Early American Civilization Review

by Ms. Campbell

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The Olmec were the fist major civilization in Central America. In fact they are often called the Mother Civilization from which the Maya and Aztec later developed. Scientists have found works of jade art in the ruins of the ancient Olmec sites, but they are mostly remembered for their large carved stone heads, as you can see in this picture. The end of the Olmec civilization remains a mystery.

Web Links: Olmec Info

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Web Links: Maya Info Virtual Tour

The Maya civilization inhabited the central part of Mexico in the rainforests of the Yucatan Peninsula. The Mayahave left us a superb record of theirlife in the codices, or written books, andin the stela and glyphs found through-out the ancient Mayan cities. The jaguar was a popular representation of rulers in these glyphs. The Maya worshiped many gods and goddesses and achieved the first written number system using a symbol for the number 0. Nobody knows why the Maya civilization just disappeared one day, but the Maya have left us many clues about the way they lived.

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Modern Mexicans consider themselves descendants of the mighty Aztec warriors. Their capital city of Tenochtitlan was located where the modern capital Mexico City is today, and had a population of 200,000. The Aztec rulers, Montezuma, and his son expanded the Aztec territory, but made no attempt to unify the peoples they conquered. Instead they allowed them to keep their own cultures. The Spanish were easily able to conquer the Aztec when they arrived in Tenochtitlan. The Aztec had never seen armor or horses and thought they were gods on magical animals.

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Web Links: Inca Info Virtual Tour

The Inca civilization was the largest in South American, extending all alongthe western coast of the continent. The Inca civilization did not have a formal writing system, as the Maya did, but other technological advances astonish us, such as their advanced architecture. The Inca were wealthy and many golden artifacts have been found. Spanish invaders fought fiercely for this gold and brought an end to the great Inca civilization.

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Music:

http://www.musicaperuana.com/ sequenced by Andrei Volkov and Ricardo M Serrano

Textual Information:Kramme, Michael. Mayan, Incan, & Aztec Civilizations. Mark Twain Media, 1996.

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