maize planted in the United States in 2009. After the arrival of Europeans in 1492, Spanish settlers consumed maize and explorers and traders carried it back to Europe, Spanish settlers far preferred wheat bread to maize, cassava, or potatoes. Maize flour could not be substituted for wheat for bread, since in Christian belief only wheat could undergo transubstantiation. At another level, Spaniards worried that by eating indigenous foods, which they did not consider nutritious, that not only would they weaken, despite these worries, Spaniards did consume maize and archeological evidence from Florida sites indicate they cultivated it as well. Maize spread to the rest of the world because of its ability to grow in diverse climates and it was cultivated in Spain just a few decades after Columbuss voyages and then spread to Italy, West Africa and elsewhere. The word maize derives from the Spanish form of the indigenous Taíno word for the plant and it is known by other names around the world. The word corn outside North America, Australia, and New Zealand refers to any cereal crop, in the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, corn primarily means maize, this usage started as a shortening of Indian corn. Indian corn primarily means maize, but can more specifically to multicolored flint corn used for decoration
19.
Uto-Aztecan
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Uto-Aztecan or Uto-Aztekan /ˈjuːtoʊ. æzˈtɛkən/ is a Native American language family consisting of over 30 languages. Uto-Aztecan languages are found almost entirely in the Western United States, the name of the language family was created to show that it includes both the Ute language of Utah and the Aztecan languages of Mexico. The Uto-Aztecan language family is one of the largest linguistic families in the Americas in terms of number of speakers, number of languages, and geographic extension. The northernmost Uto-Aztecan language is Shoshoni, which is spoken as far north as Salmon, Idaho, Ethnologue gives the total number of languages in the family as 61, and the total number of speakers as 1,900,412. The roughly 1.5 million speakers of Nahuatl languages account for almost four-fifths of these, below this level of classification the main branches are well accepted, Numic, and the Californian languages, including Cahuilla and Luiseño, account for most of the Northern languages. Hopi and Tübatulabal are languages outside those groups, the Southern languages are divided into the Tepiman, the Tarahumaran languages including Raramuri and Guarijio language, the Cahitan languages, Corachol and Nahuan languages. The homeland of the Uto-Aztecan languages is considered to have been in the American Southwest or possibly Northwestern Mexico. Linguistic scholars have discussed the possibility that the family originated in southern Mexico. The Proto-Uto-Aztecan language is the common ancestor of the Uto-Aztecan languages. The proto-language would have been spoken by Mesolithic foragers in Aridoamerica, the homeland of the Numic languages has been placed in Southern California near Death Valley, and the homeland of the proposed Southern Uto-Aztecan group has been placed on the coast of Sonora. The geographic diffusion of speakers corresponded to the breakup of linguistic unity and this hypothesis has been criticized on several grounds, and it is not generally accepted by Uto-Aztecanists. A survey of agriculture-related vocabulary by Merrill found that the agricultural vocabulary can only be reconstructed for Southern Uto-Aztecan and this supports a conclusion that the Proto-Uto-Aztecan speech community did not practice agriculture, but only adopted it after entering Mesoamerica from the North. A recent proposal by David L. Shaul presents evidence suggesting contact between proto-Uto-Aztecan and languages of central California such as Esselen and the Yokutsan languages and this leads Shaul to suggest that proto-Uto-Aztecan was spoken in Californias Central Valley area, and formed part of an ancient Californian linguistic area. Uto-Aztecan languages are spoken in the North American mountain ranges and adjacent lowlands of the western United States, classical Nahuatl, the language of the Aztecs, and its modern relatives are part of the Uto-Aztecan family. The Pipil language, an offshoot of Nahuatl, spread to Central America by a wave of migration from Mexico, now it has gone extinct in Guatemala and Honduras, and it is nearly extinct in western El Salvador, all areas dominated by use of Spanish. Uto-Aztecan has been accepted by linguists as a family since the early 1900s, and six subgroups are accepted as valid by all experts, Numic, Takic, Pimic, Taracahitic, Corachol. This leaves two ungrouped languages—Tübatulabal and Hopi, as to higher-level groupings, disagreement has persisted since the 19th century. Presently scholars also disagree as to where to draw language boundaries within dialect continua, the similarities among the Uto-Aztecan languages were noted as early as 1859 by J. C. E
20.
Baja California
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Baja California, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California, is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico, before becoming a state in 1952, the area was known as the North Territory of Baja California. It has an area of 70,113 km2, or 3. 57% of the mass of Mexico and comprises the northern half of the Baja California Peninsula, north of the 28th parallel. The mainland portion of the state is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean, on the east by Sonora, the U. S. State of Arizona, and the Gulf of California and its northern limit is the U. S. state of California. The state has an population of 3,165,776 much more than the sparsely populated Baja California Sur to the south. Over 75% of the lives in the capital city, Mexicali, in Ensenada. Other important cities include San Felipe, Rosarito and Tecate, additionally, there is a large immigrant population from the United States due to its proximity to San Diego and the cheaper cost of living compared to San Diego. There is also a significant population from Central America, many immigrants moved to Baja California for a better quality of life and the number of higher paying jobs in comparison to the rest of Mexico and Latin America. Baja California is the twelfth largest state by area in Mexico and its geography ranges from beaches to forests and deserts. The backbone of the state is the Sierra de Baja California, where the Picacho del Diablo and this mountain range effectively divides the weather patterns in the state. In the northwest, the weather is semi-dry and mediterranean, in the narrow center, the weather changes to be more humid due to altitude. It is in area where a few valleys can be found, such as the Valle de Guadalupe. To the east of the range, the Sonoran Desert dominates the landscape. In the south, the weather becomes drier and gives way to the Vizcaino Desert, the state is also home to numerous islands off both of its shores. In fact, the westernmost point in Mexico, the Guadalupe Island, is part of Baja California, the Coronado, Todos Santos and Cedros Islands are also on the Pacific Shore. On the Gulf of California, the biggest island is the Angel de la Guarda, separated from the peninsula by the deep, the first people came to the peninsula at least 11,000 years ago. At that time two main groups are thought to have been present on the peninsula. In the south were the Cochimí, in the north were several groups belonging to the Yuman language family, including the Kiliwa, Paipai, Kumeyaay, Cocopa, and Quechan
21.
