Cultural regions, natural regions and linguistic regions in aboriginal Central America

Abstract

The main purpose of this essay is to contribute to define the limits and natural properties of the region occupied by the speakers of the languages belonging to the misumalenca linguistics family (that is: Miskito, Sumu, Matagalpa and Lenca) at the moment of contact with the Europeans. To obtain this goal, the information accumulated in various registers for the period, about what is defined in the paper as the ‘central zone’ of the Central American isthmus is examined and discussed: i) the ways of production or material culture styles that shared the territory in question; ii) the geographical or natural zones in which it can be divided and; iii) the linguistics families that occupied it.

Wani Vol.71 2016 pp. 46-58