Pre-Columbian Civilizations

The American continent is known as pre- Columbian America before the establishment of the political and cultural dominance of the Europeans over the American indigenous peoples, which occurred from the 16th century. This era includes thousands of years and events as relevant as the first human migrations from Asia through Beringia and the Neolithic revolution.

Although the date of the arrival of Columbus in America is 1492, the term pre- Columbian usually encompasses the history of all those native societies before European influence became noticeable, despite the fact that this occurred decades or centuries after the first landing of Colon. In Spanish it is often used as a synonym for pre- Hispanic America .

Population of America

Massive assumptions

In general, there is an agreement in specialized research spaces that the American Indians descend from the human groups that crossed from Asia to the New World through the Beringia bridge. Although there was never a consensus on this, for a long time the most accepted hypothesis was the so-called late settlement theory. According to this hypothesis, the Amerindians are descendants of the Siberian groups that passed to America approximately 13,500 years before the present (BP). This hypothesis is supported by the discovery of the Clovis culture, which was associated with the oldest human presence in America, whose lifestyle may have been based on the use of megafauna —for example, Mammuthus columbii—, although this was unsustainable when these animals became extinct around the year 9000 BP.

Other points of view and some investigations throughout the continent led a group of researchers to propose that the peopling of America began several millennia before the Wisconsin glaciation. The discovery of archaeological materials found in various parts of America —within or to the south of the diffusion area of ​​the Clovis culture— dated by radiocarbon in a time before the glaciation have been considered doubtful or at least controversial by the defenders of the theory. of late settlement .

New theories about early peopling have been recombined with existing theories asserting the existence of multiple peopling migration streams through Alaska and the Pacific Ocean (Paul Rivet), from Australia, using a bridge similar to the one in Beringia, but in the Antarctic area and entering South America .

During the Pleistocene-Holocene transition (ca. 13–8.5 BP) climatic and environmental conditions were very profound, causing changes in sea levels accompanied by brief but tragic episodes of glacial expansion (Antarctic Reverse Cooling Episode). This event has been recorded in different sectors of Patagonia, Central Andes, Amazonia and Puna de Atacama, suggesting a paleoenvironmental panorama with marked differences in the availability of spaces and resources between both hemispheres. The maximum advance of the last great glaciation of the final Pleistocene caused South America to have a greater amount of land emerged from the sea surface, which allows greater environmental variability and a lower incidence of glaciation in South America compared to North America.

In South America, mountain glaciation, limited to the Andean sector, produced a less severe effect than that recorded in North America, where the two great ice sheets (Laurentic and Cordilleran) covered the entire current territory of Canada. This great difference in the extension and volume of the glaciers produced more territories available for human occupation and was what could favor a more fluid settlement in the south. This may imply an alternative to the strong theoretical and empirical weight of continental and circum-Pacific migration models: the model of coastal/aquatic adaptations that poses the Atlantic façade as a possible and feasible route of entry and dispersion, being a theoretical tool feasible to reassess the proposals on the colonization of South America.​

Another hypothesis of early settlement, which at the moment lacks sufficient evidence, points to the possible arrival, by sea, of European people carrying the Solutrean culture, who would have taken advantage of the abundance of seals and other marine mammals on the edge to sustain themselves along the way. of the Arctic ice cap. According to its proponents, this hypothesis would explain the presence of haplogroup X in the mitochondrial DNA of some indigenous groups, in addition to the resemblance to certain American techniques for the manufacture of stone tools.

Recent research based on the sequencing of the genome of an individual who lived in Siberia about 24,000 years ago reveals its genetic similarity with native American populations as well as with Eurasians, which seems to indicate that various groups of humans from western Asia would migrate to America. crossing the Bering Strait mixing with individuals from East Asia.

This fact may explain the presence of typical characteristics of Eurasian individuals in Native American populations that do not correspond to those of East Asians, such as skull morphology or mitochondrial X haplotype.

Some conclusions

Despite the height of the scientific debate on the peopling of America, there are instead some conclusions that can be ventured:

