List of pre-Columbian inventions and innovations of Indigenous Americans

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This is an alphabetic list of Pre-columbian achievements in science and technology made by the Indigenous peoples of the Americas during the 15,000 years that they have inhabited the Americas.

Contents

A

An illustration of the Pre-Columbian abacus: the Nepohualtzintzin Pulseras Nepohualtzintzin.jpg
An illustration of the Pre-Columbian abacus: the Nepohualtzintzin
Adobe buildings at Cuarenta Casas Cueva de las Jarillas.jpg
Adobe buildings at Cuarenta Casas
Nazca monkey Nazca monkey.jpg
Nazca monkey

B

Solid rubber ball Mesoamerica - manopla and ball.jpg
Solid rubber ball

C

The Aztec Calendar Stone Aztec calendar.svg
The Aztec Calendar Stone
One of the few remaining chinampas at Xochimilco Chinampa.JPG
One of the few remaining chinampas at Xochimilco

D

Detail of Nezahualcoyotl's dam to control water levels around Tenochtitlan Dique Nezahualcoyotl primer mapa de Tenochtitlan.png
Detail of Nezahualcóyotl's dam to control water levels around Tenochtitlan

E

Children of Llullaillaco found at Llullaillaco in Salta Province (Argentina) Momias de Llullaillaco en la Provincia de Salta (Argentina).jpg
Children of Llullaillaco found at Llullaillaco in Salta Province (Argentina)

F

Chuno, a freeze dried potato Chuno.jpg
Chuño, a freeze dried potato

G

Two guinea pigs Two adult Guinea Pigs (Cavia porcellus).jpg
Two guinea pigs

H

I

Inside an igloo Igloo inner.jpg
Inside an igloo
Snow goggles Inuit Snow goggles from Alaska. Made from carved wood, 1880-1890CE (top) and Caribou antler 1000-1800 CE (bottom).jpg
Snow goggles

J

K

L

Llama overlooking Machu Picchu Llama, peru, machu picchu.jpg
Llama overlooking Machu Picchu

M

Beaded moccasins originally from the estate of Chief Washakie, Wind River Indian Reservation (Shoshone), Wyoming, c. 1900 Beadedmoccasins.jpg
Beaded moccasins originally from the estate of Chief Washakie, Wind River Indian Reservation (Shoshone), Wyoming, c. 1900

N

O

Maya observatory: El Caracol Chichen Itza 4.jpg
Maya observatory: El Caracol

P

The palace observation tower at Palenque The Observation Tower.jpg
The palace observation tower at Palenque
Teotihuacan incense burner lid Tapadera de incensario teotihuacana (M. America Inv.91-11-45) 01.jpg
Teotihuacan incense burner lid

Q

Quinoa at Lake Titicaca, Bolivia Landscape with Chenopodium quinoa Cachilaya Bolivia Lake Titicaca.jpg
Quinoa at Lake Titicaca, Bolivia

R

S

A Lakota (Sioux) chanunpa pipestem, without the pipe bowl Peace pipe.jpg
A Lakota (Sioux) chanunpa pipestem, without the pipe bowl

T

Nez Perce tipi Nez-perce-couple-teepee-1900.jpg
Nez Perce tipi

U

An ulu in the western Arctic style Inuit Ulu.JPG
An ulu in the western Arctic style

V

W

Apache wickiup, by Edward S. Curtis, 1903 Apache Wickiup, Edward Curtis, 1903.jpg
Apache wickiup, by Edward S. Curtis, 1903

