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125-714: The Cotzumalhuapa archaeological zone is a pre-Columbian Maya archaeological zone dating mainly to the Late Classic period in Mesoamerican chronology, although it was occupied since the Middle Preclassic period and there is evidence of a major development during the Late Preclassic period . The famous Stela 1 from El Baúl has one of the earliest inscriptions in Mesoamerica, with

250-556: A sea level rise of a hundred meters following the last ice age. Archaeologists contend that the Paleo-Indian migration out of Beringia ( eastern Alaska ), ranges from 40,000 to around 16,500 years ago. This time range is a hot source of debate. The few agreements achieved to date are the origin from Central Asia , with widespread habitation of the Americas during the end of the last glacial period , or more specifically what

375-404: A writing system of their own, which remains undeciphered. Hieroglyphic signs usually are inscribed in circular cartouches, but they may also acquire complex animated forms. The number of known inscriptions is quite small. Cotzumalhuapa people produced a large corpus of monumental sculptures. These include rock carvings , stelae , altars, colossal heads, and sculptures, both free-standing and as

500-660: A competition for the establishment of colonies. 15th to 19th century colonies in the New World: The formation of sovereign states in the New World began with the United States Declaration of Independence of 1776. The American Revolutionary War lasted through the period of the Siege of Yorktown —its last major campaign—in the early autumn of 1781, with peace being achieved in 1783 . In 1804, after

625-735: A component of the architecture (e. g. carved stairs, pillars, and pavement stones). There are also numerous portable sculptures. Characteristic of the Cotzumalguapa style is an extraordinary degree of realism in the representation of human figures. The Cotzumalhuapa style is characterized by its treatment of human figures, which display strong and highly individualized facial features combined with flat but well-proportioned bodies, often depicted in dynamic poses. In many cases, these individuals participate in complex scenes, where they interact with other human characters or with supernatural beings. Sacrificial scenes are frequent. Distinctive elements of

750-607: A different social structure. Until the accurate dating of Watson Brake and similar sites, the oldest mound complex was thought to be Poverty Point , also located in the Lower Mississippi Valley . Built about 1500 BCE, it is the centerpiece of a culture extending over 100 sites on both sides of the Mississippi . The Poverty Point site has earthworks in the form of six concentric half-circles, divided by radial aisles, together with some mounds. The entire complex

875-666: A direct historical connection to Upper Paleolithic Siberia." A route through Beringia is seen as more likely than the Solutrean hypothesis . On October 3, 2014, the Oregon cave where the oldest DNA evidence of human habitation in North America was found was added to the National Register of Historic Places . The DNA, radiocarbon dated to 14,300 years ago, was found in fossilized human coprolites uncovered in

1000-716: A group of 50 sachem chiefs , each representing one clan within a tribe; the Oneida and Mohawk people had nine seats each; the Onondagas held fourteen; the Cayuga had ten seats; and the Seneca had eight. Representation was not based on population numbers, as the Seneca tribe greatly outnumbered the others. When a sachem chief died, his successor was chosen by the senior woman of his tribe in consultation with other female members of

1125-638: A much later date, probably no more than 2,000 years ago, moving across the ice from Siberia into Alaska. The North American climate was unstable as the ice age receded during the Lithic stage . It finally stabilized about 10,000 years ago; climatic conditions were then very similar to today's. Within this time frame, roughly about the Archaic Period , numerous archaeological cultures have been identified. The unstable climate led to widespread migration, with early Paleo-Indians soon spreading throughout

1250-702: A population of over 20,000. Other chiefdoms were constructed throughout the Southeast, and its trade networks reached to the Great Lakes and the Gulf of Mexico. At its peak, between the 12th and 13th centuries, Cahokia was the most populous city in North America. (Larger cities did exist in Mesoamerica and the Andes.) Monks Mound , the major ceremonial center of Cahokia, remains the largest earthen construction of

1375-579: A single unified empire. The Mixtecs would eventually be conquered by the Aztecs until the Spanish conquest. The Mixtecs saw the Spanish conquest as an opportunity for liberation and established agreements with the conquistadors that allowed them to preserve their cultural traditions, though relatively few sections resisted Spanish rule. The Totonac civilization was concentrated in the present-day states of Veracruz and Puebla . The Totonacs were responsible for

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1500-463: A variety of tools, including distinctive projectile points and knives, as well as less distinctive butchering and hide-scraping implements. The vastness of the North American continent, and the variety of its climates, ecology , vegetation , fauna , and landforms, led ancient peoples to coalesce into many distinct linguistic and cultural groups. This is reflected in the oral histories of

1625-602: A wide range of semi- nomadic peoples who inhabited the north of modern-day Mexico , and carried the same sense as the European term " barbarian ". The name was adopted with a pejorative tone by the Spaniards when referring especially to the semi-nomadic hunter-gatherer peoples of northern Mexico. The Olmec civilization emerged around 1200 BCE in Mesoamerica and ended around 400 BCE. Olmec art and concepts influenced surrounding cultures after their downfall. This civilization