Pine nut
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Pine nuts are the edible seeds of pines. About 20 species of pine produce seeds large enough to be worth harvesting, in other pines the seeds are also edible, in Asia two species are widely harvested, Korean pine in northeast Asia, and chilgoza pine in the western Himalaya. Four other species, Siberian pine, Siberian dwarf pine, Chinese white pine, afghanistan is an important source of pine nuts, behind China and Korea. Pine nuts produced in Europe mostly come from the pine, which has been cultivated for its nuts for over 5,000 years. The Swiss pine is used to a very small extent. In North America, the species are three of the pinyon pines, Colorado pinyon, single-leaf pinyon, and Mexican pinyon. The other eight pinyon species are used to an extent, as are gray pine, Coulter pine, Torrey pine, sugar pine. Here, the nuts themselves are known by the Spanish name for the pinyon pine, in the United States, pine nuts are mainly harvested by Native Americans, particularly the Uto-Aztecan, Shoshone, Paiute Navajo, and Hopi, and Washoe tribes. Certain treaties negotiated by tribes and laws in Nevada guarantee Native Americans right to harvest pine nuts, the Pinus monophylla seeds, commonly known as the Nevada Soft Shell Pine Nut, are harvested by commercial harvesters in Nevada, and sold throughout the western US. For those seeking to grow edible landscapes, these are the commonly used species. For some American species development begins in spring with pollination. A tiny cone, about the size of a marble, will form from mid-spring to the end of summer. The cone will then commence growth until it reaches maturity near the end of summer, the mature piñon pine cone is ready to harvest ten days before the green cone begins to open. A cone is harvested by placing it in a burlap bag and it takes about 20 days until the cone fully opens. Once it is open and dry, the seed can be easily extracted in various ways. Another option for harvesting is to wait until the cone opens on the tree and harvest the cone from the piñon pine, fallen seed can also be gathered beneath the trees. The elevation of the pine is an important determinant of the quantity of pine cone production. American Pinyon pine cone production is most commonly found at an elevation between 6,000 feet and 8,500 feet, and ideally at 7,000 feet
22.
Coppicing
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Coppicing is a traditional method of woodland management which takes advantage of the fact that many trees make new growth from the stump or roots if cut down. In a coppiced wood, which is called a copse, young stems are repeatedly cut down to near ground level. In subsequent growth years, many new shoots emerge, and, after a number of years the coppiced tree, or stool, is ready to be harvested. Pollarding is a process carried out at a higher level on the tree. Many forestry practices worldwide involve cutting and regrowth, and coppicing has been of significance in many parts of lowland temperate Europe, the widespread and long-term practice of coppicing as a landscape-scale industry is something that remains of special importance in southern England. For this reason many of the English-language terms referenced in this article are particularly relevant to historic, typically a coppiced woodland is harvested in sections or coups on a rotation. In this way, a crop is available each year somewhere in the woodland, coppicing has the effect of providing a rich variety of habitats, as the woodland always has a range of different-aged coppice growing in it, which is beneficial for biodiversity. The cycle length depends upon the species cut, the custom. Birch can be coppiced for faggots on a three- or four-year cycle, coppicing maintains trees at a juvenile stage, and a regularly coppiced tree will never die of old age — some coppice stools may therefore reach immense ages. The age of a stool may be estimated from its diameter, evidence suggests that coppicing has been continuously practiced since pre-history. Coppiced stems are characteristically curved at the base and this curve occurs as the competing stems grow out from the stool in the early stages of the cycle, then up towards the sky as the canopy closes. The curve may allow the identification of coppice timber in archaeological sites, timber in the Sweet Track in Somerset has been identified as coppiced lime. When it originated, the system now called coppicing was solely for small wood production. In German this is called Niederwald, which translates as low forest, later on in Mediaeval times farmers encouraged pigs to feed from acorns and so some trees were allowed to grow bigger. This different silvicultural system is called in English coppice with standards, in German this is called Mittelwald, which translates as middle forest. As modern forestry seeks to harvest timber mechanically, and pigs are generally no longer fed from acorns, in the days of charcoal iron production in England, most woods in ironmaking regions were managed as coppices, usually being cut on a cycle of about 16 years. In this way, fuel could be provided for industry, in principle indefinitely. This was regulated by a statute of 1544 of Henry VIII, coppice with standards has been commonly used throughout most of Europe as a means of giving greater flexibility in the resulting forest product from any one area
23.
