Aztec, Maya and Inca timeline

This chart puts 12 Aztec, Maya and Andean civilizations on one timeline in order, from Olmec civilization (c. 1600 to 400 BCE) to Inca Empire (Tawantinsuyu) (c. 1438 to 1533 CE).

See it on the interactive chart

Mayan
Uto-Aztecan
Quechuan
People or culture without a state

The Olmec and the earlier Andean cultures are included so you can see what came before. Every bar links to a page listing the sources its dates were checked against.

In order

Olmec civilization

c. 1600 to 400 BCE. about 1,200 years. Gulf Coast and Oaxaca, Mesoamerica and Caribbean.

Generally regarded as the first civilization of Mesoamerica, in the lowlands of Veracruz and Tabasco. The Olmec carved colossal basalt heads, worked jade and made rubber balls for the ball game. Their language is unknown; an early Mixe-Zoquean language is a leading hypothesis.

Chavín culture

c. 900 to 250 BCE. about 650 years. capital Chavín de Huántar. Central Andean Highlands, South America.

Religious tradition centered on the temple of Chavín de Huántar, whose stone galleries hold the Lanzón. Its feline and serpent art, the first widespread style in the Andes, reached from Piura and Paracas on the coast to Pukara.

El Mirador

c. 600 BCE to 150 CE. about 749 years. Maya Lowlands and Highlands, Mesoamerica and Caribbean.

Major Preclassic Maya city in northern Guatemala, linked by raised causeways to Nakbe and El Tintal. Its La Danta pyramid rises about 72 m and is one of the largest in the world by volume. It was abandoned by about 150 CE.

Moche (Mochica)

c. 100 to 800 CE. about 700 years. capital Huacas de Moche (southern Moche). Peruvian Coast, South America.

North coast polities sharing one culture, famous for portrait vessels, metalwork and the adobe Huaca del Sol. The Lord of Sipán tomb was found intact in 1987. Floods and drought in the late 500s may have hindered their farming.

Classic Maya civilization

c. 250 to 900 CE. about 650 years. Maya Lowlands and Highlands, Mesoamerica and Caribbean.

Rival kingdoms ruled by divine kings who raised dated monuments using the Long Count calendar and wrote in Maya script, the only Mesoamerican writing system substantially deciphered. One by one the lowland cities stopped; the last Long Count date is from 909.

Tiwanaku

c. 400 to 1000 CE. about 600 years. capital Tiwanaku. Central Andean Highlands, South America.

Highland state near Lake Titicaca at about 3,800 m, with the Akapana platform mound and the Gateway of the Sun. Raised fields fed the capital and colonies reached Moquegua. Its language is unknown, possibly Puquina. It collapsed around 1000.

Wari Empire

c. 600 to 1000 CE. about 400 years. capital Huari. Central Andean Highlands, South America.

Empire of the Middle Horizon ruled from Huari near Ayacucho, with provincial centers such as Pikillacta near Cusco linked by roads. The earliest known khipu knotted cords, later used by the Inca, are attributed to the Wari.

Chichen Itza

c. 750 to 1100 CE. about 350 years. Maya Lowlands and Highlands, Mesoamerica and Caribbean.

One of the largest Maya cities, in northern Yucatán, with the stepped pyramid of Kukulcan, the largest ballcourt in ancient Mesoamerica and the Sacred Cenote, where offerings and human remains were deposited. It declined by 1100.

Chimú kingdom (Chimor)

c. 900 to 1470 CE. about 570 years. capital Chan Chan. Peruvian Coast, South America.

Coastal kingdom stretching about 1,000 km along northern Peru, ruled from Chan Chan, the largest adobe city in the Americas. Topa Inca Yupanqui conquered it around 1470 and took its last king, Minchançaman, to Cusco.

Mayapan

c. 1220 to 1441 CE. about 221 years. Maya Lowlands and Highlands, Mesoamerica and Caribbean.

