Early American Civilizations Research Paper

Advancements and Achievements of Early American Civilizations

Modern culture has been greatly shaped and influenced by past civilizations. Ancient civilizations took the first steps to many of the advancements we have today. Although many of them are often overlooked, these civilizations made groundbreaking advancements in language, writing systems, agriculture, math, and architecture. Between 300 and 1500 AD, the Mayan, the Incan, and the Aztec civilizations existed In the Americas. Although they had significant differences, these ancient civilizations shared common ground in that they were all very advanced for their time periods, and that they each made their own developments and accomplishments that set them apart from each other and from

They also created their own complex writing system of hieroglyphics. The Mayans made advancements in the fields of mathematics and astrology. They were one of the only early civilizations to understand the concept of zero, and they created a 365-day solar calendar, as well as a 260-day religious calendar.

The Mayans are best known for their developments and accomplishments in architecture. They built plazas, large palaces, temples, pyramids, and courts for playing ball games. An example of their architectural excellence was a pyramid built in Tikal, which was the tallest structure in the Americas at the time, and kept that status until the twentieth century. What set Mayan architecture apart from other architecture was that the Mayans used engineering skill in their construction. For example, they took into consideration factors such as stress and strain, instead of simply setting one stone on top of the

The Aztecs invented chewing gum, when they found that the thick, milky liquid of the sapodilla tree could be chewed and hardened into gum. They were also responsible for extracting the sap from the cacao bean to make a chocolate drink. Along with the Inca, the Aztecs were advanced in medicine, and they created Anti spasmodic medication from the passionflower to relax muscles in preparation for surgery. The Aztecs were one of the first to introduce compulsory education for children. They also developed many tools and weapons, including drills made from reeds and bones, and the macuahuitl, which was a wooden club with sharp pieces of volcanic glass used to disable