Aguascalientes
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Aguascalientes, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Aguascalientes, is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 11 municipalities and its capital city is Aguascalientes and it is located in North-Central Mexico. It is bordered by the states of Zacatecas to the north and its name means hot waters in Spanish and originated from the abundance of hot springs in the area. The corresponding demonym for the state and its inhabitants is hidrocálido or aguascalentense, later in the colony, Pedro Almíndez Chirino was the first Spaniard who entered the territory, perhaps by the end of 1530 or the beginning of 1531, following the instructions given by Nuño de Guzmán. Before the arrival of the Spaniards, the territory of what is now the State of Aguascalientes was inhabited by Chichimecas, in fact, the total occupation of the lands of El Bajio was a task that would take about two centuries. With respect to this, Viceroy Luis de Velasco offered municipal benefits to those who established settlements to confront the Chichimeca, and for his part, Viceroy Gaston de Peralta decided to confront them directly, which did not give good results. It was in order to be in the territory that is presently the state inhabited by Chichimecas, the so-called Guachichiles and this was a system devised by Martín Enríquez de Almanza following the strategy that had been developing in Spain throughout the Reconquista period. The latter was located on what are now Moctezuma and Victoria Streets, although some place it on the Calle 5 de Mayo at Moctezuma. This was a fortress whose purpose was the protection of the Valle de los Romero, geronimo de Orozco, following that order, looked for someone who would accept the kings order and found a man named Juan de Montoro in the city of Santa Maria de los Lagos. He accepted the assignment and, accompanied by other people, headed to the territory. It has been noted that it was called San Marcos originally, and finally, from June 2,1875, it was called the Villa of Our Lady of the Assumption of Aguas Calientes, later changing to the city of Aguascalientes, which remains its name today. In the act of its establishment, the Villa de San Marcos was awarded the highest mayoral jurisdiction under the Kingdom of New Galicia, as of December 4,1786, on the occasion of the issuance of the Ordinance of Mayors, it became a quartermaster sub-delegation. On April 24,1789, by order of the Superior Board of Royal Property, confusion has arisen regarding the exact date when Aguascalientes formally separated from the territory of Zacatecas. The second requirement not being completed, the constitutional congress convened again to develop the centralized constitution that would be known later as the Seven Laws, what can be said, since in the local constitution of Zacatecas of 1825, Aguascalientes was contemplated as a member of said state. Subsequently, on May 18,1847, amendments were approved to the Constitution of 1824 and that brought about a war between Aguascalientes and Zacatecas, bringing as a consequence that Zacatecas would strengthen the partitions, now municipalities, of Cavillo and Rincon de Romos. In July 1848, Aguascalientes accepted the annexation to Zacatecas. Entering on the strength of constitution, on September 16,1857. Jesús Terán Peredo reclaimed his post as governor of the state
24.
Baja California Sur
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Before becoming a state on October 8,1974, the area was known as the South Territory of Baja California. It is bordered to the north by the state of Baja California, to the west by the Pacific Ocean, the state has maritime borders with Sonora and Sinaloa to the east, across the Gulf of California. The state is home to the tourist resorts of Cabo San Lucas and its largest city and capital is La Paz. The state is the part of the Baja California Peninsula. With a territory of 73,909 km², it is about 750 km long, the state is divided into five municipalities. Comondú is located in the center of the state with its seat at Ciudad Constitución and it borders the municipalities of Mulegé, Loreto and La Paz with the Pacific Ocean to the west. Mulegé is in the north of the state with its capital in Santa Rosalía and it borders the municipalities of Comondú and Loreto with Baja California Norte to the north, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Gulf of California to the east. It accounts for almost 45% of the state’s territory, the municipality of La Paz is in the south of the state. It is the second largest municipality, accounting for just over 27% of the territory of the state and it borders the municipalities of Comondú and Los Cabos and extends from the Pacific Ocean to the Gulf of California. The municipality of Los Cabos is at the tip of the state, with its seat at San José del Cabo. The municipality is one of the most important tourist destinations in Mexico, the municipality borders that of La Paz to the north, with the rest defined by the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of California. The municipality of Loreto is in the center of the state and it borders the municipalities of Mulegé and Comondú with the Gulf of California to the east. Its major cities are La Paz, San Jose del Cabo, Ciudad Constitución, Santa Rosalia, the territory is primarily mountains or mountain ranges and coastal plains. The mountain ranges parallel the coastline and are of volcanic rock, the local name for the main mountain range is the Sierra de la Giganta and the highest peak is the Sierra de la Laguna at 2080m above sea level. The coastal plains are significantly wider on the Pacific side, averaging about 40 km, with much wider plains such as those of Santa Clara, Berrendo and these areas are dominated by sedimentary rock, especially limestone of marine origin. The state is divided into five regions, Central Desert, La Serranía, the Vizcaíno Desert, the Central Desert has desert plants, with vegetation springing up during short and irregular rains. The La Serranía is the mountain areas with significant tree cover. The Magdalena Plains is a large, flat area near the Pacific coast, the climate of the state is dry, with an average annual temperature of 18–22°C and average annual rainfall of less than 200mm
25.
Coahuila
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The state is located in Northeastern Mexico on the US border. Coahuila borders the Mexican states of Nuevo León to the east, Zacatecas and San Luis Potosí to the south, and Durango and Chihuahua to the west. To the north, Coahuila accounts for a 512 kilometres stretch of the Mexico–United States border, with an area of 151,563 square kilometres, it is the nations third-largest state. In 2010, Coahuilas population is 2,748,391 inhabitants, the Spanish explored the north of Mexico some decades after their victory in Tenochtiitlán the capital of the Aztecs. Such exploration was delayed because the climate was harsher and there was no gold. The first Spanish settlement in the now called Coahuila was at Minas de la Trinidad in 1577. Saltillo was settled in 1586, to part of the province of Nueva Vizcaya of the Vice-royalty of New Spain. Later it became one of the first provinces of Nueva Extremadura to be explored by Europeans, Coahuila and Texas was one of the constituent states of the newly independent United Mexican States under their 1824 Constitution, and included Texas, Coahuila and Nuevo León. Later in the same year Nuevo León was detached, but Texas remained a part of the state until 1836, Monclova was the capital of the state from 1833 to 1835. In 1840 Coahuila briefly became a member of the short lived Republic of the Rio Grande, on February 19,1856, Santiago Vidaurri annexed Coahuila to his state, Nuevo León, but it regained its separate status in 1868. During the Mexican Revolution, Francisco Villa attacked the city of Torreón, on April 4,2004, the border city of Piedras Negras was flooded. More than 30 people died and more than 4,000 lost their homes, in 2007 Coahuila became the first state in Mexico to offer civil unions to same-sex couples. The Sierra Madre Oriental runs northwest to southeast through the State, the northernmost fingers of the Sierra Madre Oriental, the Sierra del Burro and the Sierra del Carmen, reach to the border with the United States at the Rio Grande. East of the range, the land slopes gently toward the Rio Grande, and is drained by rivers, including the Salado and its tributary. The Tamaulipan mezquital, a dry shrubland ecoregion, occupies the portion of the State. The portion of the State west of the Sierra Madre Oriental lies on the Mexican Plateau, the Bolsón de Mapimí is a large endorheic basin which covers much of the western portion of the State and extends into adjacent portions of Chihuahua, Durango, and Zacatecas. The Nazas River, which flows east from Durango, and the Aguanaval River, Torreón, the most populous city in the State, lies on the Nazas in the irrigated Laguna Region, the, which straddles the border of Coahuila and Durango. Maderas del Carmen lies on the border of the State
26.
