Located in Guerrero, the Mezcala culture of the Middle to Late Formative period is best known for their enigmatic stonework depicting masks, temples, and other figures.
Located along the Lerma river in the state of Guanajuato, the Chupícuaro culture is best known for their ceramic vessels and figures featuring dazzling geometric designs.
Predating the Olmec by several centuries, the Monte Alto culture of the Early to Late Formative periods was located along the Pacific coast of Guatemala and is best known for their giant stone sculptures depicting the heads of people. These heads may predate the Olmec practice of creating colossal stone heads which raises questions as to what truly is Olmec and how much influence the culture had over others.
Part Olmec, part Maya, uniquely their own, the Izapa culture of the Early Formative to the Early Postclassic periods is one the oldest sites in Mesoamerica with one of the longest occupations. The Izapa culture is part bridge between and part innovator to cultures lying to the east and west of this city in the state of Chiapas.
The Huastecs were an early offshoot of the Maya culture that migrated northward and settled into parts of Veracruz, Hidalgo, Querétaro, San Luis Potosí, and Tamaulipas. It is believed that the Huastecs split from their Maya brethren around 2000 BC and developed independently in these northern regions. While somewhat poorly understood, we do know that by the Postclassic the Huastec were developing and creating copper alloys in the production of metal goods.
Located in Jalisco, the Teuchitlan culture of the Late Formative to Classic period is best known for burying their dead in shaft and chamber tombs and constructing circular temples called guachimontones.
Better known for the slaughter that occurred in the city at the hands of Cortes and his allies during the early part of the Conquest of Mexico, Cholula's roots in Puebla actually go back as far as the Early Formative period making it contemporaneous with Teotihuacan. By the Classic period, Cholula became a large regional center with a vast amount of influence. Cholula is best known for being the site of the world's largest pyramid by volume and for being the point of origin of the talud tablero architectural style made famous by Teotihuacan to the north.