-
1500 BCE
The Olmecs
• 1500 BCE-400 CE
• Also known as “Rubber People”
• Large stone heads
• Polytheism and Shamanism
• Agriculture (maize) and trade (obsidian tools and jade)
• Cities – San Lorenzo, La Venta, Tres Zapotes
• Olmec glyphs -
900 BCE
Toltecs and Aztecs
• 900 BCE-1160 CE (Toltecs)
• 1220-1520 CE (Aztecs)
• Modern day Mexico
• Social hierarchal class
• Pyramids/stone structures
• City-states/Tenochtitlán – capital city of Aztec empire
• Social hierarchal classes – Aztec emperor at the top
• Polytheistic/Spiritual rituals – sacrifices, bloodletting, and festivals
• Trade and agriculture – economic base
• Created “floating gardens” for agriculture -
900 BCE
Chavin and Mochica
• 900-200 BCE (Chavin)
• 200-700 CE (Mochica)
• Andean region of South America
• Chavin de Huantar archaeological site for Chavin civilization
• Trade and agriculture – economic base
• No evidence of a writing system
• Social hierarchal classes -
250 BCE
The Maya
• 250-1200 BCE
• Pyramids, temples, stelae
• City-states
• Polytheism, deities, bloodletting rituals
• Cacao and cotton as currency
• Mayan divine kings
• Mythology (the Hero Twins)
• Ball games
• Calendar Round and Long Count -
100 BCE
Teotihuacán
• 100 BCE-750 CE
• Precursor to Aztec civilization
• Agriculture and trade as economic base
• One of the largest, most successful city-states of the time period/location
• Hieroglyphic writing system/calendar
• Polytheistic
• Social classes/urban dwellings -
Jan 28, 1100
The Inca
• (1100-1532 CE)
• Located in South America (Peru)/largest empire in the Americas
• Regional military power/ military service required for men as a form of a tax
• Cuzco – capital city
• Built network of roads, quipu as a form of record-keeping,
• Polytheistic
• Social hierarchal classes – Inca emperor at the top
• No known writing system
• Agricultural-based society
• No known merchant class