X

Y

Z

The back of Stela C Estela C de Tres Zapotes.jpg
The back of Stela C

See also

Notes

  1. "The Prehispanic Computer? The Nepohualtzintzin". Chispa Magazine. September 1986.
  2. 1 2 Phillips, Charles "The Complete Illustrated History of the Aztec & Maya: The Definitive Chronicle of the Ancient Peoples of Central America & Mexico - Including the Aztec, Maya, Olmec, Mixtec, Toltec & Zapotec" 2015.
  3. Sharer, Robert (2006). The Ancient Maya . Stanford University Press. p.  127. ISBN   9780804748179. maya almanac origin.
  4. 1 2 Froman, Frances & Keye, Alfred J. "English-Cayuga/Cayuga-English Dictionary" 2014.
  5. Calatayud, Jesus (2003), "History of the Development and Evolution of Local Anesthesia Since the Coca Leaf", Anesthesiology, 98 (6): 1503–1508, doi: 10.1097/00000542-200306000-00031 , PMID   12766665, S2CID   1326492 , retrieved 8 August 2019
  6. "The Science of Asprin [sic] and Willows". Archived from the original on 10 July 2012.
  7. Kramer, Miriam (January 2013). "Ancient Maya Predicted 1991 Solar Eclipse". Live Science .
  8. Paleo-Indians
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Native American Contributions" (PDF). nrcs.usda.gov. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 November 2014.
  10. Filloy Nadal discusses the Aztecs' use of "ancient rolling technique" (page 30) while Ortiz discusses the use of this technique by the Olmecs (page 244).
  11. Bitocchi, Elena; Nanni, Laura; Bellucci, Elisa; Rossi, Monica; Giardini, Alessandro; Zeuli, Pierluigi Spagnoletti; Logozzo, Giuseppina; Stougaard, Jens; McClean, Phillip; Attene, Giovanna; Papa, Roberto (3 April 2012). "Mesoamerican origin of the common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is revealed by sequence data". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 109 (14): E788 –E796. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1108973109 . PMC   3325731 . PMID   22393017.
  12. Scott, William (1903). Reports of the Princeton University Expeditions to Patagonia, 1896-1899. Vol. 1. p. 267.
  13. "Transoceanic drift and the domestication of African bottle gourds in the Americas", Kistler et al, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, February 10, 2014.
  14. Johnston, David (2017). Ingenious: How Canadian Innovators Made the World Smaller, Smarter, Kinder, Safer, Healthier, Wealthier and Happier. Signal Books. p. 71. ISBN   9780771050916.
  15. Miles, Susanna W, "An Analysis of the Modern Middle American Calendars: A Study in Conservation." In Acculturation in the Americas. Edited by Sol Tax, p. 273. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1952.
  16. Walker, C. 1980, p. 162.
  17. Canoe
  18. Hirst, Kris (20 January 2019). "The History and Domestication of Cassava". ThoughtCo. Dotdash Publishing Family. Retrieved 9 August 2019. Cassava (Manihot esculenta), also known as manioc, tapioca, yuca, and mandioca, is a domesticated species of tuber, a root crop originally domesticated perhaps as long ago as 8,000–10,000 years ago, in southern Brazil and eastern Bolivia along the southwestern border of the Amazon basin. Cassava is today a primary calorie source in tropical regions around the world, and the sixth most important crop plant worldwide.
  19. Coe, M. 2008, p. 193.
  20. Smithsonian, Eeva (2012). "Brief History of Chewing Gum". Energy & Fuels. 26 (2): 1275–1283. doi:10.1021/ef2018836.
  21. "Chumash Indians-Sports and Recreation". Retrieved 2008-09-16.
  22. . Lodestone Compass: Chinese or Olmec Primacy?. Retrieved February 2015.
  23. Soustelle, Jacques (11 November 2002). Daily life of the Aztecs: on the eve of the Spanish Conquest. Courier Dover Publications. p. 173. ISBN   978-0-486-42485-9 . Retrieved 27 November 2012.
  24. Wikipedia: Aztec#Education
  25. Şentürk, Fuat (1994). Hydraulics of Dams and Reservoirs. Water Resources Publication. p. 6. ISBN   978-0-918334-80-0.
