List of pre-Columbian cultures

Last updated

Pyramid of the Sun and Avenue of The Dead, viewed from the top of Pyramid of the Moon, Teotihuacan, Mexico, 100-200 AD Mexico SunMoonPyramid.jpg
Pyramid of the Sun and Avenue of The Dead, viewed from the top of Pyramid of the Moon, Teotihuacán, Mexico, 100–200 AD

This is a list of pre-Columbian cultures.

Cultural characteristics

Watson Brake, Louisiana, 3500 BC Watson Brake Aerial Illustration HRoe 2014.jpg
Watson Brake, Louisiana, 3500 BC
Tikal, Guatemala, Maya civilization. Tikal-Plaza-And-North-Acropolis.jpg
Tikal, Guatemala, Maya civilization.

Many pre-Columbian civilizations established permanent or urban settlements, agriculture, and complex societal hierarchies. In North America, indigenous cultures in the Lower Mississippi Valley during the Middle Archaic period built complexes of multiple mounds, with several in Louisiana dated to 5600–5000 BP (3700 BC–3100 BC). Watson Brake is considered the oldest, multiple mound complex in the Americas, as it has been dated to 3500 BC. It and other Middle Archaic sites were built by pre-ceramic, hunter-gatherer societies. They preceded the better known Poverty Point culture and its elaborate complex by nearly 2,000 years. [1] The Mississippi Valley mound-building tradition extended into the Late Archaic period, longer than what later southeastern mound building dependent on sedentary, agricultural societies.(Russo, 1996:285) [1]

Contents

Some of these civilizations had long ceased to function by the time of the first permanent European arrivals (c. late 15th – early 16th centuries), and are known only through archaeological investigations or oral history from nations today. Others were contemporary with this period, and are also known from historical accounts of the time. A few, such as the Olmec, Maya, Mixtec, and Nahua had their own written records. However, most Europeans of the time viewed such texts as heretical and burned most of them. Only a few documents were hidden and thus remain today, leaving modern historians with glimpses of ancient culture and knowledge.

From both indigenous American and European accounts and documents, American civilizations at the time of European encounter possessed many impressive attributes, having populous cities, and having developed theories of astronomy and mathematics.

Where they persist, the societies and cultures which gave rise to these civilizations continue to adapt and evolve; they also uphold various traditions and practices which relate back to these earlier times, even if combined with those more recently adopted.

Human sacrifice was a religious practice principally characteristic of pre-Columbian Aztec civilization, although other Mesoamerican civilizations like the Maya and the Zapotec practiced it as well. The extent of the practice is debated by modern scholars.

Northern America

Caribbean

Early South American cultures Vorkolumbische Kulturen.png
Early South American cultures

Mesoamerica

In alphabetical order:

Isthmo-Colombian area

South America

PeriodDatesCultures
Ceramic
Late Horizon1476 AD – 1534 ADEcuador, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, Chile, and Colombia: Inca Empire; Brazil: Cambeba; Colombia: Muisca Confederation Argentina: Diaguita
Late Intermediate1000 AD – 1476 ADBolivia: Aymara kingdoms; Colombia: Muisca, Nariño, Tairona; Ecuador: Los Huancavilca, Kingdom of Quito, Manteño, Nariño;
Peru: Chimú, Chincha, Cajamarca, Chiribaya, Piura, Chancay, Chachapoyas, Chiribaya, Chucuito, Huaman Huilca, Ilo, Lupaca, Qotu Qotu, Pacacocha, Palli Marca, Piura, Sican, Tajaraca, Huaylas, Conchucos, Huamachuco, Rucanas, Chanka, Ayabaca, Bracamoros, Huancabambas, Tallan culture, Huarco, Ichma, Parinacota, Cuntis, Chinchaycochas, Huarochiri, Kheswas, Tarmas, Paltas, Camanas; Argentina: Diaguita
Middle Horizon600 AD – 1000 ADBolivia: Tiwanaku; Brazil: Marajoara culture; Colombia: Cauca culture, Herrera, Nariño, Quimbaya, Tairona; Ecuador: Cañari culture, Nariño; Peru: Chimu, Huari, Piura; Argentina: Diaguita
Early Intermediate200 AD–600 ADBolivia: Tiwanaku; Colombia: Herrera, Quimbaya, San Agustín, Tairona, Tierradentro, Tolima; Ecuador (the Upano Valley [6] ): La Bahía, Cara, Quitu; Peru: Moche, Nazca, Lima, Pechiche, Piura
Early Horizon900 BC–200 ADColombia: Calima culture (200 BC–400 AD), Herrera; Ecuador: Chorrera, La Tolita; Peru: Chavín, Cupisnique, Late Chiripa, Paracas, Pechiche, Sechura, Xakse
Initial Period1800/1500 BC – 900 BCEcuador: Cotocollao; Machalilla; Peru: Early Chiripa, Kotosh, Chavín Toríl (The Cumbe Mayo aqueduct was built c. 1000 BC), Argentina: Tehuelches (?-1820)
Preceramic
Period VI2500 BC – 1500/1800 BCEcuador: Valdivia; Peru: Casma/Sechin culture, Norte Chico (Caral), Buena Vista, Casavilca, Culebras, Ventarrón, Viscachani, Huaca Prieta; Peru, Chile: Chinchorro
Period V4200 BC – 2500 BCEcuador: Valdivia; Peru: Casma/Sechin culture, Norte Chico (Caral), Honda, Lauricocha III, Viscachani; Peru, Chile: Chinchorro
Period IV6000 BC – 4200 BCPeru: Ambo, Canario, Siches, Lauricocha II, Luz, Toquepala II; Peru, Chile: Chinchorro
Period III8000 BC – 6000 BCEcuador: Las Vegas, 8000–4600 BC; Peru: Arenal, Chivateros II, Lauricocha I, Playa Chira, Puyenca, Toquepala I; Peru, Chile: Chinchorro
Period II9500 BC – 8000 BCEcuador: El Inga; Peru: Chivateros I, Lauricocha I
Period I ? BC – 9500 BCColombia: El Abra, (12,500–10,000 BC); Peru: Oquendo, Red Zone (central coast); Argentina & Chile: Patagonia