1750-631: Is Y-chromosome haplogroup Q1a3a . Researchers have found genetic evidence that the Q1a3a haplogroup has been in South America since at least 18,000 BCE. Y-chromosome DNA , like mtDNA , differs from other nuclear chromosomes in that the majority of the Y-chromosome is unique and does not recombine during meiosis . This has the effect that the historical pattern of mutations can easily be studied. The pattern indicates Indigenous peoples of

1875-716: Is 3500 BC, at Huaricanga in the (inland) Fortaleza area. The Norte Chico civilization began to decline around 1800 BC as more powerful centers appeared to the south and north along its coast, and to the east within the Andes Mountains. After the decline of the Norte Chico civilization, numerous complex civilizations and centralized polities developed in the Western Hemisphere: The Chavin , Nazca , Moche , Huari , Quitus , Cañaris , Chimu , Pachacamac , Tiahuanaco , Aymara and Inca in

2000-476: Is known as the late glacial maximum , around 16,000 – 13,000 years before present. The American Journal of Human Genetics released an article in 2007 stating "Here we show, by using 86 complete mitochondrial genomes , that all Indigenous American haplogroups , including Haplogroup X (mtDNA) , were part of a single founding population." Amerindian groups in the Bering Strait region exhibit perhaps

2125-411: Is nearly a mile across. Mound building was continued by succeeding cultures, who built numerous sites in the middle Mississippi and Ohio River valleys as well, adding effigy mounds , conical and ridge mounds, and other shapes. The Woodland period of North American pre-Columbian cultures lasted from roughly 1000 BCE to 1000 CE. The term was coined in the 1930s and refers to prehistoric sites between

2250-593: Is the Olmec. This civilization established the cultural blueprint by which all succeeding indigenous civilizations would follow in Mexico. Pre-Olmec civilization began with the production of pottery in abundance, around 2300 BCE in the Grijalva River delta. Between 1600 and 1500 BCE, the Olmec civilization had begun, with the consolidation of power at their capital, a site today known as San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán near

2375-430: Is thought to have begun around 7,500 to 12,000 years ago. The earliest record of lowland maize cultivation dates to around 5100 BC. Agriculture continued to be mixed with a hunting-gathering-fishing lifestyle until quite late compared to other regions, but by 2700 BC, Mesoamericans were relying on maize, and living mostly in villages. Temple mounds and classes started to appear. By 1300/ 1200 BC, small centres coalesced into

2500-671: The Andes . By the 15th century, maize was being farmed in the Mississippi River Valley after introduction from Mexico . The course of further agricultural development was greatly altered by the arrival of Europeans . Cahokia was a major regional chiefdom , with trade and tributary chiefdoms located in a range of areas from bordering the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico . The Iroquois League of Nations or "People of

2625-681: The Andes ; the Muisca , Tairona , Miskito , Huetar , and Talamanca in the Intermediate Area ; the Taínos in the Caribbean; and the Olmecs , Maya , Toltecs , Mixtecs , Zapotecs , Aztecs , Purepecha and Nicoya in Mesoamerica. The Olmec civilization was the first Mesoamerican civilization, beginning around 1600–1400 BC and ending around 400 BC. Mesoamerica is considered one of

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2750-670: The Archaic period and the Mississippian cultures . The Adena culture and the ensuing Hopewell tradition during this period built monumental earthwork architecture and established continent-spanning trade and exchange networks. This period is considered a developmental stage without any massive changes in a short period but instead has a continuous development in stone and bone tools, leatherworking, textile manufacture, tool production, cultivation, and shelter construction. Some Woodland people continued to use spears and atlatls until

2875-702: The Cliff Palace of Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado and the Great Houses in Chaco Canyon , New Mexico . The Puebloans also constructed a road system that stretched from Chaco Canyon to Kutz Canyon in the San Juan Basin . The Ancestral Puebloans are also known as "Anasazi", though the term is controversial, as the present-day Pueblo peoples consider the term to be derogatory, due to

3000-697: The Maya script . Other accounts also suggest that the Huastecs migrated as a result of the Classic Maya collapse around the year 900 CE. The Zapotecs were a civilization that thrived in the Oaxaca Valley from the late 6th century BCE until their downfall at the hands of the Spanish conquistadors. The city of Monte Albán was an important religious center for the Zapotecs and served as the capital of

3125-581: The Motagua River valley. 14°22′53″N 91°01′07″W  /  14.38139°N 91.01861°W  / 14.38139; -91.01861 Pre-Columbian In the history of the Americas , the pre-Columbian era , also known as the pre-contact era , or as the pre-Cabraline era specifically in Brazil , spans from the initial peopling of the Americas in the Upper Paleolithic to

3250-664: The Olmec , Teotihuacan , Mayas , Zapotecs , Mixtecs , Huastecs , Purepecha , Toltecs , and Mexica / Aztecs . The Mexica civilization is also known as the Aztec Triple Alliance since they were three smaller kingdoms loosely united together. These Indigenous civilizations are credited with many inventions: building pyramid temples, mathematics , astronomy , medicine, writing, highly accurate calendars , fine arts , intensive agriculture, engineering , an abacus calculator, and complex theology . They also invented

3375-555: The Paisley Five Mile Point Caves in south central Oregon. The Lithic stage or Paleo-Indian period , is the earliest classification term referring to the first stage of human habitation in the Americas, covering the Late Pleistocene epoch. The time period derives its name from the appearance of " Lithic flaked " stone tools. Stone tools , particularly projectile points and scrapers , are

