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Ancient America

"Ancient" is kind of a relative term. If you're talking about Asia or Europe, ancient refers back thousands of years. In relation to the Americas, however, it describes a time that in the rest of the world is known as the Renaissance or the Early Modern Period. That's not because North and South America don't have history going back further, but because that history is largely unknown.

The oldest American civilizations, the "great" civilizations, are mostly found in Mexico and South America: the Aztecs and Maya in Mexico, and the Inca Empire in Peru. They all left behind plenty of artifacts, but written language was scarce, and the hieroglyphs archaeologists have found are largely difficult to translate. We have mostly religious sites, ruined private and civic buildings, and artwork to piece together their stories.

It also doesn't help that the first Europeans to meet up with these groups were fierce and greedy. Explorers and traders were more interested in gold and slaves than they were in anthropological study, and they spread chaos, fear and violence throughout an area no less violent but maintaining a sense of balance before the European arrival.

In North America, Indian tribes were smaller and less advanced culturally (art, architecture, math, etc.), though alliances like the Iroquois League evidenced a highly advanced social organization and government. The League was an association of various tribes protected by alliance, and it was already firmly in place when European settlers and explorers first arrived in the 17th century.

20th century historians like to posit theories of the origins of all these cultures, and also to villify the "white men" as much as possible. Some of the former are pretty far-fetched, and most of the latter attempts are immoderate. Yes, men like Cortes were unscrupulous and did much more harm than good, but there were good and bad explorers, and the natives weren't exactly saints, either.

The best thing to come of the European discovery of the New World was the spread of the Gospel to people who'd never heard it. This is ultimately the best part of any story—the part where humans, bloody and wicked and on the brink of collapse, are redeemed and renewed through the working of the Holy Spirit. Some of the most compelling missionary stories came from the wreckage of ancient American cultures, and for that we can rejoice and thank God for His mercy and lovingkindness, even to the most oppressed people.

