conditions better favored human habitation than those today; however, sedentary human habitation happened around this time in the mountainous areas with more moisture, and better soil for agriculture. After that, settlements appeared near the coast because of fishing. At these sites, evidence of weaving, ceramics, basketry and other crafts has been found. Around this time, a grain called teocintle, or the forerunner to corn, became the staple of the diet.

There is debate as to whether the earliest civilizations here were Olmecs,