1. It is highly probable that the primitive American man came from the Asian continent, especially from the Siberian steppes or from the region of Southeast Asia. The similarities between Asian population groups from these regions and the American aborigines have been the subject of analysis: genetics, ethnology, linguistics, cosmology and other types, which have allowed a link, although notable differences have also been detected in some South American indigenous groups that could suggest an earlier Melanesian or Australian origin .
2. It is likely that the general direction of population of the continent has been from North to South. In any case, the fact that the oldest dates that have the consensus of the scientific community, Clovis (USA, 12,900-13,500 BP ) and Monte Verde (Chile, 14,800 BP ) are found almost simultaneously in North America and the southern tip of South America precludes drawing a definitive conclusion on this point (unless it is assumed that a perhaps small group of earlier settlers also came to America from the North).
3. The prehistoric cultures and civilizations of America developed in isolation from the rest of the planet.
4. The American Neolithic revolution is original and completely unrelated to the one that took place in Asian Mesopotamia.
5. Leaving aside the migrations of the Na Dene (Atapascan)-speaking peoples and the Inuit (Eskimos), there is no serious evidence of the arrival of humans in the Americas after the Beringia bridge was closed eleven thousand years ago (Scott A. Elijah​). There is also no support to think that after this date the American peoples had significant contacts with men from other continents. Certainly, it is known that in 982 the Vikings began the exploration of Greenland, and a couple of small settlements have been found on the Labrador Peninsula (Canada), but their penetration into the continent was not significant. Indeed, neither with his expedition was a theory about the shape of the Earth put to the test, nor did his arrival give rise to permanent contact or continuous exchange, with lasting influences on the Indian populations, nor was it a widely known event. in Europe, to give news of the existence of new lands. Other hypotheses such as the arrival of the Phoenicians, Egyptians, Greeks, Chinese and Japanese, thanks to their maritime skills, they are mere speculations that are difficult (and probably impossible) to prove. A probable exception to this would be the possible arrival of Polynesian navigators in South America, taking with them the domestic chicken and adopting the cultivation of sweet potatoes from the American populations; There is even less evidence of an eventual presence of Americans in the other continents.

Oldest evidence

The oldest evidence of human presence in America can be located in the table below. It should be noted that many of these dates are disputed in the scientific community and lack consensus.

dating	Archeological site	Description
Between 37,000 and 50,000 years.	Topper (South Carolina, United States)	In 2004, Albert Goodyear of the University of South Carolina, who has worked at the site since 1980, announced carbon-14 dating of human presence at the site to between 50,000 years BC. C. and 37,000 years a. C. Goodyear, has conducted his investigations from a group of objects which he claims are primitive stone tools. Other archaeologists have disputed Goodyear's claims that the dates are inaccurate and that the objects are not primitive tools but simply natural stones.
Between 32,000 and 48,000 years.	Pedra Furada (Piauí, Brazil)	Archaeological site and cave paintings in Monte Alegre do Piauí, east of Piauí, discovered in 1973 by a French-Brazilian team under the direction of Niède Guidon, where a human presence so ancient that it questions theories about the arrival of man has been recorded to America. Finding of Niède Guidon in 1986 (Nature, Guidon and Delibrias 1986), dating between 48,000 and 32,000 years .
Between 19,000 and 20,000 years.	Pikimachay Cave (Ayacucho, Peru)	At the end of the 1960s, the American archaeologist Richard MacNeish from the University of Calgary set up an Archaeological-Botanical Project in areas of the department of Ayacucho, which resulted in the discovery of more than 500 sites from all periods. MacNeish found stone artifacts of presumed human manufacture, along with skeletal remains of extinct animals, which he estimated to be 20,000 BC. C., considering them as the oldest evidence of human presence in ancient Peru, from the Andean Archaic Period.
Between 16,000 and 19,000 years.	Meadocroft Caverns (Pennsylvania, United States)	The site was excavated from 1973 to 1978 by a University of Pittsburgh team led by James M. Adovasio. Carbon-14 dating indicates human occupation 16,000 years BP and possibly up to 19,000 years BP. These dates have been questioned by other scientists assuming a possible contamination of the coal. While the dates remain disputed, many archaeologists agree that Meadowcroft was used by Native Americans in the pre-Clovis era, and as such provides evidence of an early peopling of the Americas.
Between 10,000 and 14,500 years.	Caverns of Tulum (Quintana Roo, Mexico); Woman from Las Palmas, Young man from Chan Hol	Underwater discoveries in the underground rivers or cryptorheic basins of Tulum in the Yucatan peninsula of four bones between 1997 and 2006 by Jim Coke (USA), Gari Walten (USA), Steve Gerrard (USA) and the latest by Alex and Thorsten (ALE). The bones are in a very good state of preservation. The oldest skeleton, dated by radiocarbon 14, was found in the Naharon cave, with a detected age of 14,500 years adP. Research has been carried out and published by the National Institute of Anthropology and History.
13,000 years ago.	Stone Museum (Santa Cruz Province, Argentina)	Discovered at the beginning of the 20th  century by Florentino Ameghino 250 km from Pico Truncado (province of Santa Cruz). Excavated in 1995 by Laura Miotti (National University of La Plata). The samples analyzed established the age of the human remains found in it at 13,000 years adP (11,000 BC).
Between 12,900 and 13,500 years.	Clovis Culture (New Mexico, United States)	The site was first found by 19-year-old Ridgely Whiteman in 1929. In 1932, an excavation by a team led by Edgar Billings Howard of the University of Pennsylvania confirmed that it was an indigenous settlement during the Pleistocene. When carbon 14 dating was discovered in 1949, the method was applied to the Clovis sites, resulting in antiquities ranging between 13,500 AD and 12,900 AD. Other compatible and nearby archaeological sites have led to the conclusion that it was a distinguishable culture.
Between 14,800 and 33,000 years .	Monte Verde (Chile)	The site has been excavated since 1977 by the American archaeologist Tom Dillehay of the University of Kentucky (USA) and the Chilean geologist Mario Pino of the Universidad Austral de Chile. In the first excavations dates of human presence were dated with an antiquity of 12,500 a. C.; this dating has been confirmed by a panel of international scientists who visited the site in 1997 (Dallas Museum and National Geographic) and by the American Society for the Advancement of Science in 1998.
12,000 years ago.	El Abra (Colombia)	Excavations since 1967, when a stratified sequence of lithic tools was obtained for the first time in Colombia, associated with animal bones and charcoal fragments dated by C14 at 12,400 years ± 160 BP. From 1969 on, more extensive excavations were carried out with the In collaboration with the University of Indiana and in 1970 with the sponsorship of the Dutch Foundation for Tropical Studies (Wotro) and the support of the Colombian Institute of Anthropology, another 4 stratified preceramic sites were located in the region. Deposited lacustrine sediments have allowed precise reconstructions of climate and vegetation based on palynological studies.

