Several archaeological sites establish that the Sierra de Tamaulipas was the northern outpost of the agricultural Mesoamerican peoples of eastern Mexico.

The Sierra is located between 23 and 24 north latitude and 98 and 99 west longitude and has an estimated area of 3,339 square kilometres (1,289 sq mi).

The area surrounding the Sierra at elevations below 300 metres (980 ft) is vegetated primarily by a tropical thorn forest (Tamaulipan mezquital).

Due to greater precipitation than the surrounding lowlands, the Sierra de Tamaulipas was probably the northernmost area of eastern Mexico in which the cultivation of maize was practiced during pre-Hispanic times.

Archaeologist Richard MacNeish found evidence of cultivation of maize in the Sierra de Tamaulipas dating from 2,500 BC which suggests a transition in culture from nomadic hunter-gathering to a more settled lifeway.

The Sierra settlements featured villages built around public squares and small pyramids, indicating a centralized and possibly theocratic government.

The archaeological ruin of El Sabinito, about 13 miles (20 km) southwest of the city of Soto la Marina, is at the northern edge of the Sierra.

From there northward lived hunter-gatherers who, according to Garay's men, were numerous and warlike on the lower stretches of the Soto La Marina River.