Chihuahua (state)
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Chihuahua, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Chihuahua, is one of the 32 states of Mexico. Its capital city is Chihuahua City and it is located in Northwestern Mexico and is bordered by the states of Sonora to the west, Sinaloa to the southwest, Durango to the south, and Coahuila to the east. To the north and northeast, it has a border with the U. S. adjacent to the U. S. states of New Mexico. Chihuahua is the largest state in Mexico by area, with an area of 247,455 square kilometres, the state is consequently known under the nickname El Estado Grande. Although Chihuahua is primarily identified with the Chihuahuan Desert for namesake, it has more forests than any state in Mexico. Due to its variant climate, the state has a variety of fauna. The state is characterized by rugged mountainous terrain and wide river valleys. On the slope of the Sierra Madre Occidental mountains, there are vast prairies of short yellow grass, most of the inhabitants live along the Rio Grande Valley and the Conchos River Valley. The etymology of the name Chihuahua has long disputed by historians. The most accepted theory explains that the name was derived from the Nahuatl language meaning The place where the water of the rivers meet, Chihuahua has a diversified state economy. The three most important economic centers in the state are, Ciudad Juárez, a manufacturing center, Chihuahua, the state capital, and Delicias. Today Chihuahua serves as an important commercial route prospering from billions of dollars from international trade as a result of NAFTA, on the other hand the state suffers the fallout of illicit trade and activities especially at the border. The earliest evidence of inhabitants of modern day Chihuahua was discovered in the area of Samalayuca. Clovis points have been found in northeastern Chihuahua that have dated from 12,000 BC to 7000 BC. It is thought that these inhabitants were hunter gatherers, inhabitants of the state later developed farming with the domestication of corn. An archeological site in northern Chihuahua known as Cerro Juanaqueña revealed squash cultivation, irrigation techniques, between AD300 and 1300 in the northern part of the state along the wide, fertile valley on the San Miguel River the Casas Grandes culture developed into an advanced civilization. The Casas Grandes civilization is part of a prehistoric archaeological culture known as Mogollon which is related to the Ancestral Pueblo culture. Paquime was the center of the Casas Grandes civilization, extensive archaeological evidence shows commerce, agriculture, and hunting at Paquime and Cuarenta Casas
27.
Durango
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Durango, officially Free and Sovereign State of Durango, is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, compose the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is located in Northwest Mexico, with a population of 1,632,934, it has Mexicos second-lowest population density, after Baja California Sur. The city of Victoria de Durango is the capital, named after the first president of Mexico. Sedentary life began in Durango around 500 B. C. in response to population growth, the exceptions were the Acaxee, Humas, and Xiximes who were constantly at war but always on the look-out for final settlements in the region of the Quebradas. On the east bank of the state a longitudinal zone can be found, the Indios Laguneros traveled interchangeably between this area, they were characterized by their rebellious attitude, instability, religious customs and for being hunters and gatherers. These Natives of which so little was recorded were the first inhabitants of the region long before they were exterminated by the Spanish colonists, today, only a few remain of the Tepehuanos, Huicholes, Coras and Tarahumara tribes. By around 200–300 A. D. Durango along with the central zone of present-day Mexico was inhabited by sedentary groups that were link to the cultures located further south. The state was connected by a commercial network that linked it to areas as north as New Mexico. Spanish explorer Francisco de Ibarra, the first to colonize Durango, on July 8,1563, he founded the capital city and named it Durango for the town Durango, Biscay, Spain. Additionally many of the soldiers who came on the expedition of Captain Francisco de Ibarra, in 1552 Spanish Captain Ginés Vázquez del Mercado discovered one of the worlds richest iron-ore deposits which was named after him, present-day Cerro de Mercado. Gradually, in the decades, the Franciscans followed by the Jesuits began the evangelization of Nueva Vizcaya. The establishment of garrisons in Northern Mexico provided security to the people immersed in isolation, the new routes enjoined the military camps and thus emerged the Courier of the Provinces, a government scheme adopted by the Spanish monarchs in 1767. The new territory began to split in the colonial period, the first to emerge was the Sinaloa Province, which then included the areas known today as Sonora and Arizona. At the time that Porfirio Díaz was at the head of the Republic, Durango also experienced local dictatorships such as that of Governor Juan Manuel Flores, esteban Fernandez, who also became governor, was reelected in 1908 after his four-year term only to leave in 1911. Durango played an important role in the Mexican Revolution. On November 21,1910, Duranguense military personnel Jesús Agustín Castro and Oreste Pereyra, the splitting of the territories continued with the government of Enrique R. At the half century, the educational crusade began which bestowed upon Durango colleges of education such as Instituto Tecnológico de Durango. The latter was based on the historical Instituto Juarez, which dates back to the eighteenth century and this was a late colonization for the Spanish, due mostly to heavy resistance by the indigenous population
28.
