The Olmec

• The first great Mesoamerican culture was the Olmec, who lived on the Gulf of Mexico.

• They developed the beginnings of a calendar and writing.

• Used slash and burn farming

• Unsure why civilization declined

The Maya

• Maya mathematicians devised a number system that included zero long before Europeans.

• Maya scholars also developed a complex system of writing with pictures.

• The Maya civilization began to decline after A.D. 800 and archaeologists are unsure why.

The Aztec

• The Aztec gained control the Toltec empire of 5 million people.

• The Aztec capital is on the site of present day Mexico City

• A class system developed in Aztec society.

• The Aztec viewed warfare as a sacred duty.

• Believed in human sacrifice

The Inca

• The Inca was the largest empire in the Americas at the time. Located in the Andes Mountains.

• The Inca forced their newly conquered subject to manual labor.

• Inca laborers built massive buildings as well as thousands of miles of roads that linked the vast empire.

Early Cultures of North America

• The Anasazi constructed multistory rock and adobe dwellings in the Southwest.

• They abandoned their communities in about 1300.

• The Anasazi are the ancestors of the Pueblo Indians

• The Hohokam lived approximately from ad 200 to 1400 in present-day central and southern Arizona, largely along the Gila and Salt rivers.

• The term Hohokam is said to be Pima for “those who have vanished.”

• The Adena and Hopewell cultures were located in the eastern woodlands of North America.

• These cultures are known as Mound Builders, created elaborate burial mounds in Ohio and extending to Kentucky and New York.