On the Northwest coast of South America , the Moche culture flourished between A.D. 100 and 700 . The greatest military power among pre-Inca culture was the Wari culture ,which dominated the high desert of central Peru from about A.D. 500 to 1000 .
Ancient Pueblo
About the same time as the Aztec emerged in Mesoamerica , The Inca began their conquest of western South America . Like other early civilizations , the Inca Empire was built on agriculture .
Mound Builders
Thirty distinct cultures lived in the Pacific Northwest region . The skillful wood carvings of Northwest Coast cultures reveal their relationship to the natural world and their belief in a spirit world
Mound Builders
As early as 1000 B.C. , the ancient Pueblo began to farm in various parts of the arid Southwest desert . One of the most impressive ancient Pueblo settlement was Pueblo Bonito , located in Chaco Canyon in northern New Mexico .
East of the Mississippi River , woodlands and prairies covered the lands that stretch between the Great Lakes and the Gulf of Mexico . The largets and most complex city that the mound builders created was at Cahokia , in southwest Illinois .
The East Woodland Indians food , shelter , clothing , weapons , and tools came from the forests around them .They lived in villages near a lake or stream . The Woodlandindians lived in wigwams and longhouses .
