The Native Civilizations of the Americas: Aztecs, Mayas and Incas

High in the Andes, a city of stone still stands above the clouds. Its walls hold together without mortar. The people who built it had no iron tools and no written books. Yet they ruled one of the largest empires on Earth.

In this lesson, we meet the great civilizations of the Americas before Columbus. We visit the Aztecs in Mexico, the Maya in the rainforest, and the Incas in the Andes. We see how each one lived, ruled and built.

1Who were the three great civilizations?

Long before Columbus, large societies lived in the Americas. They farmed, built cities and kept careful calendars. They did not copy Europe. They solved problems in their own way.

The Maya lived in southern Mexico and Central America. The Aztecs ruled the Valley of Mexico. The Incas ruled the Andes of South America. Each had its own language, its own gods and its own style of building.

These three were not one people. They also did not live at the same time in the same place. The Maya cities were oldest. The Aztec and Inca empires rose in the fifteenth century.

• Maya: southern Mexico and Central America.
• Aztecs: the Valley of Mexico.
• Incas: the Andes, from their capital at Cusco.
• The Maya came first. The two empires peaked in the fifteenth century.

2How did the Aztecs build Tenochtitlan?

The Aztec capital was Tenochtitlan. It stood on an island in Lake Texcoco, in the Valley of Mexico. Tradition gives 1325 as its founding date. Historians say the exact date is unclear.

The city was crossed by canals. People moved on foot or by canoe. At its peak, it was the largest city in the pre-Columbian Americas.

Farmland was scarce, so farmers built chinampas. These were raised fields in shallow lakes. The Aztecs did not invent them. Farmers near Xochimilco used them earlier. The Aztecs grew the method to a very large scale.

• Capital: Tenochtitlan, on an island in Lake Texcoco.
• Traditional founding date: 1325, though the exact date is unclear.
• Chinampas were raised lake fields.
• The Aztecs expanded chinampas, but did not invent them.

3How did the Aztecs rule and teach?

The Aztec Empire began as an alliance. Three city-states joined in 1428. They were Tenochtitlan, Tetzcoco and Tlacopan. In time, Tenochtitlan became the strongest partner.

Conquered cities kept their own rulers. In return, they paid tribute twice a year. They also sent soldiers when the alliance needed them.

Young Aztecs went to school in each district. The calmecac was a school for sons of the nobility. The telpochcalli trained young people for community service and war.

• 1428: Tenochtitlan, Tetzcoco and Tlacopan formed the Triple Alliance.
• Conquered cities paid tribute and kept their rulers.
• Calmecac: school for the sons of nobles.
• Telpochcalli: youth schools in each district.

4What did the Maya achieve?

The Maya are the oldest of the three. Their first cities grew around 750 BC. The Classic period began around 250 AD. In this age, rival cities like Tikal and Calakmul grew powerful.

Maya farmers grew maize, beans, squash and chili peppers. Maya scribes wrote in glyphs. This is the only Mesoamerican writing system that has been largely deciphered.

The Maya also kept a careful calendar. A 260-day count ran alongside a 365-day year. In the ninth century, many central Maya cities fell into crisis. People left them and moved north. Maya people live in the same region today.

• First cities: about 750 BC. Classic period: about 250 AD.
• Rival giants: Tikal and Calakmul.
• Glyph writing is largely deciphered today.
• A 260-day count and a 365-day year made the calendar.
• Central cities declined in the ninth century.

5How did the Incas rule their empire?

The Incas called their empire Tawantinsuyu. This means “land of four parts”. From 1438 to 1533, they brought much of western South America under one rule. It was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America.

Their capital was Cusco. Their official language was Quechua. Historians estimate that a small noble class ruled about ten million people.

The state ran on labour. Under the mit’a system, people owed work to the government. That work built roads, bridges, terraces and forts. The Inca road system, the Qhapaq Nan, was about 40,000 kilometres long.

The Incas had no writing like ours. They kept records with quipus. These were knotted cords. The knots recorded numbers, and officials used them for accounts.

• 1438-1533: the Inca empire, Tawantinsuyu.
• Capital Cusco. Official language Quechua.
• Mit’a: labour service owed to the state.
• The Qhapaq Nan road system ran about 40,000 km.
• Quipus: knotted cords used for records.

6How did the Incas build, and what is Machu Picchu?

Inca builders were famous for their stonework. They cut huge stones so well that they fit tightly. Many walls stand without mortar. The fortress of Sacsayhuaman near Cusco is a fine example.

Machu Picchu is the best-known Inca site. It sits on a ridge at 2,430 metres. It was built around 1450. Most scholars think it was an estate for the emperor Pachacuti. No written record confirms this.

The site was not unknown to local people. In 1911, the American historian Hiram Bingham III brought it to world attention. Peru made it a National Historic Sanctuary in 1981. UNESCO listed it as a World Heritage Site in 1983.

• Inca walls were dry stone, fitted without mortar.
• Machu Picchu: built about 1450, at 2,430 m.
• Likely an estate of Pachacuti.
• Known locally. Brought to world attention in 1911.
• UNESCO site since 1983.

7How did the Spanish end these empires?

The Spanish arrived in the early sixteenth century. Hernan Cortes reached Mexico in 1519. With his small army and many Indian allies, he overthrew the Aztec Empire by 1521.

The Inca fell next. In 1532, Francisco Pizarro led 168 Spanish soldiers into Inca lands. At Cajamarca, they captured the Sapa Inca Atahualpa. Fighting went on for decades. The last Inca state fell in 1572.

The Spanish did not win alone. Local allies mattered. Many peoples ruled by the Aztecs and Incas joined the invaders against their old masters.

• 1519-1521: Cortes and allies overthrow the Aztecs.
• 1532: Pizarro captures Atahualpa at Cajamarca.
• Last Inca state falls in 1572.
• Indian allies helped the Spanish win.

8What are the exam traps?

• Do not mix up the three peoples. Aztecs = Mexico, Maya = rainforest, Incas = Andes.
• Quipu is Inca. Glyph writing is Maya.
• The Maya did not vanish. Their descendants live in the region today.
• Machu Picchu was known locally. Bingham brought it to world attention.
• The Aztecs expanded chinampas. They did not invent them.