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the apogee of Teotihuacan in the valley of Mexico, one of the largest metropolis of the ancient world. Characteristics of this period are: diffusion of regional centers, widespread Teotihuacan-Maya political and economic connections, centralized authority. In the Maya area this period traditionally sees the erection of stone monuments (called stelae) with inscriptions about kings' lives and events.
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Teotihuacan, the dominant city in the northern highlands of central America, introduces the god Quetzalcoatl
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The temple city of Tikal is one of many Mayan city states of the Classic period
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Beans are gathered by the Maya from wild cocoa trees and are probably used in a chocolate drink
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The city-state of Tikal is defeated by an alliance of other city-states.
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The powerful city-state of Teotihuacan declines and is no longer a cultural center.
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The city-state of Caracol becomes a major force in the land.
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The beginning of this period is characterized by the collapse of Teotihuacan in Central Mexico and the political fragmentation and high competition among many Maya sites. The end of this period saw the disintegration of political networks and decline in population in the southern Maya lowlands, whereas many centers in the northern Maya lowlands and other areas of Mesoamerica continued to flourish afterwards.
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During the reign of King Pacal the Great's reign the city of Palenque reaches it's height of economy, power, stability, military, and prosperity.
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Yaxchilan in now one of the central powers in the modern-day border of honduras and guatemala
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This is the period of attested a political reorganization in the Maya lowland with a new prominence of the Northern Lowland (northern Yucatan).
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New architectural styles show evidence of strong economic and ideological connection between central Mexico and northern Maya Lowlands. New economic reforms in the area.
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The Aztecs begin to move south from their original home, which they call Aztlan, somewhere in northern Mexico.
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After declining for years, Chichen Itza is abandoned.
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This period is traditionally framed between the emergence of the Aztec/Mexica empire and its destruction by the Spanish conquest. Characteristics of this period are: increased militarization, competing empires across Mesoamerica, which finally became tributaries of the Aztecs (apart from the Tarascans/Purépecha of Western Mexico), intensive trades.
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The city-state of Mayapan becomes the capital city of the Maya civilization. The League of Mayapan is formed to rule the region.
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The Aztecs settle on an uninhabited island in a lake, which they name Tenochtitlan — the site of the modern Mexico City.
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Moctezuma I expanded the empire to many regions of the Mexican areas. The empire comes to the peak and the most extent
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The rulers of Tenochtitlan join with two other neighbouring kingdoms to form the Aztec Triple Alliance.
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The people rebel against the rule of Mayapan. The city is abandoned by the late 1400s
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When the enlarged pyramid at Tenochtitlan is dedicated to Huitzilopochtli, the Aztec sacrifice of human victims lasts for four days
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Vasco Núñez de Balboa reaches the Pacific coast and claims the ocean for the king of Spain.
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The Spanish conquistador Hernando Cortes lands on the coast of Mexico with 600 men, 16 horses and about 20 guns.
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Cortes loses control of Tenochtitlan and has to escape in haste with his men during 'the Sorrowful Night.'
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The southern lowland cities collapse and Teotihuacan is abandoned. The reason for the collapse of the Maya Classic period is still a mystery to archeologists. This signals the end of the Classic period.
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Toltecs move into the valley of Mexico from the north and establish a capital city at Tula.
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The city-state of Chichen Itza becomes the most powerful city-state in the region. It will rule for the next two hundred years.
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A fair-skinned and bearded king, by the name of Quetzalcoatl, is exiled from Tula but says that he will be back in a 'One Reed' year.
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The Mayan city of Chichén Itzá is captured by the Toltecs.
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Intensification of trade and connection between northern Maya area and Central Mexico, warfare-related themes in arts, constellation of small, competing kingdoms throughout Mesoamerica.
