What is plate tectonics? Earthquakes and volcanoes
Plate tectonics: The world as seen from space (flattened out) The continents move around When you look at a map of the world, it seems as though it was always [...]
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09, 2017
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09, 2017
Science in Central America and South America
A rubber ball made by the Olmec people (about 1000 BC) Invention of rubber With different natural resources available to them, the people of South America and Central America invented different things than [...]
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09, 2017
Coca leaves – South American medicine
History of coca leaves: Coca farming in the Andes Mountains When did coca plants evolve? Like potatoes, tomatoes, and tobacco, coca plants grow wild in the Andes Mountains of South America. They probably evolved [...]
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09, 2017
Central and South American religion
Maya Corn King on a plate Polytheism in the Americas The people who lived in South and Central America before 1500 were polytheistic - they believed in many different gods. Because they [...]
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09, 2017
Who were the Valdivia people? South American history
Valdivian carving, ca. 3500-2000 BC The first people in Ecuador People probably first reached Ecuador by boat, about 13,000 BC. They were coming down the Pacific Coast from North America. These people settled [...]
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09, 2017
Norte Chico history – South America
Norte Chico building: Stepped platform at Caral (ca. 2200 BC) When did people first reach Peru? People probably first arrived in Peru about 13,000 BC. They were following the Pacific coast south [...]
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09, 2017
Who were the Nazca? South American history
Nazca lines - a giant monkey drawn on the desert floor Nazca replace the Chavin After the Chavin state collapsed about 250 BC, two new states formed in Peru - the Moche in the [...]
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09, 2017
Who were the Moche? South American history
Moche portrait of a blind man, 400-500 AD (thanks to Oberlin College) When did the Moche get started? The collapse of the Chavin state in Peru, about 250 BC, seems to have opened [...]
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09, 2017
Who are the Mapuche? South American history
Changos whale hunt, El Madano, ca. 1000 AD (before the Mapuche) When did people first reach Chile? There were probably people living in Chile (a narrow strip of land in [...]
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09, 2017
South and Central American history
The Andes mountains run down the Pacific side of South America People first came to Central and South America probably around 20,000 years ago. They were probably traveling south from North America, though [...]