American prehistoric periods

American Prehistory begins from the time when the first peoples from the Siberian steppes crossed into Alaska approximately 40,000 years ago to the development of American civilizations in the 3rd century. All that time, which corresponds in universal prehistory to the Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic and the Age of Metals, is divided into three periods: Paleoindian, Archaic and Formative.

Paleoindian

The Paleoindian period is the longest era in American prehistory. It starts from the advent of the first Asian peoples crossing the Beringia Bridge between 20,000 and 40,000 years ago until 10,000 years ago with the discovery of Agriculture in Mesoamerica. This theory is the subject of controversy and intense study, because, as already mentioned, deposits over 15,000 years old have not been determined with certainty, not even on other continents. According to the progress of the studies, it cannot be said with certainty which American block was populated first, according to the evidence of such ancient deposits in both Mesoamerica and South America. The greatest certainty on the other hand about the Paleoindian period, is what is called the Clovis Culture.Pre Clovis ). But even so, the Clovis Culture remains the one about which most information is known. Characteristic of this culture is the tip of the lithic spears called Clovis tip and that for experts has a degree of beauty and perfection not usual in prehistoric times. The abundance of clovis points with remains of mammoths leads to the conclusion that this was the hunting animal of said Paleoindian people and this has sometimes put them in suspicion of being the cause of the extinction of said animal, an unconfirmed hypothesis. In general, the idea that the Paleoindian peoples were hunters, gatherers and nomads is approved and that the largest human movements on the continent occurred at this time.

Archaic Period of America

The Archaic Period of America began approximately 10,000 years ago (8,000 BC) with the beginning of the Holocene, that is, when the ice ages ended, and lasted until the emergence of the Olmec civilization, which is calculated around 1,500 BC. C. The intense cold began to subside. Slowly, the average temperatures rose and the climate became somewhat milder, the direction of the winds changed and the rainfall pattern changed. In some areas it went from more humid conditions to greater dryness; in others, the opposite occurred. The great glaciers that in South America only affected the high Andean peaks and the southern end of Patagonia, began to melt, initiating a slow retreat. The meltwaters ran into the seas,The great protagonist of this period is agriculture, which in America arises in times similar to the rest of the planet, that is, before 6000 BC. C. Food fossils of corn, squash, potatoes, domestic animals, and others have been found in Mesoamerica and South America with dates up to 10,000 years ago. With the discovery of agriculture, the American settlers begin the process of definitive settlement and go from ancient nomadism to sedentary lifestyle, which opens the way for the development of more elaborate cultures that will end with the emergence of the first largest civilization on the continent: the Caral, in Peru.The settlement generated by agriculture brought as a consequence the emergence of the first populations and the concept of the city and towards the end of this period the emergence of the first American city in the strict sense took place: Sechín Bajo and Caral-Supe with dates which place it in 2627 a. C., that is, almost on a par with Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Hindustani and Chinese cities .

