[sugarmamma]

The Olmecs emerged around 1200 B.C.E. as Mexico's first complex society. They are famous for carving gigantic, helmet-clad heads out of stone. Many of these stone heads can be seen today at Mexico's museums and cultural sites.
The Aztecs, another important ancient indigenous group, were a nomadic people until one day they were wandering around a lake and saw an eagle perched on a cactus holding a snake in its claws. The Aztecs interpreted this as a sign from their god Huitzilopochtli that this was where they should make their permanent home. The area where they settled is now Mexico City, and an image of the eagle on the cactus holding the snake is at the center of the Mexican flag.
The Mayans were a great civilization that flourished on the YucatanPeninsula mostly between the years 250 and 900 C.E. The Mayans invented a complex writing system and were avid astronomers who learned to predict solar eclipses and the movements of the sun.
Spanish explorers arrived in Mexico in the early 16th century and conquered these ancient civilizations. Most Mexicans today are "mestizos," meaning that their ancestors were a mix of people from these ancient civilizations and people who came from Spain.