The term "Mesoamerica" refers to a geographical area occupied by a variety of ancient cultures that shared religious beliefs, art, architecture, and technology that made them unique in the Americas for three thousand years–from about 1500 B.C. to A.D. 1519–the time of European contact.

Mesoamerica is one of our planet's six cradles of early civilization. Many aspects of the ancient cultures of Belize, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and México continue to the present and several of these cultural inventions and traits have spread throughout the world.