Formative Period of America

The Formative Period begins with the development of the Olmec Culture in Mesoamerica, to which massive offerings of sand of different colors are attributed, as well as monumental stone heads in San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán and Tres Zapotes, both sites in the south of the State of Veracruz. Centuries later the Olmecs have a second heyday, centered on the site of La Venta, Tabasco, which however is simultaneous with the oldest strata of Izapa (Chiapas), and from where their cultural influence radiates towards the central Mexican Altiplano and to the current states of Morelos and Guerrero.

The first hierarchical societies with relatively complex forms of government then also appear; In South America, the Chavín culture has a similar itinerary, coming to project its cultural influence over extensive territories and building important urban centers around sanctuaries dedicated to the god Jaguar . It is the prelude to the period of great civilizations, which in Mesoamerica begins with the construction of the urban center of Teotihuacán (150 AD-700 AD) (although in South America the already mentioned site of Caral gives a much earlier reference).

Later, the first forms of writing appeared, such as that of the ancient Zapotecs and Mayans, although there are already possible Olmec antecedents. Other notable cultures are those of the Anasazi and their like (Arizona), as well as the Mound Builders of North America. The existence of large areas of terra preta also suggests the presence of an extensive Amazonian civilization.

Cultures of pre-Columbian America

In pre-Columbian America, hundreds of cultures and dozens of original civilizations developed throughout the entire continent. The considered pre-Columbian high cultures arose in Mesoamerica and the Andes. From north to south we can name the Anasazi, Mississippian, Mexica, Toltec, Teotihuacan, Zapotec, Olmec, Maya, Muisca, Tairona, Cañaris, Moche, Nazca, Chimú, Inca and Tiahuanaco cultures, among others. All of them elaborated complex systems of political and social organization and are notable for their artistic traditions and their religions.

In the rest of the continent, cultural development was no less important, developing advanced environmental management systems such as in the Amazon, Beni and even in one of the first constitutional democratic societies such as Haudenosaunee .

In human settlements they did not reach a cultural level as high as in the aforementioned civilizations, partly due to their lower population density and, above all, due to their semi-nomadic activities (hunting various animals, etc.). Among the predominant ethnic groups in North America, we can cite the Yaquis, Seris, Apaches, Mohicans, Navajos, Cheyennes, Algonquians, Eskimos, Sioux, etc.

American civilizations discovered and invented highly advanced cultural elements such as calendars, complex genetic improvement systems such as the one that generated corn and potatoes, anti-seismic construction systems, as well as mastery of stone work, environmental management systems of large geographical areas, irrigation systems, new writing systems, new political and social systems, advanced metallurgy and textile production.

The pre-Columbian civilizations also discovered the wheel, which was not of productive use due in part to the mountain ranges and jungles where they were found, but was used for the manufacture of toys.

Another of the common elements of the pre-Columbian cultures that reached a high degree of development was the construction of temples and religious monuments, being clear examples the archaeological zones of Caral, Chavín, Moche, Pachacámac, Tiahuanaco, Cuzco, Machu Picchu and Nazca, in the Central Andes; and Teotihuacan, Templo Mayor (Tenochtitlán), Tajín, Palenque, Tulum, Tikal, Chichén-Itzá, Monte Albán, in Mesoamerica.

Pre-Columbian art

Pre-Columbian civilizations expressed themselves through artistic and intellectual achievements. These traces of their existence and art are known, from the Eurocentric perspective, as Pre-Columbian Art. It includes artistic expressions such as: cave art, ceramics, sculptures, painting, architecture, metalwork, textile art, etc. Currently, pre-Columbian art pieces are considered relics of great archaeological value, since they represent the worldviews of the original peoples and allow us to know and imagine their beliefs, knowledge, forms of organization, rituals (funerals, for example), cosmologies and the techniques that these peoples developed before the arrival of the European colonies in the American territories.

Northern North America

Inuit, Tlingit, Haudenosaunee (Iroquois Confederacy), Mississippian culture.

Aridoamerica and Oasisamerica

Anasazi, Pueblo Indians, Mogollón culture, Hohokam, Chichimecas, Seris, Yaquis, Rarámuris, Kumiai, Nahuatlacas (Náhuatl), Paquimés, Tepehuanes.

Mesoamerica

Highly advanced civilizations such as the Olmecs, Toltecs, Mayas, Teotihuacans, Aztecs, Zapotecs, Tarascans, Mixtecs, among others.