3500-600: The Quaternary glaciation . These people are believed to have followed herds of now-extinct Pleistocene megafauna along ice-free corridors that stretched between the Laurentide and Cordilleran ice sheets. Another route proposed is that, either on foot or using primitive boats , they migrated down the Pacific Northwest coast to South America. Evidence of the latter would since have been covered by

3625-536: The Spanish conquest of El Salvador , Cuzcatlan was forced to surrender to conquistador Pedro de Alvarado in 1528. History of the Americas The human history of the Americas is thought to begin with people migrating to these areas from Asia during the height of an ice age . These groups are generally believed to have been isolated from the people of the " Old World " until the coming of Europeans in

3750-463: The Tlingit , Haida , Chumash , Mandan , Hidatsa , and others, and some established large settlements, even cities, such as Cahokia , in what is now Illinois . Mesoamerica is the region extending from central Mexico south to the northwestern border of Costa Rica that gave rise to a group of stratified, culturally related agrarian civilizations spanning an approximately 3,000-year period before

3875-506: The founding population . The microsatellite diversity and distributions of the Y lineage specific to South America indicate that certain Amerindian populations have been isolated since the initial colonization of the region. The Na-Dené , Inuit , and Indigenous Alaskan populations exhibit haplogroup Q-M242 (Y-DNA) mutations, however, and are distinct from other Indigenous peoples with various mtDNA mutations. This suggests that

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4000-483: The six sites around the globe in which civilization developed independently and indigenously. This civilization is considered the mother culture of the Mesoamerican civilizations. The Mesoamerican calendar, numeral system, writing, and much of the Mesoamerican pantheon seem to have begun with the Olmec. Some elements of agriculture seem to have been practiced in Mesoamerica quite early. The domestication of maize

4125-611: The six sites where civilization originated independently and indigenously in the ancient world, flourishing between the 30th and 18th centuries BC. It pre-dated the Mesoamerican Olmec civilization by nearly two millennia. It was contemporaneous with the Egypt following the unification of its kingdom under Narmer and the emergence of the first Egyptian hieroglyphics . Monumental architecture, including earthwork platform mounds and sunken plazas have been identified as part of

4250-466: The voyages of Christopher Columbus in 1492, Spanish and later Portuguese , English , French and Dutch colonial expeditions arrived in the New World, conquering and settling the discovered lands, which led to a transformation of the cultural and physical landscape in the Americas. Spain colonized most of the Americas from present-day Southwestern United States , Florida and the Caribbean to

4375-698: The 10th century from Iceland led by Leif Erikson , and in 1492 with the voyages of Christopher Columbus . The ancestors of today's American Indigenous peoples were the Paleo-Indians ; they were hunter-gatherers who migrated into North America. The most popular theory asserts that migrants came to the Americas via Beringia , the land mass now covered by the ocean waters of the Bering Strait . Small lithic stage peoples followed megafauna like bison, mammoth (now extinct), and caribou, thus gaining

4500-790: The 13th century, or in the 17th century Beaver Wars . Through warfare, the Iroquois drove several tribes to migrate west to what became known as their historically traditional lands west of the Mississippi River. Tribes originating in the Ohio Valley who moved west included the Osage , Kaw , Ponca and Omaha people . By the mid-17th century, they had resettled in their historical lands in present-day Kansas , Nebraska , Arkansas and Oklahoma . The Osage warred with Caddo -speaking Native Americans, displacing them in turn by

4625-460: The 3 main sites, but the minor site of Golón as well as connecting stone-paved causeways and bridges. Its main structures were made of earthen filling and carefully chosen stones. There have been found more than 200 structures and 187 sculptured monuments here dating from Pre-Classic (see Stela 1, to right, dated at 37 CE ) to the Late Classic (600-1000 CE). In the Late Classic phase, El Baúl

4750-513: The Americas experienced two very distinctive genetic episodes: first with the initial peopling of the Americas and second with European colonization of the Americas . The former is the determinant factor for the number of gene lineages and founding haplotypes present in today's Indigenous populations . Human settlement of the Americas occurred in stages from the Bering Sea coastline , with an initial 20,000-year layover on Beringia for

4875-437: The Americas . The Europeans brought Old World diseases which are thought to have caused catastrophic epidemics and a huge decrease of the native population . Columbus came at a time in which many technical developments in sailing techniques and communication made it possible to report his voyages easily and to spread word of them throughout Europe. It was also a time of growing religious, imperial and economic rivalries that led to

5000-520: The Americas led to the rise of new cultures, civilizations and eventually states, which resulted from the fusion of Native American, European, and African traditions, peoples and institutions. The transformation of American cultures through colonization is evident in architecture, religion, gastronomy, the arts and particularly languages, the most widespread being Spanish (376 million speakers), English (348 million) and Portuguese (201 million). The colonial period lasted approximately three centuries, from

5125-494: The Americas were part of the same population from 42,000 to 21,000 years ago. New studies shed light on the founding population of indigenous Americans, suggesting that their ancestry traced to both east Asian and western Eurasians who migrated to North America directly from Siberia. A 2013 study in the journal Nature reported that DNA found in the 24,000-year-old remains of a young boy in Mal'ta Siberia suggest that up to one-third of

