Aridoamerica

Aridoamerica is a term used by Mexican archeologists to describe a region of the southwestern United States and the northern and central regions of Mexico, in contrast to Mesoamerica,^[1] which lies to the south and east.

Unlike Mesoamerica, Aridoamerica has a dry, arid climate and geography. Because of the hard conditions, the precolumbian people in this region were mostly nomadic.^{[citation needed]} The indigenous groups that occupied this land came to be known as Chichimecas, meaning barbaric, or uncivilized.^{[citation needed]} The cultivation of maize reached Aridoamerica by about 2100 BC.^{[citation needed]} Archaeologists disagree whether it was introduced by Uto-Aztecan migrants from Mesoamerica or spread northward by cultural borrowing.^[2] The introduction of agriculture resulted in the creation of sedentary cultures such as the Hohokam, Mogollon, and Ancient Pueblo Peoples, sometimes delineated from the mesolithic inhabitants of Aridoamerica by the term Oasisamerica.^{[citation needed]}

Distribution

The current Mexican states that lie in Aridoamerica are:

See also

• Uto-Aztecan languages
• Pueblo peoples

Notes

References

• Cordell, Linda S. and Don D. Fowler, eds. Southwest Archaeology in the Twentieth Century. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 2005. ISBN 978-0-87480-825-4.