Early Civilizations in the Americas

By uva student
  • 30,000 BCE

    Asian Hunters Arrived in the Americas

  • 1300 BCE

    Olmec were one of the 1st civilizations

    in the Americas
  • 1000 BCE

    1st Mounds Built by Mound Builders

  • 800 BCE

    Adena People

    They were one of the first Mound Builders, and lived along the Ohio River.
  • 300 BCE

    Mayans developed a complex culture

    in Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and Belize on the Yucatan Peninsula
  • Period: 200 BCE to 500

    The Hopewell people became Mound Builders

  • Period: 1 CE to 1300

    Anasazi Civilization

  • 200

    Anasazi emerged in the Four Corners area

  • 700

    Mississippian Civilization Began

  • 900

    Mayans Disappear

    For unknown reasons, the Mayan civilization disappeared.
  • 1000

    Cahokia Mound Builders

    Lived along the Mississippi River.
  • 1100

    Aztecs settled in the Valley of Mexico

  • 1300

    Anasazi Disappear

  • 1400

    Aztecs Became a Military Empire

    They captured and enslaved communities around them.
  • 1420

    Aztecs Established City of Tenochtitlan

  • 1492

    Columbus landed in the Americas

  • 1519

    Spanish Invade Aztecs

  • 1521

    Spaniards Defeat Aztecs

    This was the end of the Aztec empire.
  • 1532

    Inca Empire was weakened by civil war

  • 1533

    Spanish invaded Inca Territory

  • 1572

    Inca Empire Ended