Latin American Studies  Tags: latin_america caribbean latino hispanic mesoamerica andes history  

Portrait of a Maya Nobleman
Classic Period, c. 500-800 CE

San Antonio Museum of Art

The written history of what is now Latin America did not begin with Columbus's 1492 voyage. The indigenous Maya civilization of Lowland Guatemala developed a phonetic writing system by 250 CE at the latest, and likely hundreds of years earlier [PDF]. Several distinct writing systems existed in other parts of Mesoamerica including in what today are the Mexican states of Oaxaca and Veracruz, as well as in and around the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, by about 600 BCE. Explore this much older and longer period of "Latin American" history in Ancient Mesoamerica: A Librarian's Research Guide.

Systems of ancient American historical thought are comprehensively reviewed in Historiography and Historical Thought: Indigenous Cultures in the Americas, an article published in the International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences (c2001).

Use this libguide to research both historical and contemporary Latin America and the Caribbean. Click on the tabs above to find scholarly sources on the Pre-Columbian (2500 BCE - 1521 CE), Colonial (1492 - 1820) and National (1820-date) periods in the history of Latin America. The scholarly databases and other tools described and linked to from this guide support research into the fields of anthropology, economics, history, international affairs, political science, and sociology.

Alma Guillermoprieto, Latin American writer and journalist, discusses concerns surrounding Mexican identity, heritage and culture, as she examines the impact of globalized culture on traditional Mexican ways of life. Sponsored by the Vanderbilt University Center for Latin American Studies on Sep 23, 2008.

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