The Aztec Empire was located in central Mexico on a lake surrounded by high mountains. The Aztecs developed the islands and land around the lake to support their civilization.

It was highly developed intellectually, artistically, and socially. Most famously, they had a polytheistic religion that was well known for its rituals of human sacrifice.

It was similar to a monarchy, which is when the emperor or king is the ruler. The Aztec empire was made up of city states known as altepetl. Each altepetl was ruled by a supreme leader (tlatoani) and a supreme judge and administrator (cihuacoatl).

The Aztec constructed floating gardens, called chinampas, on the lake that surrounded the capital of Tenochtitlan. They used chinampas to grow many different types of food. The dam system they created allowed them to collect freshwater from the rain which greatly increased agriculture.

The civilization interacted with their environment by developing agricultural techniques by growing crops at different altitudes and had irrigation systems. They also constructed many communities and were an open center for trade.

The Inca believed that their emperor was a descendant of the Sun God, Inti. Worship of Inti also included worship of the Inca Emperor (Sapa Inca) as his descendant.

They had a king that had absolute power over the entire empire and the son of the king would be the successor of the throne. They would keep order with governors whom were controlled by the king himself.

The way this civilization supported themselves was through taxes. The citizens of the civilization had to pay in order to maintain their safety and security and in return they were offered the resources they needed to live. In addition, they also supported themselves through their trade and agriculture.

This civilization was structured, as stated before, as a monarchy. There is a king and below them are governors who take care of the communities and religions they rule over. Finally, the bottom tier is composed of citizens. There were also strong family relationships.

Technologies the Incas used were new agricultural techniques (growing in high altitudes and strange locations too) and how they communicated through knots (language).

They were characterized for making and living on top of the mounds. Originally, the Cahokian territory consisted of 120 mounds, but the ruins only have 80 mounds. They lived on "fertile lands" off of the Mississippi River.

They built mounds, mainly as temples for religious rituals. They had distinctive murals, pottery, and form of art. They had big sundials use to tell time or when rituals take place. It was one of the largest civilizations of its time in North America.

The chief lived on the highest mound of the community and was responsible for keeping balance between the spiritual forces of the "upper and lower world."

Cahokia did not use money but instead bartered for trade, which helped the civilization gather resources for them to grow and prosper. It gathered resources from the fertile lands off of the Mississippi River (situated across the river from modern St. Louis, Missouri) which made this civilization grown and prosper.

Most members of Cahokia were engaged in agriculture with corn (maize) as the central focus. Single family groups were united by family relationships across the entire tribe to form a larger community.

Poetry, murals, mounds, and sun dials were used to expand their empire. They helped them express certain things, make areas for buildings to be placed, and were able to tell the time for rituals or more using sundials.