Aztec men sharing a meal What did early people eat? When people first came to Central and South America, perhaps about 15,000 BC, they hunted and gathered all of their food. They picked wild potatoes, [...]
Sapodilla tree - where chewing gum comes from Who invented chewing gum? Nobody knows when the first person began to chew gobs of sap from trees, but it was probably [...]
A llama in Bolivia - llamas live in South America Where did llamas come from? Llamas evolved from camels. Camels evolved in North America about 45 million years ago. They lived in the [...]
The Andes mountains run down the Pacific side of South America South America is a long, narrow continent running from the equator down nearly to the South Pole. So the north [...]
Olmec Pyramid, La Venta, Mexico (500 BC) The earliest big buildings from South America are in Ecuador and Peru, along the Pacific coast. The Norte Chico people and the Valdivia people built [...]
Mexican history: Tenochtitlan under attack (painted in the 1600s) The Aztecs in Mexico In 1500 AD, the Aztec controlled most of what is now Mexico. People also called them the Mexica. More [...]
South American history: Aztec doctor treating people with smallpox (1500s AD, Codex Mendoza) The Inca, Brazil, and Chile In 1500 AD, the Inca Empire dominated the east coast of South America. Further north, [...]
Arawak or Carib woman swimming with her kids - Caribbean islands ca. 1580 AD Who are the Carib people? Arawak people had conquered the Caribbean islands about 300 BC. Then about 1200 AD, [...]
History of Brazil: The Tapuia people, ca. 1650 (by Albert Eckhout) Tupi war with Tapuia In the late 1400s AD, the Tupi people had just won a big war with the Tapuia people. [...]
Wax history: Bees make honeycomb out of wax to keep their honey in. Why do bees make wax? Honeybees make wax as part of their normal lives. They build the [...]