Central America and Caribbean

• The lordship of Cuzcatlán (in the Kuskatan Nahuatl language ) was a pre-Columbian nation of the Mesoamerican post-classic period that extended from the Paz River to the Lempa River (currently corresponding to most of the western and central areas of El Salvador); This nation was dominated by the Nahuas of Kuskatan and covered a territory of approximately 10,000 km² .
• The Tainos were a group of native peoples from the current territory of Venezuela, although over the centuries they populated the different islands of the Antillean arch. Among them, one can distinguish between the classic Taínos and the western Taínos (or Taínos-ciboney).
• Caribs, also called Caríbals or Galibi in some historical documents, denominations derived from the proto-Caribbean *karipona: 'man(s)'—were a group of peoples who, at the time of the Columbian contact in the 16th century, occupied the northeast of Venezuela and several Lesser Antilles. In the Caribbean islands they disappeared as an independent ethnic group as a result of European colonization, although in the Guianas, Venezuela and Brazil they continued to give rise to the modern Galibis (kari'ñas) and other peoples.
• The territory of Costa Rica was occupied by various aboriginal peoples that reflect the country's role as a cultural bridge: the culture of Nicoya, in the current province of Guanacaste, with Mesoamerican influence, stood out for the quality of its pottery and carving. of jade; and two cultures from the Intermediate Area: the Línea Vieja-Huetar culture, which brought together several groups from the Central Valley, the central Pacific and the Caribbean, such as the Huetares, Suerres, Pococes, Bribris and Cabécares, distinguished mainly by their work in stone , pottery and gold; and the Díquis culture, in the South Pacific, which produced stone spheres and a large number of gold metallurgical works.

South America

Among the main South American civilizations of pre-Columbian America are Caral, Paracas, Nazca, Moche, Tiahuanaco, Chimú, Muisca Confederation, Mollo culture, Inca Empire among others. In the last third of the fifteenth century, the Inka Empire or Tawantinsuyu became the most important South American indigenous state, extending over a territory of about 2 million square kilometers occupied by hundreds of peoples. He created a new order of government based on a solar ideology, with economic, administrative and military efficiency unmatched in pre-Columbian America.

At its expansive peak, it was divided into four quarters or suyus: the Chinchaysuyu, in the north of Peru and Ecuador; Antisuyu to the east, encompassing part of the highlands and the Moxos or Chunchos region, in the Peruvian-Bolivian yungas; the Cuntisuyu by the western Pacific coast of Peru. Finally, the southern Kollasuyu, including parts of Bolivia, Chile and the northern Andes of Argentina. In that universe, hundreds of nations or ethnic groups dominated, all connected by more than 40,000 km of road networks known as Qhapaq Ñan .

Economy

The economy of the most socially complex cultures was based on the cultivation of beans, or beans in some parts, and pumpkin or pumpkin in Mesoamerica; while in the Andean area corn, beans and squashes also stood out, as well as tubers such as potatoes, and turkeys in the case of North America (Mexico). In South America, and more precisely in the Central Andean area (Inca culture), the guinea pig (known as guinea pigs by the Spaniards), the llamas, a variety of camelids from the Andean region that made up another animal species domesticated for transporting cargo can carry about 40 kilos in the Andes, where cargo transport needs were very great. The alpaca was domesticated to obtain its abundant wool and meat, which was always highly valued. Instead, the vicuña and the guanaco were species similar to llamas, although smaller, but they were never domesticated and were hunted for meat, wool and skins. All these species of camelids were rather rare and still are, which is a kind of paradox, since all the existing species of camelids in the world come from the American continent and crossed the Bering Strait almost 40 million years ago, in reverse direction of the much more recent migration.

Technology and long distance contacts

The absence of pack animals, the absence of important navigable rivers, as well as the predominantly north-south configuration of the American continent made it difficult to integrate large areas of the continent into large states and limited contacts between the different cultures that emerged.

In Eurasia some of the major agricultural cultures (Mesopotamia, Ancient Egypt and China) arose in the basins of great rivers, and the first important states were linked to the large-scale cooperative construction of large hydraulic works. This contrasts with agricultural development and early states in the Americas, which were generally not linked to large river basins.

On the other hand, the arrival of man in America meant massive extinctions of large and medium-sized animals due to excessive hunting. That would make it difficult to domesticate animals that could aid in farming and long-distance transportation in later times. In the Andean region the llama was domesticated, but in no way could a use be made of it similar to that made in Eurasia of the donkey or the horse.

Finally, Eurasia is a continent whose main dimension runs from east to west, and this allowed technological developments at a certain latitude to generally spread over great distances over the same latitude, as similar climates existed. On the other hand, in America the climate varies significantly as it extends from north to south, so the particular adaptations of peoples in certain latitudes may not be useful for peoples in a different latitude.