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5250-543: The Americas, diversifying into many hundreds of culturally distinct tribes. The Paleo-Indians were hunter-gatherers , likely characterized by small, mobile bands consisting of approximately 20 to 50 members of an extended family. These groups moved from place to place as preferred resources were depleted and new supplies were sought. During much of the Paleo-Indian period, bands are thought to have subsisted primarily through hunting now-extinct giant land animals such as mastodon and ancient bison . Paleo-Indian groups carried

5375-457: The Cotzumalguapa style include speech scrolls shaped as vines with a variety of flowers and fruits. Cotzumalhuapa was most likely the seat of a powerful state, which exerted political control over a vast region of the Pacific coast. The diffusion of the sculptural style provides a measure of the geographic extension of Cotzumalguapa influence. The style is found along a 200 kilometer stretch of

5500-477: The Europeans arrived, Indigenous peoples of North America had a wide range of lifeways from sedentary, agrarian societies to semi-nomadic hunter-gatherer societies. Many formed new tribes or confederations in response to European colonization. These are often classified by cultural regions , loosely based on geography. These can include the following: Numerous pre-Columbian societies were sedentary, such as

5625-598: The French of Napoleon Bonaparte were defeated during the Haitian Revolution under the black leadership of Jean-Jacques Dessalines declare the colony of Saint-Domingue independence of the Haitian Declaration of Independence as he renamed the country Ayiti meaning (Land of Mountains), Haiti became the world's first black-led republic in the New World, the first Caribbean state as well as

5750-618: The Hohokam, they constructed kivas and great houses as well as ballcourts . Several of the Sinagua ruins include Montezuma Castle , Wupatki , and Tuzigoot . The Salado resided in the Tonto Basin in southeastern Arizona from 1150 CE to the 15th century. Archaeological evidence suggests that they traded with far-away cultures, as evidenced by the presence of seashells from the Gulf of California and macaw feathers from Mexico. Most of

5875-412: The Long House", based in present-day upstate and western New York , had a confederacy model from the mid-15th century. It has been suggested that their culture contributed to political thinking during the development of the later United States government. Their system of affiliation was a kind of federation, different from the strong, centralized European monarchies. Leadership was restricted to

6000-446: The Maya city of Chichen Itza . The Toltecs established vast trading relations with other Mesoamerican civilizations in Central America and the Puebloans in present-day New Mexico . During the Post-Classic era, the Toltecs suffered a subsequent collapse in the early 12th century, due to famine and civil war. The Toltec civilization was so influential to the point where many groups such as the Aztecs claimed to be descended from. With

6125-401: The Maya civilization cannot be overstated: it transformed political power, artistic depictions, and the nature of economics. Within the city of Teotihuacan was a diverse and cosmopolitan population. Most of the regional ethnicities of Mexico were represented in the city, such as Zapotecs from the Oaxaca region. They lived in apartment communities where they worked their trades and contributed to

6250-508: The Mississippian groups had vanished, and vast swaths of their territory were virtually uninhabited. The Ancestral Puebloans thrived in what is now the Four Corners region in the United States. It is commonly suggested that the culture of the Ancestral Puebloans emerged during the Early Basketmaker II Era during the 12th century BCE. The Ancestral Puebloans were a complex Oasisamerican society that constructed kivas , multi-story houses, and apartment blocks made from stone and adobe, such as

6375-426: The Old World) 900 BCE according to some estimates and archaeological finds. Artifacts were found at a site called Chavín in modern Peru at an elevation of 3,177 meters. Chavín civilization spanned from 900 BCE to 300 BCE. Upano Valley The Upano Valley sites in present-day eastern Ecuador predate all known complex Amazonian societies, spanning from approximately 500 BCE to 300-600 CE. Holding their capital at

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6500-547: The Olmec civilization, which seems to have been a set of city-states, united in religious and commercial concerns. The Olmec cities had ceremonial complexes with earth/clay pyramids, palaces, stone monuments, aqueducts and walled plazas. The first of these centers was at San Lorenzo (until 900 bc). La Venta was the last great Olmec centre. Olmec artisans sculpted jade and clay figurines of Jaguars and humans. Their iconic giant heads – believed to be of Olmec rulers – stood in every major city. The Olmec civilization ended in 400 BC, with

6625-483: The Olmec resulted in a power vacuum in Mexico. Emerging from that vacuum was Teotihuacan, first settled in 300 BCE. By 150 CE, Teotihuacan had risen to become the first true metropolis of what is now called North America. Teotihuacan established a new economic and political order never before seen in Mexico. Its influence stretched across Mexico into Central America, founding new dynasties in the Maya cities of Tikal , Copan , and Kaminaljuyú . Teotihuacan's influence over

6750-586: The Olmecs, Teotihuacan, the Toltecs, the Mexica, and the Mayas. These civilizations (except for the politically fragmented Maya) extended their reach across Mesoamerica—and beyond—like no others. They consolidated power and distributed influence in matters of trade, art, politics, technology, and theology. Other regional power players made economic and political alliances with these civilizations over 4,000 years. Many made war with them, but almost all peoples found themselves within one of their spheres of influence. Regional communications in ancient Mesoamerica have been

