Transcription
The Americas were the last major land masses to be settled by humans. Despite this, they produced complex cultures and a wide variety of civilizations, rivaling those of the Old World. The most well-known of these societies developed in Mesoamerica and in the Andean region of South America, but we will take a look at other cultures as well, which thrived nonetheless quite impressively.
Everything these early Americans accomplished was without access to many of the tools available to the Old World, like the wheel and horses, which once existed in the Americas but died out.
Chronology of the Americas is generally divided into five time periods. They are the Paleo-Indian, the Archaic Stage, the Formative Stage, the Classic Period, and the Post-Classic Period. This is a very general chronology, and years differ greatly between different regions, but we will go over each once we get to them.
The earliest was that of the Paleo-Indians or Paleo-Americans, which began as the first humans entered the Americas. When Columbus first landed in the Caribbean and realized this new land wasn't India, he assumed the natives had come the same way as him, from across the Atlantic. Others assumed they were descendants of expert seafarers like the Phoenicians or even the Lost Tribes of Israel. They had no inkling that these natives had been living in the Americas for not just a few hundred years, but thousands.
It wasn't until the 19th century that newer migration theories developed, some suggesting that small groups of humans crossed over to the Americas from Asia via the Bering Strait, which was a land bridge at the time. Genetic data seems to confirm similarities between natives of the Americas and those of Northern Asia. We still can't pinpoint exactly when the migrations occurred, but they could have taken place as far back as 15 to 20,000 years ago, and evidence seems to keep pushing the date back further. Migrations would continue in waves until the end of the Ice Age, when the waters melted and submerged the land bridge, isolating these Paleo-Americans in a new land.
There are many alternate theories about the settling of the Americas, such as early settlers arriving from the South Pacific or across the Atlantic from Africa. Some even claim they could have been from the fabled Atlantis. Regardless of the precise time, it's clear the Paleo-Americans were living in the Americas at least twelve thousand years ago. They spread from the icy North and expanded to the South, eventually reaching the tip of South America.
The first Americans were hunter-gatherers, much like their counterparts in the Old World. They took advantage of the large megafauna which inhabited the continent before their extinction due to climate change and over-hunting. Like other Stone Age societies, they lived in small, nomadic communities.
The shift to agriculture occurred a bit later than in the Old World, during a transition known as the Archaic Period. Maize, or corn, was the main crop and could have been farmed as early as 9,000 years ago in Mexico, making it the first place in the world to domesticate the food. Originally, Maize could have been a grass called teosinte that was modified over time by the early agriculturalists. It was thanks to corn that the first civilization emerged in North America.
By 2000 BCE, the Pre-Classic Stage began in Mesoamerica, and by 1600, the emergence of the Olmec civilization. After the Archaic Period, chronology starts to differ between the different regions. From around 2000 BCE, Mesoamerican chronology can be split into three parts: the Formative or Pre-Classic, the Classic Age, and the Post-Classic. The Pre-Classic introduced the development of large villages, reliance on agriculture, and large ceremonial architecture.
The period was mainly characterized by the Olmec. The Olmec practiced agriculture in the swampy Mexican lowlands and mud-filled river banks. They are most widely known for their stone carvings and monuments at San Lorenzo and later La Venta. There, they built their largest earthwork, a 30-foot tall pyramid, and practiced religious rituals. The Olmec also produced a writing system known as Olmec hieroglyphics or Olmec glyphs, a writing system which has still been undeciphered. It's possible it is a proto-writing system related to the later Mayan system.
Olmec society was structured into different classes. The middle class of artisans were responsible for creating the famous Olmec colossal heads, made from basalt boulders. The largest of these was over 11 feet high, or around three and a half meters. Their appearance has led to a lot of conspiracy theories, which is quite common with these older American cultures. Along with bloodletting, one of their rituals was the Mesoamerican ballgame, a ceremonial game played on a ball court with a ball made from solid rubber weighing up to nine pounds. The rubber was made from the sap of the rubber tree, giving the civilization the name Olmec, or "rubber people."
