Timeline Of Ancient America
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