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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
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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.
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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
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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.
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Early Cultures of North America
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• 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
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• 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.”
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• 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.