Economy in Early American Civilizations: Maya,
Aztecs and Inca
by Barry Wright
Essay: Economy in Early American Civilizations: Maya, Aztecs and Inca
Pages: 10
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The economic systems of early American societies were very similar. One of these societies, the Mayans, lived in
southern Mexico and northern Central America from the 3rd to the 10th century CE, and they relied on the trade
of goods such as obsidian and crops such as cacao beans. Another American civilization was the Aztec civilization.
They were located in the Valley of Mexico around the 13th to 16th century CE, and they used slash-and-burn
farming to plant crops to trade. The Inca Empire existed from the 13th to the 16th century CE along the Pacific
coast of South America near the Andes Mountains. The Inca used terrace farming and irrigation to grow crops
such as corn. The economies of these early American civilizations were heavily based on trade and agriculture.
The Ancient Maya civilization had an advanced trade system made up of short, medium and long trade routes and
a big market for a wide range of goods and materials. Modern researchers have used a variety of methods to
understand the Maya economy, including evidence from excavations, illustrations on pottery, scientific
“fingerprinting” of materials such as obsidian and examination of historical documents. The Maya didn't use
"money" in today’s mind set, there was no global accepted form of currency which could be used anywhere in the
Maya region. Even valuable items, such as cacao seeds, salt, obsidian, or gold usually varied in value from one
region or city-state to another, often increasing in value the farther away these items were from their source.
There were two kinds of goods shown globally by the Maya: prestige items and subsistence items. Prestige items
were things like jade, gold, copper, highly decorated pottery, ritual items, and any other less-practical i...
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