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he's a husband and father who loves church, good food, and weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur. Read more of his reviews here.
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500 Nations
by Alvin M. Josephy, Jr.
1st edition from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
$28.00 (1 in stock)
Americans Before Columbus
by Elizabeth Baity, illustrated by C.B. Falls
from Viking Press
for 5th-10th grade
1952 Newbery Honor Book
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$14.00 (1 in stock)
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from Houghton Mifflin
for 4th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Ancient America
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by Jonathan Norton Leonard
from Time-Life Books
for 9th-Adult
in Great Ages of Man (Location: ADU-HISGAM)
Ancient Maya
by Lila Perl
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Ancient America (Location: HISW-ANAM)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
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by Suzanne Strauss Art
from Pemblewick Press
for 6th-9th grade
in Ancient America (Location: HISW-ANAM)
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Sonia Bleeker's Tribes of the Americas
by Sonia Bleeker, illustrated by Kisa Sasaki
from William Morrow & Company
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
Aztec and Maya Myths
by Karl Taube
from British Museum Press
for 6th-12th grade
in Ancient America (Location: HISW-ANAM)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Aztecs
Journey Into Civilization
by Robert Nicholson and Claire Watts
from Chelsea House Publishing
for 4th-7th grade
in Ancient America (Location: HISW-ANAM)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
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Sightseers Essential Travel Guides to the Past
by Camilla Reid
Har/Map from Kingfisher
for 2nd-5th grade
in Clearance: History & Geography (Location: ZCLE-HIS)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Before Columbus
by Charles C. Mann
from Atheneum
for 4th-8th grade
in Ancient America (Location: HISW-ANAM)
$24.99 $18.00 (1 in stock)
Before Columbus
by Charles C. Mann
from Atheneum
for 4th-8th grade
in Ancient America (Location: HISW-ANAM)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Captive
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from HMH Books for Young Readers
for 5th-8th grade
Hans Christian Anderson Award
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$9.00 (2 in stock)
Coloring Book of Incas, Aztecs & Mayas
from Bellerophon Books
for 1st-5th grade
in Ancient America (Location: HISW-ANAM)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Cortes and the Aztec Conquest
by Irwin R. Blacker
from American Heritage Publishing Co.
for 6th-10th grade
in Horizon Caravel Books (Location: VIN-HOR)
Cultural Atlas for Young People: Ancient America
by Marion Wood
1st edition from Facts On File
Ancient History Reference/Atlas for 4th-8th grade
in Oversized History Books (Location: HISW-OVER)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Cultural Atlas for Young People: Ancient Maya & Aztec Civilizations
by Marion Wood
3rd edition from Facts On File
Ancient History Reference/Atlas for 4th-8th grade
in Oversized History Books (Location: HISW-OVER)
$35.00 $18.00 (1 in stock)
Dark Star of Itza
by Alida Malkus, illustrated by Lowell Houser
1st edition from Harcourt, Brace & Company
for 5th-8th grade
1931 Newbery Honor Book
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
DK Eyewitness: Aztec, Inca & Maya
by Elizabeth Baquedano
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 4th-6th grade
in Ancient America (Location: HISW-ANAM)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
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from Houghton Mifflin
for 6th-12th grade
in Houses & Homes (Location: HISMC-HH)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Gods and Goddesses of the Ancient Maya
by Leonard Everett Fisher
from Holiday House
for 1st-4th grade
in Ancient America (Location: HISW-ANAM)
History of US Book 1
History of US Book 1
by Joy Hakim
3rd Revised Edition from Oxford University
American History Reference for 5th-9th grade
in History of US (Location: HISA-HAKIM)
$15.95 $11.00 (1 in stock)
How to Be an Aztec Warrior
by Fiona MacDonald
from National Geographic
for 3rd-6th grade
in Ancient America (Location: HISW-ANAM)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
If You Were There: Aztec Times
by Antony Mason
from Simon and Schuster
for 3rd-8th grade
in Ancient America (Location: HISW-ANAM)
Inca
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by Sonia Bleeker, illustrated by Patricia Boodell
from William Morrow & Company
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
Inca and Spaniard
by Albert Marrin
from Atheneum
for 9th-Adult
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
Incans, Aztecs, Mayans
by John Holzmann
from Sonlight Curriculum, Ltd.
for 3rd-6th grade
in Ancient America (Location: HISW-ANAM)
$4.50 (5 in stock)
Incas
by Rosemary Rees
from Heinemann Educational Books
for 4th-6th grade
in Clearance: History & Geography (Location: ZCLE-HIS)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Indian Life in Pre-Columbian North America - Coloring Book
Dover Coloring Books
by John Green & Stanley Appelbaum
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-6th grade
in History of America Coloring Books (Location: COL-HISA)
$4.99
Kingfisher Atlas of the Ancient World
from Kingfisher
for 2nd-6th grade
in Historical & Cultural Atlases (Location: HISRF-ATLAS)
$11.00 (1 in stock)
Lady of Palenque
by Anna Kirwan
from Scholastic Inc.
for 3rd-6th grade
in Royal Diaries (Location: SER-ROYAL)
Life During the Great Civilizations: The Inca
by Charles & Linda George
from Blackbirch Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Ancient America (Location: HISW-ANAM)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Life in Ancient Mexico - Coloring Book
Dover Coloring Books
by John Green
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-6th grade
in History of America Coloring Books (Location: COL-HISA)
$5.99
Lost City
by Ted Lewin
Reprint from Puffin Books
for 3rd-7th grade
in Latin & South America (Location: HISMC-LAT)
$8.99
Maya
by Jerome Martin
from Usborne
for 3rd-6th grade
in Ancient America (Location: HISW-ANAM)
$2.70 (1 in stock)
Maya
by Sheri Bell-Rehwoldt
2nd edition from Nomad Press
for 5th-7th grade
in Ancient America (Location: HISW-ANAM)
Mystery of the Maya
by Peter Lourie
from Boyds Mill Press
for 2nd-5th grade
in Ancient America (Location: HISW-ANAM)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Native America on the Eve of Discovery
by Suzanne Strauss Art
from Pemblewick Press
for 6th-9th grade
in Ancient America (Location: HISW-ANAM)
North American Indian Burial Customs
by Dr. H. C. Yarrow
First Edition from Eagle's View Publishing
for 6th-Adult
in Native Americans (Location: HISA-19NAT)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
One Small Blue Bead
by Byrd Baylor, illustrated by Ronald Himler
from Charles Scribner's Sons
for 3rd-4th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Pueblo
by Charlotte Yue
from Harcourt Brace Jovanich
for 4th-6th grade
in Ancient America (Location: HISW-ANAM)
$5.00 (2 in stock)
Runner in the Sun
Land of the Free Series
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1st edition from John C. Winston
Historical fiction for 6th-10th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Secrets in Stone
by Laurie Coulter, illustrated by Sarah Jane English
from Hyperion/Madison Press
for 3rd-8th grade
in Ancient America (Location: HISW-ANAM)
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Step Into the Aztec & Maya Worlds
by Fiona Macdonald
from Hermes House
for 3rd-7th grade
in Ancient America (Location: HISW-ANAM)
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Step Into the Inca World
by Philip Steele
from Hermes House
for 3rd-7th grade
in Ancient America (Location: HISW-ANAM)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Throw Stone
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for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
True Book: Ancient Maya
by Jackie Maloy
from Scholastic Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Ancient America (Location: HISW-ANAM)
$4.50 (3 in stock)
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by DK Publishing
from DK Publishing
for 4th-8th grade
in Oversized History Books (Location: HISW-OVER)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Warriors Through the Ages - Coloring Book
Dover Coloring Books
by Bruce LaFontaine
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-6th grade
in History of the World Coloring Books (Location: COL-HISW)
$4.99
We Were There with Cortes and Montezuma
We Were There #25
by Benjamen Appel, illustrated by Reynold Pollack
from Grosset & Dunlap
Historical Fiction for 5th-9th grade
in We Were There Series (Location: VIN-HIS)
Well of Sacrifice
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1st edition from Clarion Books
for 4th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$8.00 (2 in stock)
Young Inca Prince
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from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Historical fiction for 5th-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
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