hòu gǔ diǎn qī（
yuē 1000
～ 1520）
de wén huà yòu nóng hòu de mò xī gē fēng gé。
cóng mò xī gē nán xià de tuō '
ěr tè kè rén zhēng fú yóu kǎ tǎn，
bìng yǐ qí qín yī chá wéi dū chéng。
jiàn zhù zhōng chū xiàn shí láng zhù qún jí yǐ huó rén wéi jì pǐn de “ shèng jǐng ”、
qiú chǎng，
hái yòu guān chá tiān xiàng de tiān wén tái hé mù qián bǎo cún zuì wán zhěng de gāo dà de jīn zì tǎ shì tái miào，
chóng bài yǔ shé shén kuí zhā '
ěr kē yà tè '
ěr。
cǐ hòu běi bù de mǎ yǎ pān qǔ dài qí qín yī chá chéng wéi hòu gǔ diǎn qī wén huà de zhōng xīn。
zhè yī shí qī de táo qì hé diāo kè yì shù dū jiào cū cāo，
shì sú wén huà xīng qǐ，
bìng dài lái hàozhàn zhī fēng。
mǎ yǎ pān de tǒng zhì zhě yǔ qí tā chéng bāng jié chéng lián méng，
yòng wǔ lì jiàn lì qǐ zì jǐ de tǒng zhì。 1450
nián，
dà gài yóu yú nèi bù pàn luàn，
mǎ yǎ kē pān bèi fén huǐ，
cǐ hòu bǎi nián zhōng wén huà qū yú shuāi luò。 1523～ 1524
nián，
xī bān yá zhí mín zhě chéng xū '
ér rù，
cóng mò xī gē nán xià，
zhàn lǐng yóu kǎ tǎn bàn dǎo，
mǎ yǎ wén míng bèi chè dǐ pò huài。
The Postclassic (beginning AD 900-1000, depending on area) is, like the Late Classic, characterized by the cyclical crystallization and fragmentation of various polities. The main Maya centers were located in the northern lowlands. Following Chichén Itzá, whose political structure collapsed during the Early Postclassic, Mayapán rose to prominence during the Middle Postclassic and dominated the north for ca. 200 years. After Mayapán’s fragmentation, political structure in the northern lowlands revolved around a number of large towns or city-states, such as Oxkutzcab and Ti’ho (Mérida, Yucatán), that competed with one another.
Toniná, in the Chiapas highlands, and Kaminaljuyú in the central Guatemala highlands, were important southern highland Maya centers. The latter site, Kaminaljuyú, is one of the longest occupied sites in Mesoamerica and was continuously inhabited from ca. 800 BC to around AD 1200. Other important highland Maya groups include the K'iche' of Utatlán, the Mam in Zaculeu, the Poqomam in Mixco Viejo, and the Kaqchikel at Iximche in the Guatemalan highlands. The Pipil resided in El Salvador, while the Ch'orti' were in eastern Guatemala and northwestern Honduras.
In central Mexico, the early portion of the Postclassic correlates with the rise of the Toltec and an empire based at their capital, Tula (also known as Tollan). Cholula, initially an important Early Classic center contemporaneous with Teotihuacan, maintained its political structure (it did not collapse) and continued to function as a regionally important center during the Postclassic. The latter portion of the Postclassic is generally associated with the rise of the Mexica and the Aztec empire. One of the more commonly known cultural groups in Mesoamerica, the Aztec politically dominated nearly all of central Mexico, the Gulf Coast, Mexico’s southern Pacific Coast (Chiapas and into Guatemala), Oaxaca, and Guerrero.
The Tarascans (also known as the P'urhépecha) were located in Michoacan and Guerrero. With their capital at Tzintzuntzan, the Tarascan state was one of the few to actively and continuously resist Aztec domination during the Late Postclassic. Other important Postclassic cultures in Mesoamerica include the Totonac along the eastern coast (in the modern-day states of Veracruz, Puebla, and Hidalgo). The Huastec resided north of the Totonac, mainly in the modern-day states of Tamaulipas and northern Veracruz. The Mixtec and Zapotec cultures, centered at Mitla and Zaachila respectively, inhabited Oaxaca.
The Postclassic ends with the arrival of the Spanish and their subsequent conquest of the Aztec between 1519 and 1521. It should be noted that many other cultural groups did not acquiesce until later. For example, Maya groups in the Petén area, including the Itza at Tayasal and the Ko'woj at Zacpeten, remained independent until 1697.
Some Mesoamerican cultures never achieved dominant status or left impressive archeological remains but should be mentioned as noteworthy. These include the Otomi, Mixe-Zoque groups (which may or may not have been related to the Olmecs), the northern Uto-aztecan groups, often referred to as the Chichimeca, that include the Cora and Huichol, the Chontales, the Huaves, and the Pipil, Xincan and Lencan peoples of Central America.