Sonora
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Sonora, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Sonora, is one of 31 states that, with Mexico City, comprise the 32 federal entities of Mexico. It is divided into 72 municipalities, the city is Hermosillo. Sonora is located in Northwest Mexico, bordered by the states of Chihuahua to the east, Baja California to the northwest and Sinaloa to the south. To the north, it shares the U. S. –Mexico border with the states of Arizona and New Mexico, and on the west has a significant share of the coastline of the Gulf of California. Sonoras natural geography is divided into three parts, the Sierra Madre Occidental in the east of the state, plains and rolling hills in the center, and the coast on the Gulf of California. It is primarily arid or semiarid deserts and grasslands, with only the highest elevations having sufficient rainfall to support other types of vegetation, Sonora is home to eight indigenous peoples, including the Mayo, the Yaqui, and Seri. It has been important for its agriculture, livestock, and mining since the colonial period. With the Gadsden Purchase, Sonora lost more than a quarter of its territory, from the 20th century to the present, industry, tourism, and agribusiness have dominated the economy, attracting migration from other parts of Mexico. Several theories exist as to the origin of the name Sonora and they encountered the Opata, who could not pronounce Señora, instead saying Senora or Sonora. A third theory, written by Father Cristóbal de Cañas in 1730, states that the name comes from the word for a water well, sonot. The first record of the name Sonora comes from explorer Francisco Vásquez de Coronado, Francisco de Ibarra also traveled through the area in 1567 and referred to the Valles de Señora. Evidence of human existence in the dates back over 10,000 years. The first humans were hunter gatherers who used tools made from stones, seashells. During much of the period, the environmental conditions were less severe than they are today, with similar. The oldest Clovis culture site in North America is believed to be El Fin del Mundo in northwestern Sonora and it was discovered during a 2007 survey. It features occupation dating around 13,390 calibrated years BP, in 2011, remains of Gomphothere were found, the evidence suggests that humans did in fact kill two of them here. Agriculture first appeared around 400 BCE and 200 CE in the river valleys, the lowland central coast, however, seems never truly to have adopted agriculture. Because Sonora and much of the northwest does not share many of the traits of that area
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Tamaulipas
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Tamaulipas, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Tamaulipas, is one of the 31 states which, with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 43 municipalities and its capital city is Ciudad Victoria, the capital city was named after Guadalupe Victoria, the first President of Mexico. It is located in Northeastern Mexico and it is bordered by the states of Veracruz to the southeast, San Luis Potosí to the southwest and Nuevo León to the west. To the north, it has a 370 km stretch of the U. S. –Mexico border along the state of Texas and this state is known to be both a territorial struggle for the Gulf Cartel and the Los Zetas. The name Tamaulipas is derived from Tamaholipa, a Huastec term in which the tam- prefix signifies place, there is no scholarly agreement on the meaning of holipa, but high hills is a common interpretation. Another explanation of the name is that it is derived from Ta ma holipam. In addition to the city, Ciudad Victoria, the states largest cities include Reynosa, Matamoros, Nuevo Laredo. The area known as Tamaulipas has been inhabited for at least 8,000 years, several different cultures have come and gone during that period. Tamaulipas was originally populated by the Olmec people and later by Chichimec and Huastec tribes, between 1445 and 1466, Mexica armies commanded by Moctezuma I Ilhuicamina conquered much of the territory and transformed it into a tributary region for the Mexica empire. However, the Aztecs never fully conquered certain mostly nomadic indigenous groups in the area, although Hernán Cortés conquered the Aztecs rather quickly, it took a gradual process for Spain to subjugate the inhabitants of Tamaulipas in the 16th and 17th centuries. The first permanent Spanish settlement in the area was Tampico in 1554, further settlement was done by Franciscan missionaries, widespread cattle and sheep ranching by the Spanish bolstered the area’s economy while forcing native populations from their original lands. Repeated indigenous rebellions kept the area unstable and weakened colonial interest in the region, what is now Tamaulipas was first incorporated as a separate province of New Spain in 1746 with the name Nuevo Santander. The local government capital during this time moved from Santander to San Carlos, the territory of this time spanned from the San Antonio river to the north east to the Gulf of Mexico, then south to the Panuco River near Tampico and west to the Sierra Madre Mountains. The area became a haven for rebellious Indians who fled there after increased Spanish settlements in Nuevo León, one of these groups was known as Lipan. By 1790 Europeans turned their attention from the groups and focused on containing the Apache invaders. In northeastern Coahuila and adjacent Texas, Spanish and Apache displacements created an ethnic mix. Here the local Indians mixed with displaced groups from Coahuila and Chihuahua, some groups, to escape the pressure, combined and migrated north into the Central Texas highlands. In 1824, after the Mexican War of Independence from Spain, during the fights between centralists and federalists that soon followed, the successful Texas Revolution led to the creation of the Republic of Texas in 1836
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Zacatecas
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Zacatecas, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Zacatecas, is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 58 municipalities and its capital city is Zacatecas City, Zacatecas is located in North-Central Mexico. The state is best known for its deposits of silver and other minerals, its colonial architecture. Its main economic activities are mining, agriculture and tourism, Zacatecas is located in the center-north of Mexico, and covers an area of 75, 284km2, the tenth largest state in the country. It borders the states of Jalisco, Aguascalientes, San Luis Potosí, Coahuila and Durango and is divided into fifty eight municipalities and 4,882, towns, cities and other communities. The state has an altitude of 2230 meters above sea level. The state has three geographical regions, the Sierra Madre Occidental in the west, the Mexican Plateau. Most of it is in the Sierra Madre Occidental with highly rugged with peaks of over 2,500 meters above sea level, the mountains of the southeast and northeast are lower but there large valleys such as the Juchipila and Tlaltenango. Most of the territory has only small mesas and other areas of flat land, in the center of the state, there is a small mountain chain called the Sierra de Fresnillo, from which much of the state’s mineral wealth comes from. In the extreme northwest, there is another important mountain chain called the Sierra de Sombrerete, marked