Maya, Aztec, Inca

By SJ Morty
  • 2000 BCE

    Beginning of The Maya

    The Maya were a Mesoamerican people who lived in what is today Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador. They istory begins around 2000 BC.
  • 500 BCE

    Mayan Structures

    The Maya begin building huge complex structures known as triadic structures. These structures were usually used as temples.
  • 300 BCE

    Height of El Mirador - Maya

    El Mirador was a large city state that at its height, had a population of around 250,000 people making it the largest city n the world at this time. Many of the temples were set up in specific ways to align with the sun and stars.
  • 150

    Abandonment - Maya

    Around 150 AD many cites like El Mirador were completely abandoned, archeologists don't know why. Over the next hundred years, power shifted between the different cities of the Maya, mostly through warfare and trade.
  • 900

    Collapse - Maya

    Large parts of the Maya civilization collapsed again, cities which had existed for over 2,000 years were abandoned and people moved towards the coast. The best theories are warfare, drought, disease, and political instability.
  • 1200

    Golden Rod - Inca

    The golden rod sank completely into the ground and Manco Capac and Mama Ocllo founded the incan empire, and made cuzco the capital.
  • 1230

    Sinchi Roca - Inca

    Sinchi Roca the sapa inca ruled the empire in this time period to 1260
  • 1250

    Lake Texcoco - Aztec

    The Aztecs saw and eagle devouring a snake upon a cactus and saw it as a sign of their new home and decided to settle there.
  • 1325

    Tenochtitlan - Aztec

    The Aztecs Founded their city Tenochtitlan and began the rise of the aztec empire.
  • 1438

    The World Shaker - Inca

    Pachacuti took to the throne as the ninth sapa inca, at this time the inas began to expand and Pachacuti built a government in cuzco, and divided the empire into four provinces.
  • 1486

    Peak of Aztec empire

    This was the start of the period of the peak of the empire under Ahuitzotl
  • 1487

    Mass Human sacrifice - Aztec

    The Aztec held a special religious celebration in which they sacrificed around 84,000 people over a period of four days. this number may have been exaggerated to create fear among neighboring tribes.
  • 1502

    End of a period - Aztec

    In 1502 the hight of the aztec empire was considered as coming to and end. Moctezuma The second took over as emperor.
  • 1511

    First contact - Maya

    The Spanish first met the Maya in 1511. The Spanish first wiped out the Maya's neighbors, the Aztec Empire, then moved on the Maya cities.
  • 1519

    Arrival of Herman Cortes - Aztec

    Hernan cortes and the spaniards landed on the Gulf Coast and allied themselves with a local tribe called Tlaxcala
  • 1531

    End of an Empire - Aztec

    The Tlaxcala and the spaniards sieged Tenochtitlan and burned it brick by brick brining the Aztecs down along with it.
  • 1532

    Pizzaro

    Pizzaro returns the outskirts of the incan empire and led a surprise attack in which the captured and took Atahualpa. He held the sapa inca captive until he received a huge randsome and decided to break his deal and he killed Atahualpa in 1533.
  • 1572

    Last Sapa Inca - Inca

    The Spaniards caught Tupac Amaru, the last Sapa Inca, after 40 years of warfare and executed him. It was after this that the incan empire crumbled.

  • End of the Maya

    After years of living uneasily with the Spanish the Spanish captured the last independent Maya city. Though many isolated maya villages were left untouched and preserved culture.