Mesoamerica, spanning Mexico and Central America, saw early agricultural development around 12,000 to 10,000 years ago, with societies cultivating crops like maize. By 3000 B.C. in South America and 1500 B.C. in Mesoamerica, these communities evolved into early urban centers. The Maya, flourishing from 300 B.C. to 900 A.D., excelled in farming techniques, developed a hieroglyphic writing system, and made significant advances in mathematics and astronomy. The Aztecs, starting in 1325 A.D., built Tenochtitlan, expanded through military conquests, and practiced advanced medicine and complex religious rituals. The Incas, emerging around 1450 A.D., created a vast empire in the Andes, known for their engineering feats, sophisticated agricultural terraces, and successful medical practices, but declined after Spanish conquest in the early 1500s.