6875-412: The Pacific coast, from the modern border between Guatemala and El Salvador to the Suchitepéquez Department . It also had strong presence in some regions of the Central and Eastern Highlands, particularly in the region of Antigua Guatemala . Some elements of the style are perceptible in sculptures from various sites located in Chimaltenango in the Central Highlands, the western Pacific Coastal area, and

7000-459: The Spanish colonists. The Wichita people were a loose confederation that consisted of sedentary agriculturalists and hunter-gatherers who resided in the eastern Great Plains . They lived in permanent settlements and even established a city called Etzanoa , which had a population of 20,000 people. The city was eventually abandoned around the 18th century after it was encountered by Spanish conquistadors Jusepe Gutierrez and Juan de Oñate . When

7125-423: The Spanish conquistadors. They lived in Mesoamerica, and surrounding lands. Their capital city Tenochtitlan was one of the largest cities of all time. The Valdivia culture is one of the oldest settled cultures recorded in the Americas. It emerged from the earlier Las Vegas culture and thrived along the coast of Santa Elena peninsula in Santa Elena Province of Ecuador between 3500 BCE and 1500 BCE. One of

7250-452: The Spanish-speaking parts of Latin America politically allied, they rapidly became independent of one another as well, and several further wars were fought, such as the Paraguayan War and the War of the Pacific . (See Latin American integration .) In the Portuguese colony Dom Pedro I (also Pedro IV of Portugal), son of the Portuguese king Dom João VI , proclaimed the country's independence in 1822 and became Brazil's first Emperor . This

7375-445: The Tlaxcalans for preserving their culture and for their assistance in defeating the Aztecs. The Tlaxcalans would once again assist to the Spaniards during the Mixtón War and the conquest of Guatemala . Cuzcatlan was a Pipil confederacy of kingdoms and city-states located in present-day El Salvador . According to legend, Cuzcatlan was established by Toltec migrants during the Classic Maya collapse in approximately 1200 CE. During

7500-589: The basis of society and its early flourishing. This theory, later termed "maritime foundation of Andean Civilization" was at odds with the general scholarly consensus that civilization arose as a result of intensive grain-based agriculture, as had been the case in the emergence of civilizations in northeast Africa (Egypt) and southwest Asia (Mesopotamia). While earlier research pointed to edible domestic plants such as squash , beans , lucuma , guava , pacay , and camote at Caral, publications by Haas and colleagues have added avocado , achira , and maize (Zea Mays) to

7625-407: The brunt of several major battles during the early stages of the war, including the use of poison gas attacks at Ypres . Losses became grave, and the government eventually brought in conscription , despite the fact this was against the wishes of the majority of French Canadians . In the ensuing Conscription Crisis of 1917 , riots broke out on the streets of Montreal . In neighboring Newfoundland,

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7750-443: The calendar, were bequest from the former inhabitants of Tula, the Toltecs. The Mexica-Aztecs were the rulers of much of central Mexico by about 1400 (while Yaquis , Coras, and Apaches commanded sizable regions of northern desert), having subjugated most of the other regional states by the 1470s. At their peak, the Valley of Mexico where the Aztec Empire presided, saw a population growth that included nearly one million people during

7875-419: The capital of the Aztec Empire . The market established in the city was said to have been the largest ever seen by the conquistadors when they arrived. The capital of the Cahokians, Cahokia , located near modern East St. Louis, Illinois , may have reached a population of over 20,000. At its peak, between the 12th and 13th centuries, Cahokia may have been the most populous city in North America. Monk's Mound ,

8000-457: The city's economic and cultural prowess. Teotihuacan's economic pull impacted areas in northern Mexico as well. It was a city whose monumental architecture reflected a monumental new era in Mexican civilization, declining in political power about 650 CE—but lasting in cultural influence for the better part of a millennium, to around 950 CE. Contemporary to Teotihuacan's greatness was that of the Maya civilization. The period between 250 CE and 650 CE

8125-476: The civilization. Archaeological evidence points to the use of textile technology and the worship of common god symbols. Government, possibly in the form of theocracy, is assumed to have been required to manage the region. However, numerous questions remain about its organization. In archaeological nomenclature, the culture was pre-ceramic culture of the pre-Columbian Late Archaic period. It appears to have lacked ceramics and art. Ongoing scholarly debate persists over

8250-406: The civilizations in its area, the Tarascan Empire was the most prominent in metallurgy, harnessing copper, silver, and gold to create items such as tools, decorations, and even weapons and armor. Bronze was also used. The great victories over the Aztecs by the Tarascans cannot be understated. Nearly every war they fought in resulted in a Tarascan victory. Because the Tarascan Empire had little links to

8375-421: The clan; property and hereditary leadership were passed matrilineally . Decisions were not made through voting but through consensus decision making, with each sachem chief holding theoretical veto power . The Onondaga were the " firekeepers ", responsible for raising topics to be discussed. They occupied one side of a three-sided fire (the Mohawk and Seneca sat on one side of the fire, the Oneida and Cayuga sat on