Rubber made the Olmec quite prosperous, as it was traded all over the neighboring regions. Eventually, the Olmec mixed the rubber sap with other ingredients, creating new consistencies that could be used to make other materials like shoes. Lasting around a millennium, the Olmec would decline and eventually collapse around 400 BCE. At its height, it could have covered most of Mesoamerica, influencing many later cultures. We see these aspects of Olmec tradition in later civilizations of the Classic Period, a time of cultural achievement and of prominent Mesoamerican states reaching their height.
The Zapotec, or "cloud people," were centered at Monte Alban in central Mexico, in the highlands near present-day Oaxaca. Though they emerged around 500 or 600 BCE in the Formative Period, they reached their height during the Early Classic. The Zapotec built their temples and pyramids at Monte Alban, high up on the mountain overlooking the valley. Being so high up, much of the population lived in cliff sides cut into the mountains. It was a theocracy ruled by a priest class, but the majority of people were farmers or artisans. Though flourishing during the start of the Classic Period, they would begin to decline, and Monte Alban was mysteriously abandoned by the end of the period, around 900.
Smallest architect societies continued to live throughout the centuries and still exist today. Another major city of the Classic Period was Teotihuacan, situated near present-day Mexico City. It was probably established around 100 BCE but reached its height around 250 to 500 CE. It is considered the first metropolis in the Americas, reaching a population of over 125 to 200,000, making it the sixth largest urban center in the world at the time.
In the heart of the city, temples and palaces adorned the main road called the Avenue of the Dead, which led to the Pyramid of the Sun, a name given to it later. It was the highest pyramid in the Americas and the third largest in the world. Across from this massive structure was the Pyramid of the Moon. There is evidence of human sacrifices made in dedication to the pyramids. It is thought the priests used pulque, a type of liquor made from agave extract, during religious ceremonies. Nearby were marketplaces where farmers would exchange their goods like feathers, rubber, and different food products. Obsidian, a type of volcanic glass, was also a prime commodity, and the location of the city itself could be attributed to a nearby obsidian mine used to make special items like religious blades and mirrors, which they exported all over Mesoamerica from their city.
Planning evidence seems to show distinct classes. The elite classes lived in dwellings near the central district, near the Avenue of the Dead. Buildings would be decorated with murals depicting religious themes. The laborers and craftsmen lived in apartment complexes in the city known as neighborhood compounds. They were all built on a rectangular grid, separated by roads. Most of their economy was run by their agriculture, situated in the fertile Valley of Mexico. The terrain was swampy and wet, collecting melted ice from the nearby mountains. Because of the fertile ground and ample water source, this valley became one of the best farming regions in Mesoamerica. Eventually, it went into decline in the 500s. It's possible the volcanic winter of 536 set into motion the end of this metropolis. The city was sacked and burned in the late 500s, possibly by its native population who fled, carrying much of the wealth. By 700, the sacred city was abandoned.
East of the Valley of Mexico, the most well-known and longest-lasting of the Classic civilizations emerged, residing in Guatemala and the Yucatan. The Mayan civilization existed in some form through most periods of Mesoamerican chronology. During the Formative or Pre-Classic Period, the Maya were farming maize, yams, and manioc in the lowlands and Yucatan Peninsula, slowly growing their population. Early on, they established contact with the flourishing Olmec civilization to their west. Cacao trees, which the Mayans called "kakaw," were plentiful. They made drinks with the chocolate and used the beans as a kind of currency. Mayans could also produce a type of beer from this fruit pulp. The taste of their chocolate was much more bitter and wouldn't develop into a sweet treat until the Europeans later added milk and sugar.
The Mayans expanded as their population grew, and small city-states began to form. By 250 CE, the Classic Period began, and the Mayan civilization reached their apex. One of their largest urban centers was Tikal, which could have had up to 100,000 residents. Their society developed into a sophisticated civilization during this period with a complex political system. At the top of the Mayan hierarchy was the king, called the Ahau. The 13th House of Copan, which scholars call "18 Rabbit," had a majestic palace built, which used the labor of tens of thousands. Around the rulers were the other nobles and aristocrats. Many of these could be priests or scribes, but many were painters who worked at the king's court. As society grew outside the palace, a growing number of artisans would emerge, forming a middle class. Most of the Mayan population were farmers. Their houses were generally built of thatch, and labor on the farm was also divided along gender lines. Noble women, of course, had more freedom than poorer women and played roles in religious and political life.
