Overview
In central Mexico the Toltecs of Tula rose and fell, and by the 15th century the Aztec (Mexica) Triple Alliance ruled a tribute empire from Tenochtitlan, one of the largest cities in the world. The northern Maya centered first on Chichen Itza and later on Mayapan, while metalworking and long-distance trade spread.
Key developments
North of Mesoamerica, the Mississippian culture built Cahokia near modern St. Louis, a city of great earthen mounds, and mound centers spread across the Southeast. In the arid Southwest the Ancestral Puebloans raised the great houses of Chaco Canyon and the cliff dwellings of Mesa Verde before prolonged droughts forced migrations.
End and transition
In 1519 Hernan Cortes landed on the Gulf coast, and by 1521 a Spanish and Indigenous coalition had destroyed Tenochtitlan, ending Aztec rule. Old World diseases and conquest would soon shatter Indigenous societies across the continent.