Surveys the geography, cultures, and time span to be covered, discussing the organisation of a study and its key concepts, learning and understanding important places, civilisations, and events in Mesoamerica.

The Olmecs at the dawn of the Meso-American civilization; how the Olmecs represent one of only six cradles of early civilization in world history; how they were discovered; investigating three sites where they lived.

Delving into Olmec art; searching for clues about who the Olmecs were and what preoccupied them; the mysteries of giant sculpted heads, jaguar carvings and full-bearded figures depicting men who some think were foreigners.

Investigating other cultures that thrived in Meso-America at the time of the Olmecs, such as the Zapotecs in the Oaxaca Valley; probing intriguing archeological evidence that raises the question of who influenced whom.

The botany of Meso-America and how it benefited not just the people of the region, but eventually the entire world; the native vegetation and its impact on global diet and culture, from corn and chocolate to vanilla and chili peppers.

Tracing the origin of the Maya civilization to a dramatic change in the nature of public monuments; studying early Maya highland cities such as Izapa, with its amazing religious carvings; Kaminaljuyu and the dawn of the Classic Maya period.