8500-429: The cliff dwellings constructed by the Salado are primarily located in Tonto National Monument . The Iroquois League of Nations or "People of the Long House" was a politically advanced, democratic society, which is thought by some historians to have influenced the United States Constitution , with the Senate passing a resolution to this effect in 1988. Other historians have contested this interpretation and believe

8625-404: The coast in southeast Veracruz . The Olmec influence extended across Mexico, into Central America , and along the Gulf of Mexico . They transformed many peoples' thinking toward a new way of government, pyramid temples, writing, astronomy, art, mathematics, economics, and religion. Their achievements paved the way for the Maya civilization and the civilizations in central Mexico. The decline of

8750-439: The colonization of the Americas dates from between 40,000 and 13,000 years ago. The chronology of migration models is currently divided into two general approaches. The first is the short chronology theory with the first movement beyond Alaska into the Americas occurring no earlier than 14,000–17,000 years ago, followed by successive waves of immigrants. The second belief is the long chronology theory , which proposes that

8875-432: The de Soto expedition wandered the American Southeast for four years, becoming more bedraggled, losing more men and equipment, and eventually arriving in Mexico as a fraction of its original size. The local people fared much worse though, as the fatalities of diseases introduced by the expedition devastated the populations and produced much social disruption. By the time Europeans returned a hundred years later, nearly all of

9000-672: The decline of the Toltec civilization came political fragmentation in the Valley of Mexico . Into this new political game of contenders to the Toltec throne stepped outsiders: the Mexica . They were also a desert people, one of seven groups who formerly called themselves "Azteca", in memory of Aztlán , but they changed their name after years of migrating. Since they were not from the Valley of Mexico , they were initially seen as crude and unrefined in

9125-636: The defacing and destruction of San Lorenzo and La Venta, two of the major cities. It nevertheless spawned many other states, most notably the Mayan civilization, whose first cities began appearing around 700–600 BC. Olmec influences continued to appear in many later Mesoamerican civilizations. Cities of the Aztecs, Mayas, and Incas were as large and organized as the largest in the Old World, with an estimated population of 200,000 to 350,000 in Tenochtitlan ,

9250-423: The destruction, a few original documents have survived, and others were transcribed or translated into Spanish, providing modern historians with valuable insights into ancient cultures and knowledge. Before the development of archaeology in the 19th century, historians of the pre-Columbian period mainly interpreted the records of the European conquerors and the accounts of early European travelers and antiquaries. It

9375-683: The earliest legible hieroglyphic Long Count date in Guatemala equaling 37 CE. Cotzumalhuapa is located on the Pacific piedmont of southern Guatemala , in the Escuintla Department , on the outskirts of modern Santa Lucia Cotzumalguapa. During the Late Classic period, Cotzumalhuapa was a major city that extended more than 10 square kilometres (3.9 sq mi). It encompassing three major compounds, known as El Baúl , Bilbao , and El Castillo, with extensive settlements between and around them. The Cotzumalhuapa Zone contains not only

9500-597: The earliest migrants into the northern extremes of North America and Greenland derived from later populations. Asian nomadic Paleo-Indians are thought to have entered the Americas via the Bering Land Bridge (Beringia), now the Bering Strait , and possibly along the coast. Genetic evidence found in Indigenous peoples ' maternally inherited mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) supports the theory of multiple genetic populations migrating from Asia. After crossing

9625-522: The early 16th to the early 19th centuries, when Brazil and the larger Hispanic American nations declared independence. The United States obtained independence from Great Britain much earlier, in 1776, while Canada formed a federal dominion in 1867 and received legal independence in 1931 . Others remained attached to their European parent state until the end of the 19th century, such as Cuba and Puerto Rico which were linked to Spain until 1898. Smaller territories such as Guyana obtained independence in

9750-609: The empire from 700 BCE to 700 CE. The Zapotecs resisted the expansion of the Aztecs until they were subjugated in 1502 under Aztec emperor Ahuitzotl . After the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire , the Zapotecs resisted Spanish rule until King Cosijopii I surrendered in 1563. Like the Zapotecs, the Mixtecs thrived in the Oaxaca Valley. The Mixtecs consisted of separate independent kingdoms and city-states, rather than

9875-446: The end of the 10th century. The Toltec were a nomadic people, dating from the 10th–12th century, whose language was also spoken by the Aztecs. Teotihuacan (4th century BCE – 7/8th century CE) was both a city, and an empire of the same name, which, at its zenith between 150 and the 5th century, covered most of Mesoamerica. The Aztec having started to build their empire around 14th century found their civilization abruptly ended by

10000-658: The end of the period when they were replaced by bows and arrows . The Mississippian culture was spread across the Southeast and Midwest of what is today the United States, from the Atlantic coast to the edge of the plains, from the Gulf of Mexico to the Upper Midwest, although most intensively in the area along the Mississippi River and Ohio River . One of the distinguishing features of this culture

10125-462: The establishment of cities, such as El Tajín as important commercial trading centers. The Totonacs would later assist in the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire as an opportunity to liberate themselves from Aztec military imperialism. The Toltec civilization was established in the 8th century CE. The Toltec Empire expanded its political borders to as far south as the Yucatán peninsula , including

