Outlines a brief history of Mesoamerica, a region of Ancient North America which stretches from north central Mexico to the western half of El Salvador. Describes the languages of the region, common traits of the cultures which developed there, the periods, and the geography. (PRA)

States that iconographic investigations of Olmec style art works have produced convincing evidence that rulership during the Early and Middle Formative Period of Mesoamerican prehistory was publicly legitimized by a visual charter. Shows that the charter's naturally derived symbols functioned within a system which stressed the human ruler's access…