by a mountain called Sombreretillo, near this chain is another called the Sierra de Órganos. No major rivers run through the state and most of the run only during the rainy season. The state belongs to two basins, the south east of the state belongs to the Lerma River basin, which eventually empties in the Pacific Ocean. Rivers belonging to this include the San Pedro, Juchipila, Jerez. The other basin is smaller and endorheic, and does not empty into any ocean, the state has eighty dams with a total capacity of 595,337 million cubic meters. The largest of these are the Leobardo Reynoso in Fresnillo, Miguel Aleman in Tlaltenango, much of the state’s water is underground divided into twenty hydraulic zones. These are accesses with over 5,800 wells mostly for agricultural use, most of the territory has a cool, dry climate, although areas in the south have more moisture, with most rain falling between June and September. The driest and coldest areas are in the northeast, known as the Salado because of its saltwater lakes, 75% of the state is arid or semi arid. 14% is arable and 79% is apt for the grazing of livestock, the average annual temperature is 16C with most of the state being temperate
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Hidalgo (state)
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Hidalgo, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Hidalgo, is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 84 municipalities and its capital city is Pachuca de Soto, in 1869, Benito Juárez created the State of Hidalgo. The state was named after Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, the initiator of the Mexican War of Independence and it is located in Eastern Mexico. Hidalgo is bordered by San Luis Potosí and Veracruz on the north, Puebla on the east, Tlaxcala and México on the south, the state has a number of relatively intact native cultures such as the Otomi. The state contains a number of ecotourism, cultural and archeological attractions including the Huasteca area, Hidalgo is known for its mountainous terrain but part of the state is on a coastal plain. With a population of 2.665 million and an area of roughly 20,813 square km, the modern day state of Hidalgo is located within the pre-Hispanic region of Mesoamerica. Numerous migrations of people took place through here, mostly arriving or passing through from the north, with many eventually settling in the Valley of Mexico. The Toltecs initially settled in Xochicoatlán, now the municipality of Molango at the beginning of the 7th century, from here they dispersed to locales such as Huejutla and Tollatzingo where they eventually had their capital of Tollan, today known as Tula. The Toltecs were eventually overrun by Chichimecas, who established their capital in Metztitlán, the Aztecs arrived in the 12th century, initially establishing themselves in Mixquiahuala, then founding Tizayuca later. Eventually, the Aztecs took over most of what is now the portion of the state. After the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, the carved out territories for themselves from Aztec lands. Hernán Cortés took possession of lands to the northeast of Mexico City extending into modern Hidalgo state and it also led to a massive decrease in the native population, especially during the governorship of the area by Nuño Beltrán de Guzmán. By the 18th century, the economy of the Hidalgo area was dominated by mining, much of the agricultural production during the colonial period was centered on livestock such as sheep and pigs as well as the making of pulque from the native maguey plant. Mining’s fortunes would rise and fall during the period with one of the most productive eras coming under the control of Pedro Romero de Terreros in the 18th century. These groups and others manage a significant amount of success in maintaining cultural, political, much of the state still maintains a number of strong indigenous identities. However, no battles of the Mexican War of Independence were fought in the state. Instead, a number of operations against local Spaniards were conducted. When the war ended in 1821, the country was divided into a number of states, the modern state of Hidalgo was initially part of the very large territory called “Mexico”, which eventually was split with the remaining portion becoming the modern State of Mexico
32.
Guanajuato
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Guanajuato, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Guanajuato, is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, are the 32 Federal entities of Mexico. It is divided into 46 municipalities and its capital city is Guanajuato, the largest city in the state is León. It is located in North-Central Mexico and it is bordered by the states of Jalisco to the west, Zacatecas to the northwest, San Luis Potosí to the north, Querétaro to the east and Michoacán to the south. It covers an area of 30,608 km2, Guanajuato is located between the arid north of the country and the lusher south, and it is geographically part of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt, the Mexican Plateau and the Sierra Madre Oriental. This route begins at Dolores Hidalgo, and passes though the Sanctuary of Atotonilco, San Miguel de Allende, Celaya, other important cities in the state include León, the most populous, and Irapuato. Guanajuato is located in the center of Mexico, north-west of Mexico City, bordering the states of Zacatecas, San Luis Potosí, Michoacán, Querétaro and it covers an area of 30,589 km² and is ranked 20th out of 31 states. The Sierra Madre Oriental in Guanajuato consists of the Sierra Gorda, the Mexican Plateau extends through the center of the state. Within, it subdivides into various regions parted by low-lying mountain chains such as the Sierra de la Cuatralba, the Trans Mexican Volcanic Belt crosses the state in the south and includes the Bajío area, the Altos de Jalisco and the valleys area in the far south. The state is crossed by several ranges which have mountains between 2,300 and 3,000 meters high. Mountain ranges average 2,305 meters and flat areas lie at around 1,725 meters above sea level. The other important mountain ranges include the Sierra Gorda to the north, the Sierra de Guanjuato in the southeast, the Comanja in the northwest, the state is divided into five regions, taking into consideration geography and climate. These are called Altos de Guanajuato, La Sierra Central, Bajío, La Sierra Gorda, the Altos de Guanajuato, located in the north of the state, are a chain of forested mountains interspersed with pastures, small fields and areas with cacti and other desert plants. They begin near the border with San Luis Potosí, and extend south to Dolores Hidalgo and then to San Miguel de Allende, then to the Querétaro border. The altitude of this varies from 1,800 to peaks over 2,900 meters such as the La Giganta. The climate is semiarid with a rainy season in the summer. However, lows in the winter frequently reach 0 °C or lower with frosts, wildlife is found mostly in the most rugged and inaccessible areas and includes deer, coyotes, eagles and rattlesnakes. La Sierra Gorda is shared between Guanajuato and Querétaro and is considered to be an important biosphere and this area is the most rugged in the state where most of the natural areas and small villages are remain intact due to their inaccessibility. The Sierra Gorda is part of the Sierra Madre Occidental, with variations in its geography
33.
