Timeline of ancient America

AD 1

c. 1 El Mirador in northern Guatemala, perhaps the greatest early Maya city, is at its height

c. 1 The growing city of Teotihuacan in the Valley of Mexico has a population of more than 40,000 people

c. 50 Nazca culture flourishes in coastal Peru; the Nazca create vast, enigmatic lines and patterns in the desert

AD 100

c. 100 The Moche civilization on the Peruvian coast begins; it flourishes at Sipan

c. 100 Hopewell culture flourishes on upper Mississippi

c. 100 Mogollon culture develops in southwestern United States; interesting painted pottery is produced

c. 100-200 Monte Alban centre in Oaxaca, Mexico, at greatest extent of its power

AD 200

c. 200-375 First period of major construction at city of Tiahuanaco, near Lake Titicaca in Bolivia

c. 250 In Guatemala, Honduras, and eastern Mexico, classic period of Maya civilization begins

AD 300

c. 375-600 City of Tiahuanaco continues to develop; eventually, 50,000 people live there

c. 378 Rivalry between leading Maya cities Tikal and Uaxactôn ends in invasion and capture of Uaxactôn by Tikal, which goes on to great prosperity

AD 400

RELIGIOUS WORLDS

c. 400 Zapotec state with its capital at Monte Alban flourishes in southern Mexico

AD 500

c. 500 Thule people move into Alaska

c. 500 Hopewell culture in northern America builds elaborate burial mounds, makes pottery, and uses iron weapons

AD 600

c. 600 Tiahuanaco civilization begins in Bolivia

c. 600 Height of Maya civilization

c. 600 Rise of Huari in Peru

c. 650 Hopewell people established along the upper Mississippi river

c. 650 Teotihuacan in Mexico thrives as an important trade centre

AD 700

c. 700 Rise of Mississippi culture in the Mississippi river basin; flat-topped mounds built as temple bases

c. 700-900 In eastern Arizona, Pueblo people live in houses above ground for the first time

c. 750-800 Collapse of Teotihuacan civilization in Mexico

AD 800

NEW NATIONS

c. 800 Hohokam people expand settlements and enlarge houses

c. 850 Maya civilization in the southern lowlands of Mexico collapses; many cities are abandoned

c. 890 Huari empire begins to collapse in Peru

AD 900

c. 900-c. 1100 Maya power in northern Mexico begins to fade

c. 900-c. 1100 Pueblo settlements in North America; inhabitants build circular rooms with wall benches

c. 900-c. 1150 Hohokam culture flourishes in Arizona and New Mexico, North America

c. 900 Toltecs build capital at Tula, Mexico

919-1130 Pueblo peoples live at Pueblo Bonito, Chaco Canyon, New Mexico

990s Toltec people take over Chichen Itza

AD 1000

MONKS AND INVADERS

c. 1000 Farmers in Peru grow sweet potatoes and corn

c. 1000 Leif Ericson reaches North America

AD 1100

c. 1100 Height of Chimu civilization at Chan Chan, on the northwest coast of Peru

c. 1100 Anasazi people in North America build cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde, Chaco Canyon, and the Canyon de Chelly

1100s Rise of Incas in Peru; they were farmers led by warrior chiefs

1100-1200 Hohokam people of Arizona, North America, begin to build platform mounds

c. 1150 End of Hopewell culture in North America

1170s Mexican Toltecs' capital at Tula overthrown by fierce Chichimec nomads by the northern desert

c. 1180 Toltecs driven out of Chichen Itza

c. 1190 End of first period in which flat-topped mounds were built as bases for temples in the Mississippi river area

AD 1200

CONQUEST AND PLAGUE

c. 1200 Cahokia in North America, city of temple mounds, at its height

c. 1200 Incas in Peru centred around growing settlement of Cuzco

c. 1200-50 Complexes of apartment blocks and circular kivas built at Cliff Canyon and Fewkes Canyon, Colorado

c. 1250s Chimu people expand their empire along northern coast of Peru

c. 1250s Maya revival; following collapse of Chich»n Itz?, a new capital is built at Mayapan

AD 1300

c. 1300 Incas begin to expand their empire throughout the central Andes

c. 1325 Aztecs found city of Tenochtitlan (now Mexico City) on an island in Lake Texcoco

c. 1370 Acampitchtli chosen king of Aztecs

c. 1390s Viracocha becomes eighth Inca ruler; an Inca myth tells how he travelled to the Pacific and never returned

AD 1400

THE EXPANSION OF KNOWLEDGE

c. 1400 Pueblo people abandon northern sites and gather in large towns

1400s Expansion of Aztec empire in Mexico

1400s Inca empire enters period of expansion

1426-40 Aztecs at Tenochtitlan form ÑTriple Allianceæ with neighbouring cities of Texcoco and Tlacopan; emperor Itzcoatl reorganizes state to concentrate power in his hands

c. 1438 Inca emperor Viracocha dies; his successor Pachacuti expands Inca empire north to Ecuador

1440s Incas build great fortress at Cuzco

1440-68 Reign of Aztec emperor Moctezuma I; he and his warriors conquer large areas of eastern Mexico, taking many people prisoner

c. 1450 Inca city of Machu Picchu built on high ridge above Urubamba river in Peru

1455 Huge temple built to Aztec war god Huitzilopochtli in Tenochtitlan

1470s Collapse of Chimu culture in northern Peru

1471-93 Emperor Topa Inca expands Inca empire into Bolivia, Chile, and Argentina

1473 Tenochtitlan absorbs neighbouring Aztec city, Tlatelolco

1486-1502 Rule of Aztec emperor Ahuitzotl; Aztec empire at height of power in Mexico

AD 1500

THE GREAT RULERS

1500s French exploration in Canada begins

1502-04 Columbus's fourth voyage; he reaches Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, and Colombia

1513 Vasco Nô'ez de Balboa, Spanish explorer, first sights the Pacific Ocean

1519-21 Hernando Cort's, Spanish soldier-explorer, brings down the Aztec empire in Mexico

1532-33 Francisco Pizarro, Spanish soldier, invades and destroys Inca empire in Peru

1534 French explorer, Jacques Cartier, makes first expedition to settle in Canada

1540s Spanish arrive in California

1576 Martin Frobisher, English explorer, sets out to find a northwest passage to China; he reaches the Canadian coast, and Frobisher Bay is named after him

1584 Sir Walter Raleigh sends an exploring party to Virginia in North America, followed a year later by a colonizing expedition, which fails