In the city of Palenque, one of the most powerful Mayan cities, Pakal became king through the lineage of his mother and grandmother. His mother was ruler of the city for years and ruled alongside her son for 25 of these. King Pakal deified his mother as a goddess to legitimize his rule, which lasted 68 years, giving him the fifth longest reign of any monarch in world history.
The Mayans, like the rest of the Mesoamerican civilizations, were polytheistic. Itzamná was the primary Mayan deity, ruler of heaven, day, and night. They worshiped him as the creator of the universe and for gifting them the knowledge of maize, medicines, and writing. Other gods were thought to be aspects of this primary deity. The Maya saw the jaguar as strong and powerful, so many of their gods were portrayed as these animals. The Jaguar God of Terrestrial Fire, or Jaguar Knight Sun, was a deity connected to war or the underworld.
Human sacrifice was performed mainly on high-status prisoners of war. Decapitation of an enemy ruler was thought to be one of the greatest gifts to the gods. Another was extraction of the heart, which often ended in the lifeless corpse being thrown down the steps of the pyramid. The pyramid was often located near the center of the city and became the religious core. Nearby was the sacred ball court. The stone court was rectangular and with rings set up on nearby walls or inclines. Players had to get a heavy rubber ball through these rings, only using their hips, shoulders, or thighs. This was more than just a game; it was a ritual that needed to be completed in order to maintain the favor of the gods. It's possible sacrifices were then made at the end of the game, sometimes by decapitation or disembowelment. These games originated from the myth of the Maya hero twins who angered the Maya death gods with their noise and were then tricked into descending into Xibalba, the underworld. There, they were challenged to the ball game but lost. One of the hero twins' heads was then chopped off, giving birth to the tradition.
While the Olmecs, Zapotecs, and others developed writing systems, none were as sophisticated as the Mayans. The script began during the Pre-Classic but would become a sophisticated system of logograms, which represented full words, and phonetic glyphs, which represented syllables. Many of the symbols represented dates in their calendar. The Mayan city-states used a class of scribes to write down their records on either deerskin or tree bark. Because of this, these written records didn't survive the warm climate and ensuing European invasion. Spanish priests were notorious for recklessly burning the records they encountered. As a result, much of Mayan history has been lost to us. All that remains is what was carved in stone.
The city of Palenque, set deep in the jungles of Mexico, provided archaeologists with a vast wealth of Mayan carvings. The Temple of the Inscriptions was the funerary monument for Pakal, which he had built in the mid-600s. In a chamber below rested his tomb, which had a large limestone slab covered in Mayan writing. Deciphering this message helped scholars identify Pakal, their first Mayan historical figure. The inscriptions led to many conspiracy theories, which interpreted many of the symbols as spacecraft or as having extraterrestrial influence. Curiously enough, the Mayans did have an extreme interest in astronomy. They kept records of the movement of the planets, mainly to help them prepare for certain rituals and traditions. When Venus emerged in a certain position, it was time for customary war. Their Long Count calendar was used for longer time scales, so it was used more on monuments. The Mayan cycle was set to end in 2012, leading to a popular belief that the world would come to an end in that year, but in reality, the calendar just went to the next Baktun. The 15th Baktun will be on March 26, 2407.
Just like in Europe, these Mayan city-states were often at war with one another. They had entire rituals set up specifically for wartime and needed prisoners in order to sacrifice to the gods. There is evidence that a general who we call Fire is Born marched on the Mayan city of Tikal in 378 CE with his army of feathered serpent warriors. He was most likely working in the service of Spear-Thrower Owl, the possible ruler of Teotihuacan at the time. Fire is Born took the city with some help from the natives, and the son of the Teotihuacan ruler, First Crocodile, was made king. Tikal would continue to grow to become the foremost Mayan superpower during the 600s. Tikal and Calakmul, another major city-state, were in constant conflict. By the end, Tikal garnered more support, winning a decisive battle in 695. The last major series of wars ended in 744 with Tikal subduing Calakmul's allies and defeating its rival.
