"Divides indigenous peoples into three major units: 1) 'Aridamérica' (including central and southern California, the Sonora coast, the Great Basin of Nevada, Utah, and northwestern Arizona, the Apache area, a small part of southern Texas, and a large portion of northern Mexico), 2) 'Oasisamérica' (covering parts of northern Mexico, southeastern California, all of Arizona, almost all of Utah, more than half of New Mexico, and the southwestern corner of Colorado); and 3) 'Mesoamérica' (defined, in part, as taking in the peoples of 16 linguistic families: Hokano-coahuilteca, Chinanteca, Otopame, Oaxaqueña, Mangueña, Huave, Tlapaneca, Totonaca, Mixe, Maya, Yutoazteca, Tarasca, Cuitlateca, Lenca, Xinca, and Misumalpa). Proceeds with an overview of the Mesoamerican preclassic, classic, epiclassic, and postclassic periods"--Handbook of Latin American Studies, v. 58.