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Olmec

Mayans

Aztecs

Incas

Date

1000-100 BCE

250-1000

1200-1500

1400-1500

Location

South of Gulf of Mexico

Yucatan Peninsula

Mexico, Mexico City

Southern Peru, Andes Mountains

Government

Hereditary elite class, judicial military

Many city states, each with their own ruler

Emperor chosen by nobles and priests

God-king with absolute power

Religion

Polytheistic

Polytheistic, rain god

Polytheistic, sun god

Polytheistic

Achievements

Large stone heads, stone jaguars, calendar, hieroglyphics

Math, hieroglyphics, calendar, codex, Chichen, Itza, Tikal

Medicine, architecture

Surgery, roads, Machu Picchu, architecture

Decline

Unknown

unknown

Spanish invaders

Spanish invaders



Beringia

  • A land bridge connecting Asia to North America


Maize

  • Corn; an important food crop for the Americas


Zapotec 

  • A civilization that came after the Olmecs and were heavily influenced by them

  • America’s first city builders


Tikal

  • Capital of the Mayans 


Popol Vuh

  • Mayan religious book describing creation of the world


Tenochtitlan

  • Capital of the Aztecs


Quetzalcoatl

  • Serpent feathered god

Toltec

  • Warlike empire that came before the Aztecs and worshiped Quetzalcoati


Triple Alliance

  • An alliance between the Aztecs, Texcoco, and Tlacopan that reigned over the Valley of Mexico


Montezuma II

  • Emperor of the Aztecs

  • Demanded more tribute and sacrifices

  • Believed Spanish were Quetzalcoati returning


Pachacuti

  • Founder of the Incan empire

  • Treated enemies with respect


Ayllu

  • Extended family group


Mita

  • Labor tribute


Quipu

  • Knotted string to record numbers 


Human sacrifice

  • Priests sacrifice prisoners on top of a temple

  • Believed gods needed the heart and blood