Pre-Columbian Religions

of the Great Empires of
of North America,
South America,
and MesoAmerica

Pre-Columbian New World Religions

Native American Sacret Texts: http://www.sacred-texts.com/nam/
Religion of Maya, Inca, Aztecs: http://www.people.memphis.edu/
~kenichls/1301MesoAmReligion.html
Mesoweb: http://www.mesoweb.com/
Peru Interactive Map: http://peru-travel.com/Peru_Map.htm
Map of Ancient Andes: http://www.ancientperu.com/content/map/index.html
Maps of Mesoamerican sites: http://www.historylink102.com/mesoamerican/
Map of Cahokia region: http://www.interlog.com/~gilgames/cahokia.htm

Peru - Bolivia
Map: http://www.crystalinks.com/incaruins.html

Pre-Inca Cultures

The Ulluchu Man, Sipan, Peru

Moche pottery http://www.peru-explorer.com/preco.htm

The Nasca, ca. 250-750 A.D., built the geoglyphs known as the Nazca Lines at the southern coast of Peru http://www.crystalinks.com/nasca.html see Blythe, CA geoglyphs: http://www.hows.org.uk/personal/ hillfigs/foreign/colo/colora.htm

Lord of Sipan, Moche, Peru http://www.go2peru.com/cix_foto1.htm

Next to Sipan on the coast is the land of Sican Sican headdress, Peru http://www.innerperu.net/sipan.html

Sican Gold Cup ---------------- Sican mask Sican burial: http://amerique-latine.com/ala/fr/Sican.html

Machu Pichu of the Inca known as the Tawantinsuyu

Incas built over 18,000 miles of roads

Inca pottery figure

Were-Jaguar (like werewolf) Olmec dwarf ceramic

Olmec region Olmec figure from Vera Cruz holding a skull and wearing an eagle headdress associated with the Olmec death cult and human sacrifice rituals. http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/CIVAMRCA/OLMECS.HTM Map showing where Olmec artifacts were found: http://www.habu2.net/olmec/olmec_2.htm

Zapotecs, from ca. 500 B.C. Oaxaca: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zapotecs http://www.angelfire.com/ca/human origins/religion.html#zapotec

Mayans, from ca. 1000 B.C. Pacal the Great of Palenque El Castillo Mayan pyramid at Chichen Itza - Interior of pyramid with Chac Mool altar and Jaguar throne http://www.internet-at-work.com/hos_mcgrane/chichen/chichen_index.html

Mayans, ca. 1000 B.C. to decline from 800 A.D.

Mayan Temple, Tikal http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/ CIVAMRCA/MAYAS.HTM http://www.lost-civilizations.net/mayan-religion-popol-vuh.html http://www.civilization.ca/civil/maya /mmc03eng.html

Mayan incense burner, Palenque http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayans

Toltecs, ca. 500 A.D. to decline ca.1100 A.D.

Toltec Observatory at Chichen Itza

http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/CIVAMRCA/TEO.HTM

http://www.crystalinks.com/toltecs.html
http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/CIVAMRCA/TOLTECS.HTM

Teotihuacan, ca. 300 B.C. to 450 A.D. Teotihuacan: view of the "Camino de los Muertos" from the Pyramid of the Sun Teotihuacan Pyramid of the Sun

Teotihuacan Longest-based pyramid in world is the Aztec Tipanipa at Cholula Aztec Sacrifice

Aztecs

The Aztecs, also known as Mexicas or Tenochcas were the last great empire of the Americas from the 14th to the 16th centuries A.D., but their arrival in central Mexico was much earlier as the last Nahuatl-speaking people to migrate downward Wall of skulls, Tenochtitlan, this one is architectural, but others were made of real skulls

Stairs to top of Aztec temple, Mexico City

Temple at Tenochtitlan with dual altars for the gods: Huitzilopochtli and Tlaloc

Aztec Chac Mool altar, El Templo Mayor http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aztecs

http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/CIVAMRCA/AZTECS.HTM

United States

Pueblo Culture (Anasazi), ca. 1-1300 A.D.
Ancestors of the modern Pueblo Indians of the 4 Corners Region of the Southwest, the ancient
Pueblo Culture probably developed from an older culture, the Oshara, from about 1200 B.C.
Linguistically, the Pueblo peoples are distantly related to the Aztecs.
Map: http://www.beloit.edu/~museum/logan/southwest/anasazi/introduction.htm

Mesa Verde, CO cliff ruins Chaco Canyon ruins from NM

Petroglyphs from UT Anasazi bowl from AZ

Cahokia, ca. 700-1400 A.D.
Map of Cahokia region: http://www.interlog.com/~gilgames/cahokia.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cahokia

http://angam.ang.univie.ac.at/ LiveMiss/Cahokia/ http://freetravel.cc/images/pf/us/ illinois/ cahokia2/album1.php http://www.cahokiamounds.com/ virtual_tour.html