By the end of the Classic Period, the Classic Period itself ended around 900 CE, with the last century called the Terminal Classic. This is because of the steep decline of the Mayan cities during this time. In Copan, work on stone sculptures was halted. Palenque and Tikal soon followed in the mid-800s. We still don't know what caused this decline; if it was constant internal wars, a massive drought caused by climate change, or disease. It's possible it was a mix of factors, but many believe there wasn't a genuine collapse because though most of the central cities were abandoned, residents fled North to the jungles, continuing an adapted Mayan tradition. They developed newer urban centers like Chichen Itza and Uxmal.
During the Post-Classic Period, from 900 to the early 1500s, the major civilizations of the Classic Period lost hegemony, replaced by the rise of new, warlike empires. During this last period before colonization, the Early Post-Classic saw the first of the new, more militaristic societies enter Mesoamerica from the deserts of the North. New peoples would establish themselves in central Mexico, and by the 900s, settle in Tula, filling the power vacuum left by the fall of nearby Teotihuacan. We have no contemporary sources for these people, later called the Toltec, only records from their successes. The Toltec controlled Tula for centuries, forming an empire from the surrounding smaller states. Either a sustained drought, revolts, or internal conflicts sent the Toltecs into a steep decline, and by 1122, Tula was abandoned.
Another power vacuum would form in Mexico, but it wasn't long until newer societies moved into the valley. These were the Mexica, and after the Pre-Classic Olmecs and Classic Mayans, these Mexica would become the most prominent Mesoamerican civilization of the Post-Classic. According to tradition, the Mexica originated on an island called Aztlan, a far-off land to the North. From that name, historians would call this civilization Aztec. During the 1100s, the radical Aztecs migrated from Aztlan, reaching the Valley of Mexico later in the century.
The Aztec's main culture came from their radical religious views, their primary deity being Huitzilopochtli, God of War. Gaining alliances with nearby city-states, the Aztec would become the dominant culture in Mesoamerica by the 1400s. They established their capital at Tenochtitlan, a grand city on an island in Lake Texcoco. This location was chosen as it fulfilled a prophecy when they witnessed a grand eagle eating a snake above the lake. From there, they set out to form an empire, and by 1428, they were part of the Triple Alliance with two close allies. It was quite clear early on that Tenochtitlan was the main military power in the union, so most refer to the alliance as the Aztec Empire.
The head of Aztec society was an absolute monarch. He claimed descent from the gods and was to be the intermediary between the heavens and the masses. An interesting facet of the monarchy was that succession wasn't directly passed down to the next of kin; everyone in the royal family was eligible for the position, and they were chosen by a small group of family officials. After the king was crowned, he was given a council of advisers headed by a prime minister. Though the Aztecs had control of the region, most city-states were given autonomy and only needed to pay tribute. This was usually done in the form of crops, materials, or slaves. These were collected by a tax collector. Those who did not pay were met with the threat of violence. Positions in the government were saved for the nobility or those who could trace their lineage to the founding Aztec clan. In youth, males of the noble classes were sent to schools at the temples and were made to do manual labor and military training along with religious teachings.
Most of the population were commoners, with a large contingent of indentured workers and slaves. Landless laborers who worked on the nobles' estates. Slavery wasn't always a permanent label and remained a fluid status. Regular commoners could become slaves in order to pay off debts, then later regain their freedom. The main organizational unit in Aztec society was the altepetl, or city-state. Like Tenochtitlan, city-states were in turn made up of clans with similar work patterns called calpulli, meaning "large house." Tenochtitlan could have been made up of around 20 of these calpulli. Calpulli were in turn made up of families and other relatives.
The Aztec relied on agriculture and expanded one of their older techniques to better cultivate the wetlands. This technique was called the chinampa system. They would grow crops on small islands on the wetlands, which both optimized moisture retention and facilitated crop transport. Up to six crops could be cultivated per year from a single chinampa, and it was so efficient that the system is still in use today. Farmers continued cultivating crops in chinampas and drifting their goods up the canals to sell them in the cities. In these cities, calpulli resided in different districts, providing a different type of service. Some were stone cutters, some metal workers. Calpulli were made up of smaller family groupings. In the city, single families would live in small one or two-room homes with direct access to the busy streets. In more rural areas, farmers lived near their chinampas and took precautions to prevent flooding. Women had more rights than other Classic or Post-Classic societies and were able to own and inherit property. Though marriage among the lower classes was monogamous, nobles often engaged in polygyny, the practice of having more than one wife.
