The Ancient Americas

Overview

Through military conquest and political alliances, some societies transformed themselves into empires—state societies that gained control over other societies. These empires covered vast territories and included many unrelated groups of people with different backgrounds, languages, and beliefs. Rulers faced constant challenges keeping these different ethnic groups united.

To maintain their position of power over their territories, emperors continued to build on sophisticated, centralized governments. These governments developed advanced communications systems that, in some cases, included networks of roadways connecting administrative centers throughout the land. Art, religion, trade, and more may have been controlled by the government in an attempt to unify the empire's people.

To learn more about one of the first American empires, check out the Transition from State to Empire Video, with Dr. Ryan Williams and Dr. Donna Nash.

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Evidence of Empires
State societies and empires often share many characteristics—such as highly centralized governments and settlement patterns that include capital cities—but with empires, these characteristics appear on a much greater scale. In an empire, regional capitals that were once capital cities of independent societies are subject to the empire. Whole governments of these conquered societies are incorporated into the imperial bureaucracy. Archaeological evidence for an empire includes:

	Capital cities, evidenced by settlement patterns that place conquered regions and their previous capitals under the authority of the imperial capital, indicate that rulers directed the political, economic, military, and religious activities of distant regions.
	Bureaucracies, illustrated in elaborate depictions of ethnically diverse allies and subject rulers, as well as ranks of government officials, indicate that an extremely complex hierarchy of administrators carried out rulers' demands in conquered lands.
	Taxation, demonstrated by written records of tribute and service, indicates that rulers had begun requiring economic support from conquered peoples to keep the government running smoothly.
	Sophisticated communication systems, seen in networks of roadways, advanced record-keeping processes, and/or complex trading patterns, indicate that rulers maintained constant contact and exerted strict control over far-flung territories.
	Religious control, evidenced by "captured" temples and statues of foreign gods, indicates that rulers imposed common religious beliefs and assumed the religious power of their subjects to assert their authority throughout the land.

Only a small number of societies in the ancient Americas became empires, maintaining control over vast territories through a variety of sophisticated methods.

Continue to Empires and Capital Cities. >>