Agriculture was also central.

Corn, beans, squash, and other crops supported large communities.

Fields surrounded towns, while forests beyond the agricultural zones supplied game, timber, medicines, and other resources.

Some communities built large earthen mounds.

These mounds could serve ceremonial, political, or mortuary purposes.

Plazas and public spaces formed the centers of many settlements.

The Spanish encountered a world that was organized according to systems they did not fully understand.

They often interpreted Native political leaders as if they were European-style monarchs.