The Aztec pantheon contained over a hundred gods, many derived from their Mesoamerican counterparts. Ometeotl was the name given to their pair of creator gods. They were all-powerful and omniscient, and like in other societies, too far removed from everyday affairs. So other gods like Quetzalcoatl, the Feathered Serpent, became more commonly worshiped. They believed their gods came from the old city of Teotihuacan and viewed the Toltec as their legendary warrior ancestors, including the Feathered Serpent. Aztec Emperor Moctezuma made several pilgrimages to Teotihuacan to honor this deity before his eventual return.
Aztec religion, as much of Mesoamerican religions, was quite fatalistic. Unlike the religions of the Old World, the Aztecs believed the world or sun had already ended and been reborn four times in a struggle between good and evil. Though they lived during the Fifth Sun, this too was destined to be destroyed, and all they could do was delay it. To do this, they engaged in the practice of human sacrifice. They believed that this appeased the Sun God Huitzilopochtli and granted them extra time. Those sacrificed were brought to the pyramid or shrine, and their hearts were removed and given as holy offerings to the gods. Most of the victims were captives, but slaves and citizens would also be used as sacrifices. Often, they were willing participants, as being offered to the great Sun God was seen as one of the greatest honors. It is estimated that over 80,000 were sacrificed at the Great Temple, built in the middle of Tenochtitlan. This Temple was a grand pyramid dedicated to the Sun God Huitzilopochtli and the Rain God Tlaloc. The pyramid was covered with bright paintings, sculptures, and other art. Its base was huge, and at the top were shrines dedicated to the Sun and Rain Gods.
We don't have many Aztec paintings, but Spanish conquistadors claimed the art was superb, comparing it to Europe's greatest artists. They also made stone and metal works with gold and silver. There isn't any evidence of bronze or iron, though, as they relied on obsidian. Stoneworks were mainly representations of the gods and depicted other religious events. The Stone of the Fifth Sun, or Aztec Sunstone, is their most famous sculpture, weighing over 24,000 kilograms, and was used at the main Temple. The Aztec writing system was derived from the earlier Zapotec system and originally just used hieroglyphs to represent objects or ideas, but evolved to also include phonetic elements. They were usually written on the bark of fig trees, meaning most of these didn't survive the Spanish invasion and the massive destruction of Aztec religion and culture that followed.
South America would have distinct civilizations of its own. The continent itself is massive, containing both warm and cold climates, wetlands and deserts, mountains and deep lowlands. The Amazon River has the longest water discharge in the world and is arguably the longest river system along with the Nile. It runs through the tropical forests, dense with vegetation and wildlife. To the south of that are plains and prairies, which reach west and touch the Andes Mountains. This mountain range stretches down the western side of South America from the Isthmus of Panama to the Strait of Magellan. The area immediately to the west of the mountains, just before the shore, is in a rain shadow, remaining one of the driest regions in the world.
Like Mesoamerica, South America has a chronology of its own. The Archaic Period here was called the Pre-Ceramic, ending around 1800 BCE, followed by the Ceramic Period. Ceramic cultures are further subdivided into three time periods called the Early, Middle, and Late Horizon, with a few intermediate phases.
There's evidence of agriculture in the Amazon Basin from around 6,500 BCE, and in central Chile and Northern Peru a bit later. By 3000 BCE, settlements were built along the coast of Peru and Ecuador and mainly relied on fishing. They were called the Norte Chico, or Caral, outdating the Chavin and even the Olmec by almost 2,000 years. The Norte Chico comprised the sixth and final cradle of civilization to discuss. They developed around the same time as Old Kingdom Egypt. This area of modern-day Peru has often been overlooked, as it is extremely dry and arid, not suitable for any kind of ancient cities. Located between what we call rain shadows, mountains on one side and the trade winds of the Pacific on the other, rain was a seldom occurrence, so the Norte Chico had to rely on extensive irrigation and the main rivers of Fortaleza, Pativilca, and Supay to provide melted mountain snow as their water supply. Scholars had been in debate over whether this was a true civilization, but the consensus is that they are the oldest civilization in all the Americas, beginning as a maritime society, hunting fish and seafood. They truly flourished once adopting agriculture. Their population boomed, and they had one of the most densely populated regions of the world by the second millennium BCE. Their main urban site was at Caral. Unfortunately, the Norte Chico was so ancient that there is no remaining art of these mysterious peoples. They were a pre-ceramic society, so no long-lasting pottery or visual art of any kind remains. All we have are their large mound structures or earthworks.
