The Postclassic is typically dated from about 900 CE until the Spanish conquest of central Mexico (often marked by 1521). Many syntheses subdivide it into Early Postclassic (c. 900–1200) and Late Postclassic (c. 1200–1521).
In the centuries around the turn of the first millennium, Chichén Itzá became a major political and economic center in northern Yucatán, reflecting wider Postclassic shifts toward long-distance exchange and militarized political organization.
The Mixtec ruler Eight Deer “Jaguar Claw”—a key figure in Postclassic Mixtec political history known from Mixtec pictorial manuscripts—was born in 1063 CE.
Eight Deer Jaguar Claw established authority in the Mixteca and, according to reconstructed chronologies, began his reign at Tututepec in the late 11th century, part of broader Postclassic patterns of competitive, alliance-driven polities.
Research syntheses place the political decline of Chichén Itzá as clearly evident by c. 1050–1100 CE, after which it remained important in memory and pilgrimage even as regional political structures changed.
Eight Deer Jaguar Claw died in 1115 CE; after his death, Mixtec political integration associated with his career did not persist in the same form, and regional lordships continued to compete.
Some archaeological periodizations further subdivide the Postclassic, placing a Middle Postclassic (c. 1200–1400) between the Early and Late Postclassic, reflecting major political reconfigurations across regions.
Mexica tradition and later historical reconstructions place the establishment of Tenochtitlan in 1325 CE, an event central to the later expansion of Mexica power in the Basin of Mexico.
By the early 14th century, Purépecha (Tarascan) political centralization increased in western Mexico; traditions link key consolidation to Taríakuri and early capitals around the Lake Pátzcuaro basin.
A widely used high-level framework defines the Late Postclassic as beginning around c. 1400 and running to 1521, marked in central Mexico by rapidly expanding imperial and confederated states and intensive tribute extraction.
In 1428, Tenochtitlan allied with Texcoco and Tlacopan after the defeat of Azcapotzalco, creating the Triple Alliance that became the core political structure of the expanding Mexica-centered empire.
The siege and capture of Tenochtitlan culminated in its surrender on 13 August 1521, a conventional endpoint for the Postclassic period in central Mexico and a decisive moment in the Spanish conquest.
Postclassic Period in Mesoamerica (c. 900–1521 CE)
