Stratum.black Open reference
1200–1521 CE

Period · Mesoamerica

Late Postclassic

1200–1521 CE

The Late Postclassic is the period of the Aztec empire in central Mexico, the Mixtec kingdoms of Oaxaca and Mayapán in Yucatán, ending with the Spanish conquest of 1521. Aztec black-on-orange pottery, obsidian blades and mould-made figurines are the common finds. Codices and metalwork reach their fullest development.

Dates1200–1521 CE
RegionMesoamerica
PeriodO definition1400–1521 CE — The Oxford handbook of Mesoamerican archeology (2012)· PeriodO — Periods, Organized

Cultures

Typical types

Elsewhere

Cite this article

Stratum Study. "Late Postclassic" (Period). Stratum Study pack 2026.09, as of 2026-09-21. https://stratum.black/study/periods/late-postclassic. Accessed 2026-09-21.

BibTeX · CSL-JSON

@misc{stratum-late-postclassic,
  title        = {Late Postclassic},
  author       = {{Stratum Study}},
  howpublished = {\url{https://stratum.black/study/periods/late-postclassic}},
  year         = {2026},
  note         = {Period article, Stratum Study pack 2026.09, as of 2026-09-21; sources: stratum, periodo. Accessed 2026-09-21.}
}

Citations carry the pack version and the article's as-of date so they resolve to the same text later. The facts themselves belong to the sources listed below; cite those for the science.

Sources for this article: Stratum editorial (Stratum editorial);PeriodO — Periods, Organized (CC0). As of 2026-09-21; Study pack 2026.09. Data reproduced under the licences shown; text in Stratum's own words unless a section names its source.

Found an error? Write to drew@tyr.ac with the article id period:late-postclassic.

Stratum is the inventory, provenance and certificate system for fossil, mineral and shell collections. Study is its open reference: every fact cites its source, and the credits page lists each one with its licence.

CreditsVerifySitemap