1.2 Native American Societies Before European Contact

Getting to the Americas, the history could have started 10,000 - 40,000 years ago, when migrants from Asia might have crossed a land bridge that once connected Siberia and Alaska.

By 1491 the population in the Americas was probably between 50 million and 100 million people.

Cultures of Central and South America

• Aztecs were dominating Mexico and Central America, the Incas based in Peru developed a vast empire in western South America

• after the decline of the Mayas, the Aztecs from central Mexico developed a powerful empire. The Aztec capital, Tenochtitlan, had a population of about 200,000, equivalent to the largest cities of Europe

• between the years 300 to 800 the Mayas built remarkable rain forest cities

All three civilizations