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Civilization peaked about 300 – 900 AD

Located in the Central American rainforest

Major cities included Tikal & Chichén Itzá

Independent city-states run by kings

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Polytheistic religion

Believed in afterlife

Built temples, pyramids for sacrifices and bloodletting

Economy based on agriculture and trade

Excellent astronomers

Priests charted movements of planets, moon, sun

Created accurate calendars

Developed numbers and glyphic writing

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Mayan glyph (represents month of K’ayab – turtle)

Ball game played by Maya & others

Object was to get a hard rubber ball through a hoop with no hands/feet

Losing team sacrificed

No one knows for sure

Possible invasions

Possible soil exhaustion & drought led to famine

Flourished 1200’s – 1521

Located in arid valley in central Mexico

Major city was Tenochtitlan

Unified neighboring city-states into an empire

Polytheistic religion with emphasis on warfare

Built pyramid temples with human sacrifices held on top to please the gods

Economy based on agriculture and conquest

Farmed on artificial floating islands called chinampas

Emperor Montezuma II taken hostage by the Spanish

Neighboring tribes join Hernan Cortés and the invading Spanish

Most Aztecs killed by disease or warfare

AD 1400s – 1532

located in Andes Mountains in South America

Major cities included Machu Picchu, Cuzco

Strong central government

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Polytheistic

Held human and animal sacrifices to please gods

Practiced cranial deformation

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Developed the coca plant

Used surgery & herbal medicines

Developed complex road system

Recorded stories in quipus, Andean stringed knots

Smallpox killed many Inca

War between Inca ruler Atahualpa and his brother weakened the empire

Conquered by Francisco Pizarro in 1532

1200 – 200 BC

1st established culture in Mexico

Known for statues of enormous heads

900 BC

Great builders

Conquered by the Aztecs

Used monuments to show power

Located in Northern Mexico

950-1300 AD

Mighty warriors

Absorbed into Aztec Empire

Which Mesoamerican Civilization was the most

important to history? Why?

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