Emerging around 3700 BCE, the Norte Chico would eventually decline by around 1800 BCE. It appears as if people dispersed in order to find more fertile lands, bringing their knowledge of irrigation with them. This initial period lasted for around 900 years before the emergence of the next great Andean culture in around 900 BCE, the Chavin, marking the start of the Early Horizon. The Early Horizon was characterized by the end of regional isolation and quick spread of the Chavin culture. The Chavin are named after Chavin de Huantar, an archaeological site located over ten thousand feet, or three thousand meters, above sea level, centered upon a large stone temple where ceremonies would take place. The temple had an underground network of tunnels and canals, and the corridors were filled with art. Intense rituals were most likely performed in this underground system. Outside the temple complex were stone statues of their gods, along with pyramids. Metalworks of copper and gold were also found, and around 300 BCE, they built a solar observatory just north of Lima.
By around 200 BCE, the Chavin dissolved, leading into the First Intermediate Period, known as the Early Intermediate. The culture transitioned into the Nazca in the South and the Moche a few centuries later in the North. The Nazca were known for their Nazca Lines, immense designs depressed into the desert soil. Their purpose is still a mystery, which has sparked numerous conspiracy theories. Another labor-intensive project was their construction of puquios, a series of underground aqueducts used to transport water for long distances without fear of any evaporation. The Moche resided to the North, near their main river of the same name, which flowed from the Andes to the Pacific. In their capital city, which could have held upwards of 10,000 residents, were two large pyramids almost 100 feet tall. The larger one was called the Temple of the Sun. The Temple of the Moon, built into the side of a mountain, was decorated with murals and paintings depicting gods, battles, and sacrifices. The Moche ceramic figures are quite intricate and influenced artisans in neighboring river valley villages and cities, meaning Moche influence could have extended down the coast well beyond their own society. Many artifacts also seem to indicate that the Moche were a warrior culture. It can be seen in their pottery, figurines, and paintings, which depict soldiers and ritual sacrifice. Their river valley, though fertile, was extremely dry away from the Moche River, so they had to build complex irrigation systems to get water from the river to the dried lands further out. This is how they thrived for centuries, but evidence indicates that by the early 700s, their irrigation systems were abandoned, and most of the society moved further inland.
The Early Intermediate Period ended with the decline of the Nazca and Moche, and the Middle Horizon Period began in 600 CE. The two main states during this period were the Wari in the North in Peru and the Tiwanaku a bit further south in present-day Western Bolivia. A couple of centuries before the Moche disappeared, the Wari began to expand from their homeland in the mountain foothills and established small communities along the coast. When the Moche did eventually dissolve, the Wari had spread northwards where the Moche had once been, possibly adopting their temples and religion. They would engage in a cold war with the Tiwanaku to the South. Eventually, both would decline by year 1000, leading to the Late Intermediate Period.
This is when a new successor state, the Kingdom of Chimor, would emerge with a capital at Chan Chan, housing forty to sixty thousand. It was a large city with numerous palaces and surrounded by walls up to 30 feet high. One of the palaces had a maze-like structure built that led to an elaborate central chamber. Like the Moche, the Chimú people relied on irrigation and used an extensive network of canals going through hills and valleys in order to water the drier areas. By 1470, the Chimú also collapsed due to floods and earthquakes, which destroyed their irrigation networks, and they were then attacked and destroyed by a new empire.