  26. Emory Dean Keoke, Kay Marie Porterfield (2009). Encyclopedia of American Indian Contributions to the World: 15,000 Years of Inventions and Innovations. Infobase. p. 98. ISBN   978-0816040520.
  27. H. Lechtman, "A Pre-Columbian Technique for Electrochemical Plating of Gold and Silver on Copper Objects," Journal of Metals 31 (1979): 154–60
  28. New perspectives on Moche Metallurgy: Techniques of Gilding Copper at Loma Negra, Northern Peru, Heather Lechtman, Antonieta Erlij, and Edward J. Barry online abstract via www.jstor.org
  29. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "16 Indian Innovations: From Popcorn to Parkas". Archived from the original on 17 September 2004.
  30. Chazan, Michael (2008). World Prehistory and Archaeology: Pathways through Time. Pearson Education, Inc. p. 272. ISBN   978-0-205-40621-0.
  31. 1 2 Chafe, Wallace L. "Handbook of the Seneca Language (North American Indian Languages Edition)" 2007.
  32. Staller, John E.; Carrasco, Michael (2009). Pre-Columbian Foodways: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Food, Culture, and Markets in Ancient Mesoamerica. Berlin: Springer-Verlag. p. 317. ISBN   978-1-4419-0471-3.
  33. Aveni, Anthony F., Gibbs, Sharon L., Hartung, Horst (June 1975). "The Caracol Tower at Chichen Itza: An Ancient Astronomical Observatory?". Science. 188 (4192): 977–985. Bibcode:1975Sci...188..977A. doi:10.1126/science.188.4192.977. PMID   17759669. S2CID   10865295.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  34. Tobin, Thomas J. "The Construction of the Codex In Classic- and Postclassic-Period Maya Civilization". Duquesne Mathematics. Retrieved 5 December 2021.
  35. "Who invented peanut butter?". National Peanut Board. Retrieved 28 December 2018.
  36. Early Native American Oil Discoveries
  37. Weatherford, Jack (2010). Indian Givers: How Native Americans Transformed the World. Crown. p. 240. ISBN   9780307717153.
  38. "Ancient Mayans Likely Had Fountains and Toilets". Live Science. 23 December 2009.
  39. 1 2 Jahner, Elaine A. & DeMallie, Raymond J. "Lakota Myth" 2006.
  40. Encyclopedia of American Indian Contributions to the World
  41. Encyclopedia of American Indian Contributions to the World
  42. Ebberts, Derek (9 March 2015). "To Brew or Not to Brew: A Brief History of Beer in Canada". Manitoba Historical Society. Manitoba Historical Society. Retrieved 28 January 2017. "Quebec was the geographic epicentre of the development and expansion of the brewing industry in Canada."
  43. D'altroy, Terence N. (2001). 18
  44. Jones, David (2004). Native North American Armor, Shields, and Fortifications. University of Texas Press, Austin. pp. 107–111. ISBN   9780292779709.
  45. Smith, A. F. (1994). The Tomato in America: Early History, Culture, and Cookery . Columbia SC, US: University of South Carolina Press. ISBN   978-1-57003-000-0.
  46. "UF researchers discover earliest use of Mexican turkeys by ancient Maya". EurekAlert!. 8 August 2012.
  47. Emory Dean Keoke (2002), Encyclopedia of American Indian Contributions to the World: 15,000 Years of Inventions and Innovations, Checkmark Books, ISBN   9781438109909
  48. Halber, Deborah (14 July 1999), Rubber processed in ancient Mesoamerica, MIT researchers find, MIT News
  49. Buechel, Eugene & Manhart S.J., Paul "Lakota Dictionary: Lakota-English / English-Lakota, New Comprehensive Edition" 2002.
  50. Geraci, Joseph; Smith, Thomas (June 1979). "Vitamin C in the Diet of Inuit Hunters From Holman, Northwest Territories" (PDF). Arctic . 32 (2): 135–139. doi:10.14430/arctic2611.
  51. Murrin, John (2014). Liberty, Equality, Power: A History of the American People Sixth Edition. Wadsworth Cengage Learning. p. 17. ISBN   978-0495904991.
  52. Quattrocchi, Umberto (2000). CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names. Vol. 4 R-Z. Taylor & Francis US. p. 2862. ISBN   978-0-8493-2678-3.
  53. Diehl, Richard (2005). The Olmecs: America's First Civilization.

References