10250-468: The extent to which the flourishing of Norte Chico resulted from its abundant maritime food resources, and the relationship that these resources would suggest between coastal and inland sites. The role of seafood in the Norte Chico diet has been a subject of scholarly debate. In 1973, examining the Aspero region of Norte Chico, Michael E. Moseley contended that a maritime subsistence (seafood) economy had been

10375-685: The first Latin American country and the second oldest independent nation in the Western Hemisphere after the United States to win independence from Britain in 1783. The Spanish colonies won their independence in the first quarter of the 19th century, in the Spanish American wars of independence . Simón Bolívar and José de San Martín , among others, led their independence struggle. Although Bolivar attempted to keep

10500-468: The first Cazonci, Tariacuri, united these communities and built them into one of the most advanced civilizations in Mesoamerica. Their capital at Tzintzuntzan was just one of the many cities—there were ninety more under its control. The Tarascan Empire was among the largest in Central America, so it is no surprise that they routinely came into conflict with the neighboring Aztec Empire . Out of all

10625-462: The first group of people entered the hemisphere at a much earlier date, possibly 50,000–40,000 years ago or earlier. Artifacts have been found in both North and South America which have been dated to 14,000 years ago, and accordingly humans have been proposed to have reached Cape Horn at the southern tip of South America by this time. In that case, the Inuit would have arrived separately and at

10750-479: The fishermen needed the cotton to make the nets to catch the fish." In the 2005 book 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus , journalist Charles C. Mann surveyed the literature at the time, reporting a date "sometime before 3200 BC, and possibly before 3500 BC" as the beginning date for the formation of Norte Chico. He notes that the earliest date securely associated with a city

10875-455: The former Toltec Empire , they were also quite independent in culture from their neighbors. The Aztecs, Tlaxcaltec , Olmec, Mixtec, Maya, and others were very similar to each other, however. This is because they were all directly preceded by the Toltecs, and they therefore shared almost identical cultures. The Tarascans, however, possessed a unique religion, as well as other things. Tlaxcala

11000-610: The great city of Cusco , the Inca civilization dominated the Andes region from 1438 to 1533. Known as Tawantinsuyu , or "the land of the four regions", in Quechua , the Inca culture was highly distinct and developed. Cities were built with precise, unmatched stonework, constructed over many levels of mountain terrain. Terrace farming was a useful form of agriculture. There is evidence of excellent metalwork and even successful trepanation of

11125-596: The impact was minimal or did not exist, pointing to numerous differences between the two systems and the ample precedents for the constitution in European political thought. The Calusa were a complex paramountcy/kingdom that resided in southern Florida . Instead of agriculture, the Calusa economy relied on abundant fishing. According to Spanish sources, the "king's house" at Mound Key was large enough to house 2,000 people. The Calusa ultimately collapsed into extinction at around 1750 after succumbing to diseases introduced by

11250-550: The indigenous Americans may have ancestry that can be traced back to western Eurasians, who may have "had a more north-easterly distribution 24,000 years ago than commonly thought" Professor Kelly Graf said that "Our findings are significant at two levels. First, it shows that Upper Paleolithic Siberians came from a cosmopolitan population of early modern humans that spread out of Africa to Europe and Central and South Asia. Second, Paleoindian skeletons with phenotypic traits atypical of modern-day Native Americans can be explained as having

11375-484: The indigenous peoples, described by a wide range of traditional creation stories which often say that a given people have been living in a certain territory since the creation of the world. Throughout thousands of years, paleo-Indian people domesticated, bred, and cultivated many plant species, including crops that now constitute 50–60% of worldwide agriculture. In general, Arctic, Subarctic, and coastal peoples continued to live as hunters and gatherers, while agriculture

11500-687: The influence that astronomical activities had upon Mesoamerican people before the arrival of Europeans. Many of the later Mesoamerican civilizations carefully built their cities and ceremonial centers according to specific astronomical events. The biggest Mesoamerican cities, such as Teotihuacan , Tenochtitlan , and Cholula , were among the largest in the world. These cities grew as centers of commerce, ideas, ceremonies, and theology, and they radiated influence outwards onto neighboring cultures in central Mexico. While many city-states, kingdoms, and empires competed with one another for power and prestige, Mesoamerica can be said to have had five major civilizations:

11625-561: The land bridge, they moved southward along the Pacific coast and through an interior ice-free corridor. Throughout millennia, Paleo-Indians spread throughout the rest of North and South America. Exactly when the first people migrated into the Americas is the subject of much debate. One of the earliest identifiable cultures was the Clovis culture , with sites dating from some 13,000 years ago. However, older sites dating back to 20,000 years ago have been claimed. Some genetic studies estimate

11750-472: The late Aztec period (1350–1519). Their capital, Tenochtitlan , is the site of modern-day Mexico City . At its peak, it was one of the largest cities in the world with population estimates of 200,000–300,000. The market established there was the largest ever seen by the conquistadores on arrival. Initially, the lands that would someday comprise the lands of the powerful Tarascan Empire were inhabited by several independent communities. Around 1300, however,

11875-607: The late twentieth century, archeologists have studied, analyzed, and dated these sites, realizing that the earliest complexes were built by hunter-gatherer societies, whose people occupied the sites on a seasonal basis. Watson Brake , a large complex of eleven platform mounds, was constructed beginning in 3400 BCE and added to over 500 years. This has changed earlier assumptions that complex construction arose only after societies had adopted agriculture, and become sedentary, with stratified hierarchy and usually ceramics. These ancient people had organized to build complex mound projects under

