AD 600-1000

In North America during this period, plant cultivation developed into intensive agriculture. In the south-east, the Pueblo culture, living in the area covered today by the state of New Mexico, had established large villages. However, unlike many areas of the world, the development of agriculture and permanent settlements did not completely replace hunter gathering.

The societies of Central America and Mexico had constructed a number of major urban settlements and cities. They had developed writing systems, a sophisticated understanding of astronomy and a deep concern with time and predicting events using various calendars.

In tropical South America, in the Amazon rainforest, archaeologists have shown that there were large settlements of many thousands of people who built large earthworks and produced fine pottery. Cultivation of manioc was widespread by this time. Most settlements were on the banks of big rivers, giving access to huge quantities of fish.

In the Andes two large groups – effectively states – dominated the region. Tiwanaku, centred on the southern shore of Lake Titicaca, spread south into what is now northern Chile and Argentina. Further north the Wari state spread throughout what is now the central Peruvian highlands and along the coast.