Jalisco
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Jalisco, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Jalisco, is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is located in Western Mexico and divided into 125 municipalities, Jalisco is one of the most important states in Mexico because of its natural resources as well as its history. Many of the traits of Mexican culture, particularly outside Mexico City, are originally from Jalisco, such as mariachi, ranchera music, birria, tequila, jaripeo. Hence, the motto, Jalisco es México. Economically, it is ranked third in the country, with industries centered in the Guadalajara metropolitan area, the state is home to two significant indigenous populations, the Huichols and the Nahuas. There is also a significant foreign population, mostly retirees from the United States and Canada, living in the Lake Chapala, with a total area of 78,599 square kilometers, Jalisco is the seventh-largest state in Mexico, accounting for 4. 1% of the countrys territory. Jalisco is made up of a terrain that includes forests, beaches, plains. Altitudes in the state vary from 0 to 4,300 meters above sea level, over 52% of the bird species found in Mexico live in the state, with 525, 40% of Mexicos mammals with 173 and 18% of its reptile species. There are also 7,500 species of veined plants, one reason for its biodiversity is that is lies in the transition area between the temperate north and tropical south. Its five natural regions are, Northwestern Plains and Sierras, Sierra Madre Occidental, Central Plateau, Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt, which covers most of the state, and it has an average altitude of 1,550 meters MASL, but ranges from 0–4,300 m. Most of the territory is semi-flat between 600–2,050 m, followed by rugged terrain of between 900–4,300 m and a percentage of flat lands between 0–1,750 m. Jalisco has several river basins with the most notable being that of the Lerma/Santiago River, the Lerma River enters extends from the State of Mexico and empties into Lake Chapala on the east side. On the west, water flows out in the Santiago River, tributaries to the Santiago River include the Zula, the Verde River, the Juchipila and the Bolaños. About three quarters of the population lives near this river system. In the southwest of the state, there are a number of rivers that empty directly into the Pacific Ocean. The most important of these is the Ameca, with its one main tributary and this river forms the state’s border with Nayarit and empties into the Ipala Bay. The Tomatlán, San Nicolás, Purificación, Marabasco-Minatitlán, Ayuquila, Tuxcacuesco, Armería and Tuxpan rivers flow almost perpendicular to the Pacific Ocean, another river of this group is the Cihuatlán River, which forms the boundary between Jalisco and Colima emptying into the Barra de Navidad Bay. The southeastern corner belongs to the Balsas River basin and this includes the Ayuqila and Tuxcacuesco, which join to form the Armería and the Tuxpan
34.
Sinaloa
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Sinaloa, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Sinaloa, is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, compose the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 18 municipalities and its capital city is Culiacán Rosales and it is located in Northwestern Mexico. It is bordered by the states of Sonora to the north, Chihuahua and Durango to the east, to the west, Sinaloa has a significant share of coastline on the Gulf of California. The state covers an area of 57,377 square kilometers and it is known to be a stronghold territory for the Sinaloa Cartel. In addition to the city, the states important cities include Mazatlán. Prior to the coming of the Spaniards, much of Sinaloa was inhabited by the Cáhita peoples, in 1531, Nuño Beltrán de Guzmán with a force of over 10,000 men, defeated a force of 30,000 Cahíta warriors at the site of Culiacán. Beltrán de Guzmán established a Spanish and allied Indian outpost at San Miguel de Culiacán, over the next decade, the Cahíta suffered severe depopulation from smallpox and other diseases the Spanish brought. The Spanish organized Sinaloa as part of the gobierno of Nueva Galicia, the first capital of Nueva Vizcaya was located in San Sebastián, near Copala, but the capital moved to Durango in 1583. Starting in 1599, Jesuit missionaries spread out from a base at what is now Sinaloa de Leyva and by 1610, in 1601, the Jesuits movement into the eastern part of Sinaloa led to the Acaxee going to war. The Spanish eventually managed to reassert authority in the Sierra Madre Occidental region, after Mexican independence, Sinaloa was joined with Sonora as Estado de Occidente, but it became a separate, sovereign state in 1830. Sinaloa is traversed by rivers, which carve broad valleys into the foothills. The largest of these rivers are the Culiacán, Fuerte, Sinaloa has a warm climate on the coast, moderately warm climate in the valleys and foothills, moderately cold in the lower mountains, and cold in the higher elevations. Its weather characteristics vary from subtropical, found on coastal plains, temperatures range from 22 °C to 43 °C with rain and thunderstoms during the summer months and dry conditions throughout most of the year. Numerous species of plants and animals are found within Sinaloa, notable among the tree species is the elephant tree, Bursera microphylla. Culturally, it is known for its popular styles of music banda and it is the only place in the continent where the ancient Mesoamerican ballgame is played, in a handful of small, rural communities not far from Mazatlán. The ritual ballgame was central in the society, religion and cosmology of all the great Mesoamerican cultures including the Mixtecs, Aztecs, the Sinaloa version of the game is called ulama and is very similar to the original. There are efforts to preserve this 3500-year-old unique tradition by supporting the communities and its rich cuisine is well-known for its variety particularly in regard to mariscos and vegetables. Sushi is a popular dish here, the Sinaloa Cartel has significantly influenced the culture of Sinaloa
35.
Acaxee
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Acaxee was a tribe or group of tribes in the Sierra Madre Occidental in eastern Sinaloa and NW Durango. They spoke a Tarachatitian language in the Southern Uto-Aztecan language family and their culture was based on horticulture and the exploitation of wild animal and plant life. They are now extinct as an ethnic group. In December 1601, the Acaxees, under the direction of an elder named Perico and this revolt was called the Acaxee Rebellion. They are said to have converted to the Catholic faith by the society of Jesuits in 1602. Early accounts by Jesuit missionaries allege continual warfare and cannibalism among the Tepehuan, Acaxee, Acaxee Sabaibo Tebaca Papudo Tecaya Beals, Ralph L.1933. The Acaxee, a Mountain Tribe of Durango and Sinaloa, defiance and Deference in Mexicos Colonial North, Indians Under Spanish Rule in Nueva Vizcaya. University of Texas Press, Austin, TX
36.