This new empire would become the most famous Andean state and is the main polity from the final time period, the Late Horizon. From the early 1200s, the Inca had emerged in the Peruvian Highlands to the South, establishing the mountainous Kingdom of Cusco at an altitude of ten thousand feet. Their leaders were called Sapa Inca. By 1438, under their king Pachacuti, the Inca began to expand and forged an empire by conquest, called the Empire of Tawantinsuyu, or "Realm of the Four Parts," signifying a union of four different regions under his successors, Tupac Inca Yupanqui and Huayna Capac. They expanded into Ecuador, Central Chile, and the edge of the Amazon basin, forming the largest pre-Columbian empire in all the Americas.
The empire was quite centralized. Under Pachacuti, he divided it into different regions and provinces. The capital was run from Cusco, which was divided into four residential areas that were all rigidly administered. Pachacuti used the empire's citizens, often using entire communities at a time as forced labor, which helped with the initial success of expansion. Workers were forcibly moved to different regions to work in mines, help expand, or help with construction. The capital went from a city of mud and thatched wood to a stunning metropolis of majestic stone. The Coricancha, located in the city, was the most important temple in the entire Inca Empire. It was dedicated to the Sun God Inti and was covered in plates of gold. Machu Picchu, located just northwest of Cusco, was a massive citadel thought to be built for Pachacuti. It is often referred to as the "Lost City of the Incas" and is the most familiar piece of Inca art.
Their most ambitious and useful achievement was a network of roads extending at least 25,000 miles from present-day Colombia in the North to Chile in the South. It was the most extensive and advanced road system in pre-Columbian America. It was based around two main north-south roads; one was near the coast, but the other went up through the Andes Mountains, with various branches and paths between them. There were rest stops along the route and were used to transport goods and soldiers and were only used by the empire's officials or workers. Runners like chasquis could use this system to relay information up to 140 miles away in one day.
Farming was the main mode of food production. To farm on the mountains, the Inca used irrigation systems on extensive, stair-like terraces dug into the sides of the hills. Here, the state used collective labor to produce mainly crops of maize and potatoes. The state also had a say in personal relationships. Marriage was regulated, and a man was required to choose a wife from his immediate kinship group. Women could choose not to marry, though, but would have to be chosen as a priestess, taking a vow of chastity. The Inca managed to take control of the Andean region because of their warlike temperament, much like how the Aztecs succeeded in Mesoamerica because of a policy of male conscription. The Inca army was around two hundred thousand strong, larger than any other armies. They could move across the empire quickly by the efficient road system, which also offered rest stops along the way. Supplies would be carried by llama, as they didn't have the wheel. Once the Inca conquered a region, they taught them Quechua, their language, and their religion to assimilate them. Though the Inca had no writing system, they did use the quipu, a system of numerical record-keeping that used knotted strings. Though few details remain, the Inca also had a deep culture of entertainment centered on theater. Ollantay is a play considered to have been preserved orally in Quechua tradition and then written down in colonial times. Apart from plays, the Inca also created oral poetry accompanied by reed instruments.
Around the same time as the Inca Empire formed, so did a loose confederation which came to be known as the most well-organized alliance in South America. The Muisca emerged much earlier in the Late Intermediate but truly flourished in the Late Horizon after forming the Muisca Confederation. They were situated in Colombia and would be the most populous and significant society between the Mayan regions of Mesoamerica and the Inca Empire. They excelled in gold works, and the Spanish believed the legendary El Dorado was within this territory.
Apart from the large civilizations and empires of the Andean region in Colombia and Peru, there were other smaller cultures living in South America as well. In the Amazon Basin, in the rainforests of Amazonia, were many chiefdoms. Locals would call one of these the Kambaba, a reference to their custom of flattening their children's heads by binding a piece of wood to the forehead. Rounded heads were seen as a sign of being a savage.
To the North was a region called Northern America. The Archaic Period lasted here one thousand years longer than in Mesoamerica, until 1000 BCE, as societies all across the land relied on hunting and gathering. Unlike Mesoamerica, the period after the Archaic isn't divided into Pre-Classic, Classic, and Post-Classic phases but is simply known as the Post-Archaic. In the East, this began with the Woodland Period, a transitory stage between the Archaic hunter-gatherers and the intensive agriculturalists that will follow. The Early Woodland Period saw the continuation of many Archaic traditions like mound building and pottery, but this is when it became widespread. It was around this time that the people of the Eastern Woodlands developed more complex societies. They became sedentary, population would increase steadily, and villages would grow larger.