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1st millennium</span> Millennium spanning the years 1 to 1000

The first millennium of the anno Domini or Common Era was a millennium spanning the years 1 to 1000. The world population rose more slowly than during the preceding millennium, from about 200 million in the year 1 to about 300 million in the year 1000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pre-Columbian era</span> The Americas prior to European influences

In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era spans from the original peopling of the Americas in the Upper Paleolithic to European colonization, which began with Christopher Columbus's voyage of 1492. Usually, the era covers the history of Indigenous cultures until significant influence by Europeans. This may have occurred decades or even centuries after Columbus for certain cultures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Archaic period (North America)</span> Period from c. 8000 to 1000 BC in North America

In the classification of the archaeological cultures of North America, the Archaic period in North America, taken to last from around 8000 to 1000 BC in the sequence of North American pre-Columbian cultural stages, is a period defined by the archaic stage of cultural development. The Archaic stage is characterized by subsistence economies supported through the exploitation of nuts, seeds, and shellfish. As its ending is defined by the adoption of sedentary farming, this date can vary significantly across the Americas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mississippian culture</span> Native American culture in the United States (800 - 1600)

The Mississippian culture was a Native American civilization that flourished in what is now the Midwestern, Eastern, and Southeastern United States from approximately 800 to 1600, varying regionally. It was known for building large, earthen platform mounds, and often other shaped mounds as well. It was composed of a series of urban settlements and satellite villages linked together by loose trading networks. The largest city was Cahokia, believed to be a major religious center located in what is present-day southern Illinois.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mound Builders</span> Pre-Columbian cultures of North America

Many pre-Columbian cultures in North America were collectively termed "Mound Builders", but the term has no formal meaning. It does not refer to specific people or archaeological culture but refers to the characteristic mound earthworks that indigenous peoples erected for an extended period of more than 5,000 years. The "Mound Builder" cultures span the period of roughly 3500 BCE to the 16th century CE, including the Archaic period, Woodland period, and Mississippian period. Geographically, the cultures were present in the region of the Great Lakes, the Ohio River Valley, Florida, and the Mississippi River Valley and its tributary waters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ceramics of Indigenous peoples of the Americas</span> Pottery produced by Indigenous people of the Americas

Ceramics of Indigenous peoples of the Americas is an art form with at least a 7500-year history in the Americas. Pottery is fired ceramics with clay as a component. Ceramics are used for utilitarian cooking vessels, serving and storage vessels, pipes, funerary urns, censers, musical instruments, ceremonial items, masks, toys, sculptures, and a myriad of other art forms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Woodland period</span> Period of North American cultures (1000 BC - 1000 AD)

In the classification of archaeological cultures of North America, the Woodland period of North American pre-Columbian cultures spanned a period from roughly 1000 BCE to European contact in the eastern part of North America, with some archaeologists distinguishing the Mississippian period, from 1000 CE to European contact as a separate period. The term "Woodland Period" was introduced in the 1930s as a generic term for prehistoric sites falling between the Archaic hunter-gatherers and the agriculturalist Mississippian cultures. The Eastern Woodlands cultural region covers what is now eastern Canada south of the Subarctic region, the Eastern United States, along to the Gulf of Mexico.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Poverty Point culture</span> Archaeological culture that inhabited the lower Mississippi Valley

The Poverty Point culture is the archaeological culture of a prehistoric indigenous peoples who inhabited a portion of North America's lower Mississippi Valley and surrounding Gulf coast from about 1730 – 1350 BC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Formative stage</span> Prehistoric period in the Americas

Several chronologies in the archaeology of the Americas include a Formative Period or Formative stage etc. It is often sub-divided, for example into "Early", "Middle" and "Late" stages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timeline of North American prehistory</span>

This is a timeline of in North American prehistory, from 1000 BC until European contact.