Guachichil
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The Guachichil, Cuauchichil, or Quauhchichitl, were an Indigenous peoples that occupied the most extensive territory of all the indigenous Chichimeca Nations tribes in pre-Columbian Central Mexico. Considered both warlike and brave, the Guachichiles played a role in provoking the other Chichimeca tribes to resist the Spanish settlement. The historian Philip Wayne Powell wrote, Their strategic position in relation to Spanish mines and highways, made them effective in raiding. These warriors were known to fight even if mortally wounded and were a key component in the Spanish defeat during the Chichimeca Wars. The children learned to use the bow at walking age and the hunters were such good shots that if they missed the eye, the Chichimeca bow and arrow was expertly crafted allowing for penetration of Spanish armor. The Chichimeca were nomadic making them very mobile and experts of the rough vegetation filled land in which they looked for hiding spots. “His long use of the native to the Gran Chichimeca gave him far greater mobility than the sedentary invader, who was tied to domesticated livestock, agriculture. The nomad could and did cut off supplies, destroy the livestock, and thus paralyze the economic and military vitality of the invaders. They attacked in groups ranging from five to be two hundred braves. War Tactics The Guachichil would try to outsmart/deceive their adversaries instead of relying on brute force, when they attacked they used a very good tactic that terrified the animals and scared the Spanish. The Guachichil would disguise themselves as grotesque animals using animal heads, origin of name The Guachichiles were known to paint their bodies, hair, and faces in red dye. For this reason they were called guachichile by the Mexica, from the nahuatl kua-itl and chichil-tic, the Guachichil language is now extinct and very little is known about it. It may have been an Uto-Aztecan language closely related to the Huichol language, Indigenous peoples in Mexico Pre-Columbian cultures of Mexico Hernandez, Manuel G. “Cartas de Indias, Publicalas Por Primera Vez” Ministerio De Formento 1877. “Soldiers, Indians & silver, the advance of New Spain, 1550-1600. ”Berkeley. “Guerra de los Chichimecas, Mexico 1575 – Zirosto 1580” Paleography by Carrillo Cazares, University of Guadalajara, Michoacan College, University of Norte, University Los Lagos,220
37.
Teuchitlan tradition
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The Teuchitlan tradition was a pre-Columbian complex society that occupied areas of the modern-day Mexican states of Nayarit and Jalisco. Although evidence of Teuchitlan tradition architecture appears as early as 300 BCE, the tradition is rather abruptly extinguished at the end of the Classic era, ca.900 CE. The Teuchitlan tradition is notable for its circular central plazas and conical step pyramids, according to researcher Phil Weigand, these unusual structures are unique in the Mesoamerican architectural repertoire and indeed are not found anywhere else in the world. The Teuchitlan tradition is an outgrowth of the shaft tomb tradition. The Guachimontones archaeological site, just outside modern-day Teuchitlán, Jalisco, is the largest and most complex site within the Teuchitlan tradition, the center of the ancient village was occupied by three circular areas, each of with a multi-level circular step pyramid at its center. There are a total of 10 such Circles within Teuchitlan, along with four rectangular plazas, the circular pyramids are thought to be cosmograms, representing the mythological structure of the universe, and the circular poles that were set into their center the Mesoamerican world tree. Based on the many ceramic tableaus that have recovered, it is similarly thought that volador ceremonies were conducted from the pole. During the 2001 excavations at the Guachimonton site, the reported finding 6 localities with either Capacha or Capacha-like ceramics. Most were unstratified, but 2 were actually stratigraphic in early layers and this made the archaeologists suspect that the precinct must have had a fairly important Early/Middle Formative component. There are several characteristics of a ranked society present within Teuchitlan tradition societies — the circular plazas, however, based semi-fortified sites excavated in key mountain passes on the edge of the Teuchitlan core area, it is thought that the larger Teuchitlan tradition area was politically fragmented. The onset of the Postclassic era in western Mexico, as elsewhere in Mesoamerica, was marked by abrupt changes. Beekman, Christopher S A Classic Period Political Boundary in the Sierra La Primavera Region, Jalisco, Mexico, presented at the 59th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Anaheim. Beekman, Christopher S Political Boundaries and Political Structure, the Limits of the Teuchitlan Tradition in Ancient Mesoamerica, Vol 7, No 1, pp. 135–147. Form and Meaning in the Earliest Cities, A New Approach to Ancient Urban Planning in Journal of Planning History, Vol.6, in Ember, Melvin, Peregrine, Peter Neal. Weigand, Phil C. and Christopher S. Beekman La Civilización Teuchitlan in La Jornada, Suplemento Cultural, vol 210, no 1-4
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Guaycura people
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The Guaycura were a native people of Baja California Sur, Mexico, occupying an area extending south from near Loreto to Todos Santos They contested the area around La Paz with the Pericú. They are distinguished by a language unrelated to any other Native American language, the Society of Jesus of the Catholic Church established Christian missions in their territory in the 18th century. The Guaycura may have numbered 5,000 at the time of Spanish contact and they became extinct as a culture by about 1800, the survivors being absorbed into the mestizo society of Mexico. Their languages apparently were not related to other or any other languages. Their geographical location was a cul-de-sac in which they may have been isolated from interaction with other peoples. Thus, their languages and physical characteristics may have survived for thousands of years. The lack of relationships between Guaycura and other languages indicates that Guaycura may have developed in isolation over a period of at least 5,000 years. To our knowledge the Guaycura were never united politically, but rather consisted of a number of independent bands, each with their own territory. Known band names of probable Guaycura speakers living near the Bay of La Paz are Cubí, Huchiti, Aripe, Callejúe, most bands probably consisted of about 500 persons. The Monqui also possibly spoke a Guaycura language or dialect, the Guaycura occupied a territory of about 25,000 square kilometres of austere deserts and mountains with few sources of fresh water. The Native Americans or Indians of the 1,300 kilometres long peninsula of Baja California were similar in all were hunter-gatherers with a limited. The Guaycura had no government, but were divided into bands. Bands united infrequently and most of the year the Guaycura foraged in family groups or lived in settlements, called rancherias by the Spanish. Bands competed for territory and sometimes warred with each other, the Guaycura hunted mule deer, bighorn sheep and smaller game, harvested shellfish and turtles on the shorelines, and gathered a variety of plant foods. They had no pottery or agriculture and no domestic animals and their shelters were made of brush, the men usually went naked, women wore a short skirt made of reeds or animal skins. Year-round the most important food for the Guaycura was probably the basal rosettes of species of agave which they roasted in a pit with heated rocks. The fruit of the organ pipe cactus or pitahaya was the staple food tor two or three months in summer and fall. Its abundance and ease of harvest enabled the Guaycura to congregate in numbers than usual for social
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