By the Middle of the Woodland Period, the Hopewell tradition was flourishing in the Midwest and then spread to the Northeast and Southeast. It wasn't a single culture but a network of existing cultures that traded exotic materials. The Hopewell made large earthworks of elaborate tombs filled with offerings of jewelry and art. By the Late Woodland Period, the Hopewell tradition had dissolved, and culture seems to have declined. Construction of earthworks decreased, as did inter-regional trade. The Woodland cultures seem to have adopted the bow and arrow during this time, replacing the atlatl and making hunting easier. They also widely adopted the agricultural production of maize, beans, and squash, which were known as the "Three Sisters."
By the end of the Woodland Period, in 1000 CE, a new culture was forming based on intensive agriculture and even larger earthworks. This was the Mississippian culture, and it expanded from the Mississippi River Valley. By 1200, the Mississippians reached their height, having spread all over the East and Midwest, building numerous urban centers. The most famous was at Cahokia in present-day Illinois, with a population of 20,000. It was the largest city in Northern America and remained that way for 600 years. The burial mound there, called Monk's Mound, was the largest earthwork in all the Americas and the largest pyramid in North America. Its base was larger than the Great Pyramid of Egypt. Many other small mounds were built in the city, which seemed to have centralized political and religious control of much of the culture. For fun and garnering friendships with neighboring villages, the Mississippians would play a game called Chunkey. It was played by rolling disc-shaped stones across the ground and throwing spears at them to land as close to the stone as possible. This game was quite popular and would even continue after the Mississippian decline.
This decline began around 1400 and was marked by increased warfare. Many populations seem to have dispersed, and Cahokia, the magnificent Mississippian urban center, was abandoned. It's possible this decline was brought about by the Little Ice Age, a period of lower temperatures making agriculture less efficient.
It wasn't only the Mississippians who declined around this time. Around 750 CE, a community living near the Four Corners (the states of Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona) experienced a population surge and transitioned from their earlier Basketmaker Era. They were known as the Ancient Pueblo people but had been called Anasazi by the Navajo, a derogatory term meaning "ancient enemy." Like the Hopewell, the Ancient Pueblo became the center of an exchange system in the Southwest, creating a system of roads to facilitate trading of ideas and materials. They soon developed their own irrigation systems and built their own urban center at Chaco Canyon. This walled city held numerous multi-story houses called pueblos with timber roofs where multiple families could live. Pueblo Bonito, a great house, was built by the Pueblo people over centuries. Great houses were where more elite families would live. Religious ceremonies were held in a kiva, a large circular underground room. Around 1150 CE, the Pueblo people migrated North to Mesa Verde in Colorado. This phase came to be known as the Great Pueblo Period, which saw the Pueblo live in intricate cliff dwellings and cave rooms in cliff sites. Cliff dwellings could hold around 100 people. Mesa Verde appears to have been abandoned, though, by 1300, as the Pueblo people moved back South. By 1350, the Great Pueblo Period was over, but their descendants are still thought to survive as the Hopi. The Pueblo decline occurred around the same time as the Mississippian decline in the East. Climate change is the most likely factor. Once the Europeans made contact and introduced the Spanish horse, the Apache and Navajo used these mounted units to dominate this southwestern region.
When the Europeans first made contact, though, it wasn't even with people from the continent; it was in the Caribbean with a people called the Taino. The Taino were an Arawak-speaking group, most likely originating near the Orinoco River in Venezuela before expanding onto the islands. This is where the Taino culture emerged in the 1100s. Over time, benefiting from both the access to agriculture and fishing, population increased, leading to more complex social systems. Leaders of different groups were called caciques, derived from the term "to keep house." They presided over all aspects of the economy and religious affairs. Ball courts were also found, indicating the Taino had contact with the Mesoamerican cultures, most likely the Maya. Eventually, another group from the South American mainland began settling in the Caribbean, displacing the local Taino and forcing them to head further North. This group was the Kalinago, or Island Caribs. They were more warlike, and reports say they frequently raided the Taino, capturing their women. It was these two groups, the Taino and Kalinago, who would be the first to meet the seafaring Christopher Columbus, setting into motion the twining of the Old World and the New. But that's a story for our next series.