North America's Forgotten Past is a series of historical fiction novels published by Tor and written by husband and wife co-authors W. Michael Gear and Kathleen O'Neal Gear. The series, which began with 1990's People of the Wolf, explores various civilizations and cultures in prehistoric North America. It is somewhat comparable to Jean M. Auel's Earth's Children series, which is set in prehistoric Europe, but each of its books focuses on a different time period, location, and set of characters. The first four novels form a coherent, more or less linear narrative, from the initial migration of Siberian peoples into what is now Canada and Alaska through the florescence of the Mississippian semi-urban mound-building culture, considered the "high-water mark" of North American pre-Columbian civilization, around 1000 AD. The remaining novels cover a wide variety of times and settings, most standalone stories in no particular order, ranging from tropical Florida in the 6th millennium BC to the Chaco Empire of the Southwest in the 13th century AD. The novels take into account new developments in North American archaeology such as the discovery of Kennewick Man and the development of the coastal-route model as a possible alternative or supplement to overland migration across Beringia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jaketown Site</span> Archaeological site in Humphreys County, Mississippi, United States

Jaketown Site is an archaeological site with two prehistoric earthwork mounds in Humphreys County, Mississippi, United States. While the mounds have not been excavated, distinctive pottery shards found in the area lead scholars to date the mounds' construction and use to the Mississippian culture period, roughly 1100 CE to 1500 CE.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Winterville site</span> Archaeological site in Washington County, Mississippi, United States

The Winterville site is a major archaeological site in unincorporated Washington County, Mississippi, north of Greenville and along the river. It consists of major earthwork monuments, including more than twelve large platform mounds and cleared and filled plazas. It is the type site for the Winterville Phase of the Lower Yazoo Basin region of the Plaquemine Mississippian culture. Protected as a state park, it has been designated as a National Historic Landmark.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Plaquemine culture</span> Archaeological culture in the lower Mississippi River Valley, United States

The Plaquemine culture was an archaeological culture centered on the Lower Mississippi River valley. It had a deep history in the area stretching back through the earlier Coles Creek and Troyville cultures to the Marksville culture. The Natchez and related Taensa peoples were their historic period descendants. The type site for the culture is the Medora site in Louisiana; while other examples include the Anna, Emerald, Holly Bluff, and Winterville sites in Mississippi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Painting in the Americas before European colonization</span>

Painting in the Americas before European colonization is the Precolumbian painting traditions of the Americas. Painting was a relatively widespread, popular and diverse means of communication and expression for both religious and utilitarian purpose throughout the regions of the Western Hemisphere. During the period before and after European exploration and settlement of the Americas; including North America, Central America, South America and the islands of the Caribbean, the Bahamas, the West Indies, the Antilles, the Lesser Antilles and other island groups, indigenous native cultures produced a wide variety of visual arts, including painting on textiles, hides, rock and cave surfaces, bodies especially faces, ceramics, architectural features including interior murals, wood panels, and other available surfaces. Many of the perishable surfaces, such as woven textiles, typically have not been preserved, but Precolumbian painting on ceramics, walls, and rocks have survived more frequently.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Visual arts of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas</span>

The visual arts of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas encompasses the visual artistic practices of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas from ancient times to the present. These include works from South America and North America, which includes Central America and Greenland. The Siberian Yupiit, who have great cultural overlap with Native Alaskan Yupiit, are also included.

Transylvania Mounds is an archaeological site in East Carroll Parish, Louisiana with components from the Coles Creek (700–1200)CE and Plaquemine/Mississippi periods (1200–1541). It is the type site for the Transylvania Phase of the Tensas Basin Plaquemine Mississippian chronology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Andean South America</span>

The history of human habitation in the Andean region of South America stretches from circa 15,000 BCE to the present day. Stretching for 7,000 km (4,300 mi) long, the region encompasses mountainous, tropical and desert environments. This colonisation and habitation of the region has been affected by its unique geography and climate, leading to the development of unique cultural and socn.

References

  1. 1 2 Robert W. Preucel, Stephen A. Mrozowski, Contemporary Archaeology in Theory: The New Pragmatism, John Wiley and Sons, 2010, p. 177
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "Prehistory of the Caribbean Culture Area." Archived 2011-08-05 at the Wayback Machine Southeast Archaeological Center. (retrieved 9 July 2011)
  3. "Aboriginal Roots of Cuban Culture." (retrieved 9 July 2011)
  4. John Albert Bullbrook, The aboriginal remains of Trinidad and the West Indies, A. L. Rhodes, Port of Spain, Trinidad, 1941
  5. John Albert Bullbrook, The Ierian Race, Historical Society of Trinidad and Tobago, Port of Spain, Trinidad, 1940
  6. "Laser mapping reveals oldest Amazonian cities, built 2500 years ago".

Sources