PRE-CLASSIC PERIOD 1500 B.C.-A.D. 300 he earliest peoples to settle in Central America survived by hunting, fishing, and gathering wild foods. The development of village-based agriculture and the production of ceramics for daily and ritual use signaled the advent of the pre-Classic period. In Upper Central America, Olmec and Maya presence is seen in art and architecture. South American influences can be discerned in Lower Central America. Religion was based on household or cult images that were gradually replaced with more complex religious hierarchies.						Pre-Classic Classic Post-Classic