Early American Civilization
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Olmec
First Mesoamerican civilization dating back to 1500 BCE
known for the HUGE stone figures they made...some were over 9 ft. tall & weighed more than 40 tons
also carved smaller jade objects using obsidian
villages were well organized with a market, centers of worship & drainage systems
Olmecs were slash & burn farmers
1st to grow corn (maize) to feed peeps
Maya
Maya lived on Yucatan Peninsula from CE 200 to 900
Mayans built HUGE stone temples that looked liked stepped pyramids
developed a 365 day calendar
also, developed a form of writing using signs & symbols (hieroglyphics) & a complex # system
Mayan civilization declined around CE 900 but their descendants lived on in the region
Inca
The Incas never invented the wheel. Yet, high in the rugged Andes Mountains of South America, the Incas built thousands of miles of well-paved roads.
The Incas were began as a small tribe that lived in the city of Cuzco. Around 1430 C.E, a neighboring tribe attacked the Incas but the Incas won, thus creating the Inca Empire.
At the height of their power, the Inca Empire was 2,500 miles long, 500 miles wide, and home to 12 million people.
The Incas had a strong central government. The leader of the Inca people was the Inca, sometimes called the Sapa Inca (the only Inca), the emperor. His was not an elected position. The Inca was born to the job. The Sapa Inca was all-powerful. Everything belonged to the Sapa Inca. Because punishment was harsh and swift, almost no one broke the law.
They worshiped gods of nature. They believed in omens and dreams.
The Incas believed that their ruler was the direct descendant of the sun god, Inti. Their ruler was a god. The Incas believed in many gods. They believed in the god of nature, the moon, of weather, of rainbows, and of planets. Every mountaintop was a god. All Incas had little statues in their homes that were the homes of little spirits.
The Spanish conquered the Incan civilization. Francisco Pizarro led the Spanish invaders. After a series of fierce battles, the Incas were defeated in 1531. The ancestors of the Incas still live in the modern day country of Peru today.
Aztec
Around 1300 CE, a wandering tribe of Indians wandered into the Valley of Mexico. These people were called the Aztecs.
When the Aztecs arrived in the Valley of Mexico, other tribes were already in residence. They had already taken the best land. The Aztecs had to make due with the swampy shores of Lake Texcoco.
They adapted to their environment. They built canoes, so they could fish and hunt birds that lived near the water. They created floating gardens for growing food. They created more land for agriculture by filling in the marshes. They built dikes to hold back the water.