Short answers, pulled from the story.
German ethnologist Paul Kirchhoff first used the term Mesoamerica to describe a region where similarities existed among various pre-Columbian cultures. He defined this zone as a cultural area based on interrelated cultural similarities brought about by millennia of interaction between different groups.
Human occupation in Mesoamerica spans more than 3,000 years before Spanish colonization began on Hispaniola in 1493. The history divides into stages known as the Paleo-Indian, Archaic, Preclassic, Classic, and Postclassic periods with incipient agriculture emerging by 8000 BCE.
Maize became the most common domesticate with the earliest example dating to approximately 4000 BCE from Guilá Naquitz in Oaxaca. By 2000 BCE corn had become the staple crop in the region and remained so through modern times alongside beans, squashes, tomatoes, and turkeys.
Flat-top pyramids stand out as landmark features of the most developed urban centers throughout the region while ceremonial edifices were constructed in various phases one on top of another. Observatories appeared at sites like Ceibal and Xochicalco with precise calculations derived from astronomical observations guiding architectural organization.
Mesoamerica stands as one of only five regions where writing developed independently alongside ancient Egypt India Sumer and China. The best documented system is the Classic Maya script which combines logograms with syllabaries into logosyllabic hieroglyphic forms.
The distinct Mesoamerican cultural tradition ended with Spanish conquest in the sixteenth century causing demographic collapse affecting upwards of 90% of indigenous people. Colonial period spans from 1521 to 1821 involving Nahuas Maya Mixtec Zapotec Purépecha Chinantec Otomi Tepehua Totonac Mazatec and other populations.