Walled political capital of the Maya of Yucatán, ruled by the Cocom family, with 15,000 to 17,000 people. A revolt led by the Xiu sacked and burned it in 1441, and it was abandoned.

Aztec Empire (Triple Alliance)

1428 to 1521 CE. about 93 years. capital Tenochtitlan. Central and West Mexico, Mesoamerica and Caribbean.

Alliance of Tenochtitlan, Texcoco and Tlacopan that took tribute from about 38 provinces. Tenochtitlan held some 200,000 people when Cortés and his Tlaxcalan allies captured it in 1521.

Inca Empire (Tawantinsuyu)

c. 1438 to 1533 CE. about 95 years. capital Cusco. Central Andean Highlands, South America.

The largest empire of pre-Columbian America, reaching from Ecuador to central Chile, with around 10 million people and some 40,000 km of roads. Weakened by civil war and probably smallpox, it fell to Pizarro after Atahualpa's capture in 1532.

Major events

1200 BCE San Lorenzo rises as a major Olmec center. San Lorenzo becomes the largest city in Mesoamerica, from about 1200 to 900 BCE. Its rulers have colossal heads carved from basalt brought from the Tuxtla Mountains. Source: Wikipedia: San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán
900 BCE Chavín de Huántar becomes a pilgrimage center. The temple at Chavín becomes a pan-regional center where pilgrims come for rituals and an oracle, and Chavín art becomes the first widespread, recognizable artistic style in the Andes. Source: Wikipedia: Chavín de Huántar, Wikipedia: Chavín culture
600 Wari and Tiwanaku expand. Two highland polities spread their influence across the Andes, Wari through roads and administrative centers and Tiwanaku through colonies and trade. Source: Wikipedia: Wari Empire, Wikipedia: Tiwanaku polity
850 Classic Maya collapse. Southern lowland cities such as Tikal, Copán, Palenque and Calakmul decline in the 8th and 9th centuries, stop raising inscribed monuments and are abandoned, while northern Yucatán prospers. The causes are debated. Source: Wikipedia: Classic Maya collapse
1428 Triple Alliance formed. Tenochtitlan, Texcoco and Tlacopan defeat Azcapotzalco and form the alliance that becomes the Aztec Empire. Source: Wikipedia: Aztec Empire
1438 Pachacuti defeats the Chanka. In the traditional chronology, Pachacuti saves Cusco from the Chanka, takes the throne and begins the conquests that create Tawantinsuyu. Radiocarbon dates point to the early 1400s, and the Chanka story may be partly legend. Source: Wikipedia: Pachacuti, Wikipedia: Chanka
1521 Fall of Tenochtitlan. Cortés's Spanish force and thousands of Indigenous allies, mostly Tlaxcalans, besiege the Aztec capital, already devastated by smallpox, until it surrenders on 13 August 1521. Source: Wikipedia: Fall of Tenochtitlan
1532 Pizarro captures Atahualpa at Cajamarca. About 170 Spaniards seize the Inca emperor, fresh from victory in a civil war. Atahualpa is executed in 1533 despite paying a room full of gold. Source: Wikipedia: Battle of Cajamarca, Wikipedia: Atahualpa

Questions

What is the order of Aztec, Maya and Andean civilizations?

By start date: Olmec civilization, Chavín culture, El Mirador, Moche (Mochica), Classic Maya civilization, Tiwanaku, Wari Empire, Chichen Itza, Chimú kingdom (Chimor), Mayapan, Aztec Empire (Triple Alliance) and Inca Empire (Tawantinsuyu).

How many Aztec, Maya and Andean civilizations were there?

This timeline shows 12. Other lists count differently, depending on how they treat rival states and periods of division.

Which came first?

Olmec civilization, c. 1600 to 400 BCE, is the earliest on this timeline.

Where do these dates come from?

Each row's dates were checked against the sources listed on that row's own page, mostly English Wikipedia articles, which cite the underlying scholarship. Dates that are uncertain are marked c.