This links up to a couple of earlier threads of mine, but this one is going to be for the timeline as I am envisioning it. Basically, the idea is two PoD's: the success of wild rice agriculture and the failure of maize agriculture in the New World, with the effect of boosting Mississippian civilization and retarding the development of civilization in Mesoamerica.
I will be referring here to Iroquoian, Algonquian and Muskogee, these are only very vaguely correlated with OTL tribes, and are more akin to linguistic groupings. The cultures of those people are very different from OTL.
Mississippi Rice
Roughly 8000 BC: Earliest estimates of wild rice horticulture in Pinzonia (North America), though this date is controversial.
2800 BC: The Sanderoan (Mexican) settlement of Tehuacan sees the emergence of a strain of disease affecting the local teosinte plant, which will lead to a reduced population in later years and eventually dispersal.
2500 BC: Most conservative estimates of wild rice horticulture, based on discoveries around the southern Grandes Lagos region.
2500 BC to 1500 BC: Settled agricultural societies begin to form at various points throughout the Colombian continent. Pottery and the burial of the dead develop during this period.
1500 BC to 1000 BC: Wild rice cultivation and mound settlements spread rapidly through the Megalopotamian (Mississippian) region, as well as into the Temegua peninsula (Florida), up the St Dominic River (St Lawrence River), and along the Gulf and Atlantic coasts. Paddy field agriculture develops in the south. Funeral pots first developed in the Equayor river valley (Ohio River).
1000 BC – 200 BC: Consolidation of the Megalopotamian Agricultural Complex, comprised of wild rice, pumpkin, squash, goosefoot, sunflowers, little barley, knotweed, maygrass and sumpweed. Agricultural cities the norm throughout Megalopotamia, with the cultivation of wild rice forming an increasing large proportion of the horticultural package further south. It is believed that sometime during this period the bison was first domesticated. The dominant powers of this age are the Upper Megalopotamian Monolith builders. Meanwhile in South America the Chavin culture emerges in Peru.
200 BC – 500 AD: Trade routes along the Gulf of Masaguar (OTL Gulf of Mexico) see the spread of wild rice in Sandero (Mexico) and the spread of amaranth in parts of Megalopotamia. The warmer Lower Megalopotamia begins to dominate the upper as bigger rice harvests lead to a greater population than the cooler north, and the period of domination by the city of Algonquin-speaking city of Weaku. There is the development of the first limestone cities along the Syuda River (Scioto River, offshoot of the Ohio). The Mochica and Nazca cultures in the Andes.
500 – 1000: Apogee and rapid decline of Weaku in the face of Southern Iroquoian tribes migrating from the north. Rise of the Rio Blanco (Wabash River) culture and its famous statuary. Timucua-speaking towns form along the coast of Temegua. The Muskogee cities begin to expand into the Gulf of Masaguar. Lower Mesopotamia, despite its large population, becomes extremely divided in this period, settling into bickering statelets and cities divided by ethnicity, culture and language. Meanwhile in the north, particularly along the Equayor there is an increasing linguistic and cultural homogeneity spurred in part by a new written script. Waru and Tiwanaku rise and fall around Lake Titicaca.
1000 – 1200: Invasion of the western Temegua coast by speakers of Muskogee and the resultant wars with the Timucua and Calusa tribes in the east. The Syuda valley unifies under a single cultural, political and linguistic order, while the Rio Blanco culture begins to slowly lose its cultural dominance over the Equayor. In Lower Megalopotamia, the city of Quesea is dominant and its population of Iroquoian-speaking elite lord it over an Algonquian underclass of slaves. Literacy has spread south to the Muskogee, who use a modified version of the Equayor script for commercial purposes.
1200 – 1350: Rise of the Sanderoan Mound-builders, farmers of rice, amaranth and beans in the Great Sandero Valley (Valley of Mexico). This is the apogee of Muskogee trade throughout the Gulf, extending from the Yucatan in the south, north as far as New Zealand (Delaware) and throughout the Tainarean Sea (Caribbean). Muskogee-speaking towns emerge on the northern coast of Cuba. Quesea is attacked by an Algonquian alliance and destroyed. In the Andes, the nascent kingdom of Cusco is destroyed by the expansionistic Chachapoyas.
1360-1368: The Syuda conquer the length of the Equayor. This forms a single linguistic and cultural region that becomes increasingly homogenous, though local flavors are often retained.
1384: Birth of Anuk Skat, the Conqueror, in the Syuda.
1410: The Syuda conquer the northern Megalopotamian region under the famed General Skankakat.
1418: Anuk Skat becomes the most powerful political leader after General Skankakat perishes in an ill-advised invasion of the Rio Blanco (Wabash River) valley.
1420: Second invasion of the Rio Blanco and destruction of the cities along that river and enslavement of the populace.
1422: Adoption by Anuk Skat of the title Engahana, meaning “The Man” as an official title. This title will be misinterpreted later by the Spanish and rendered ‘Inkhan’ which will begin a tradition of referring to Antimesopotamian leaders as either Inkhan or Khan. Ironically, later the line of Anuk will more often be referred to as Emperors, while the erroneous titles will continue to be applied to a variety of Pinzonian political figures.
1423: Birth of Anuk Dek, the Architect.
1424-9: A series of wars with the Algonquian kingdoms in the south prompt the formation of the Quadruple Alliance between the kingdoms of Megakakwaxaka, Giwegi, Fega and Saux. The Syuda agree to peace terms which see these kingdoms virtual vassals of the Syuda and allow the Syuda unrestrained access to the Megalopotamian trade routes.
1430-6: The First Chachapoyas-Chimu war ends in stalemate but the Chachapoyas have created a strong empire. Few in number, they rule over a heterogenous empire.
1438-9: Conquest of the Syoaha River [Tennessee River] by the Syuda. The Syoahans spoke a Muskogee-related tongue but were considered barbarians by their kin to the south.
1442: Conquest of the Sandstone cities of the Dyai River [Little Beaver River] by the young Anuk Dek. The Dyai, former allies of the Syuda, had become inconvenient and were viewed as an easy way for the young heir to prove his military prowess. He is not as naturally martial as his father but instead is largely interested in the architectural achievements of the local people.
1450: Ascension of Anuk Dek to the throne and the lavish burial of the deceased Anuk Skat at a secret location. The Burial Pot of Anuk Skat is claimed to have require a team of bison to transport it, and to have been filled with the wealth of a hundred conquered cities.
1455: The expansion of a vast system of canals constructed between the various tributaries of the Equayor River, as well as dams and fortifications. These are mostly built of limestone.
1456: Birth of Anuk Axe, the Decadent. He is the first of some four brothers and nine sisters, the former of which are unhelpfully referred to as Anuk Axe as well.
1464-5: Fega conquered by the Syuda, the remaining Quadruple Alliance members vow revenge.
1472: The construction of the great ziggurats of Gadyua, which has recently been made permanent capital of the Syuda.
1477: Northern Iroquoian tribes along to the northeast of Syuda form a defensive alliance.
1490: Death of Anuk Dek and his burial. Less of a lavish affair than that of his father, and not in a secret location but rather buried underneath an immense statue plated with copper and gold in the centre of Gadyua.
1491: The marriage of Anuk Axe and his 14-year-old half-sister Oufshutte (known in history as Ophesia). This is not a traditional arrangement and is deplored by the priest-shamans.
