Research Paper on:
Pre Columbian Inca and Maya Civilizations

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
Inca empire grew to include most of Peru in addition to some parts of Chile, north west Argentina and the Bolivian plateau. The Maya were an agriculturally based civilization which  evolved through several periods from 2000 BC to 1500 AD until the Spanish invasion scattered the Maya although many still survive today. The Inca were said to have begun to  form productively as a group around the 12th century until the Spanish invasion in the mid 1500s. During their reign, the Mayans developed sophisticated agricultural methods, a writing system and  calendars which were also the basis for their religion which held a universal understanding and the existence of many gods. Their centralized cities were large and well structure and their  ceremonial rituals involved blood letting and human sacrifice. The Incas, also technologically advanced, did not develop a writing system but did develop a large network of roads, highly engineered architectural  cities and structures, terraces and irrigation throughout the mountains which provided for their expanding empire. The Inca worshipped the Sun god and believed their kings were descended from this god.  The Maya were a group of native Indian people who lived in regions of Southern Mexico, Belize, Guatemala and Honduras and were known  as the first culture in the New World to keep historical records in written form from 50 BC until the Spanish conquest in the 1500s. Their calendar inscriptions fall between  AD 292 to AD 900, also known as the Class period. Earlier Mayan culture is known as the Formative or Preclassic period which was from 2000 BC - AD 300  and the Postclassic period from AD 900 - AD 1500 (Miller, 2002). Although the Maya had existed in Mesoamerica during the Olmec dominance