12000-423: The list of foods consumed in the region. In 2013, Haas and colleagues reported that maize was a primary component of the diet throughout the period of 3000 to 1800 BC. Cotton was another widespread crop in Norte Chico, essential to the production of fishing nets and textiles. Jonathan Haas noted a mutual dependency, whereby "The prehistoric residents of the Norte Chico needed the fish resources for their protein and

12125-615: The major ceremonial center of Cahokia, remains the largest earthen construction of the prehistoric New World. These civilizations developed agriculture as well, breeding maize (corn) from having ears 2–5 cm in length to perhaps 10–15 cm in length. Potatoes , tomatoes , beans ( greens ), pumpkins , avocados , and chocolate are now the most popular of the pre-Columbian agricultural products. The civilizations did not develop extensive livestock as there were few suitable species, although alpacas and llamas were domesticated for use as beasts of burden and sources of wool and meat in

12250-545: The mid-18th century and dominating their new historical territories. The Pueblo people of what is now occupied by the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico , living conditions were that of large stone apartment like adobe structures. They live in Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Colorado, and possibly surrounding areas. Chichimeca was the name that the Mexica (Aztecs) generically applied to

12375-570: The mid-20th century, while certain Caribbean islands and French Guiana remain part of a European power to this day. The specifics of Paleo-Indian migration to and throughout the Americas, including the exact dates and routes traveled, are subject to ongoing research and discussion. The traditional theory has been that these early migrants moved into the Beringia land bridge between eastern Siberia and present-day Alaska around 40,000 – 17,000 years ago, when sea levels were significantly lowered due to

12500-615: The modern nickname "big-game hunters." Groups of people may also have traveled into North America on shelf or sheet ice along the northern Pacific coast. Sedentary societies developed primarily in two regions: Mesoamerica and the Andean civilizations . Mesoamerican cultures include Zapotec , Toltec , Olmec , Maya , Aztec , Mixtec , Totonac , Teotihuacan , Huastec people , Purépecha , Izapa and Mazatec . Andean cultures include Inca , Caral-Supe , Wari , Tiwanaku , Chimor , Moche , Muisca , Chavin , Paracas , and Nazca . After

12625-485: The oldest known civilization of the Americas was established in the Norte Chico region of modern Peru. Complex society emerged in the group of coastal valleys, between 3000 and 1800 BCE. The Quipu , a distinctive recording device among Andean civilizations, apparently dates from the era of Norte Chico's prominence. The Chavín established a trade network and developed agriculture by as early as (or late compared to

12750-567: The only true writing system native to the Americas using pictographs and syllabic elements in the form of texts and codices inscribed on stone, pottery, wood, or perishable books made from bark paper. The Huastecs were a Maya ethnic group that migrated northwards to the Gulf Coast of Mexico. The Huastecs are considered to be distinct from the Maya civilization, as they separated from the main Maya branch at around 2000 BCE and did not possess

12875-539: The onset of European colonization , which began with Christopher Columbus 's voyage in 1492. This era encompasses the history of Indigenous cultures prior to significant European influence, which in some cases did not occur until decades or even centuries after Columbus's arrival. During the pre-Columbian era, many civilizations developed permanent settlements, cities, agricultural practices, civic and monumental architecture, major earthworks , and complex societal hierarchies. Some of these civilizations had declined by

13000-657: The people abandoned their settlements, likely due to drought. The Mogollon resided in the present-day states of Arizona , New Mexico, and Texas as well as Sonora and Chihuahua . Like most other cultures in Oasisamerica, the Mogollon constructed sophisticated kivas and cliff dwellings. In the village of Paquimé , the Mogollon are revealed to have housed pens for scarlet macaws , which were introduced from Mesoamerica through trade. The Sinagua were hunter-gatherers and agriculturalists who lived in central Arizona. Like

13125-416: The prehistoric Americas . The culture reached its peak in about 1200–1400 CE, and in most places, it seems to have been in decline before the arrival of Europeans. Many Mississippian peoples were encountered by the expedition of Hernando de Soto in the 1540s, mostly with disastrous results for both sides. Unlike the Spanish expeditions in Mesoamerica, which conquered vast empires with relatively few men,

13250-402: The primary evidence of the earliest well known human activity in the Americas . Lithic reduction stone tools are used by archaeologists and anthropologists to classify cultural periods. Several thousand years after the first migrations, the first complex civilizations arose as hunter-gatherers settled into semi-agricultural communities. Identifiable sedentary settlements began to emerge in

13375-561: The skull in Inca civilization. Around 1000, the Vikings established a short-lived settlement in Newfoundland , now known as L'Anse aux Meadows . Speculations exist about other Old World discoveries of the New World, but none of these are generally or completely accepted by most scholars. Spain sponsored a major exploration led by Italian explorer Christopher Columbus in 1492; it quickly led to extensive European colonization of

13500-457: The so-called Middle Archaic period around 6000 BCE. Particular archaeological cultures can be identified and easily classified throughout the Archaic period. In the late Archaic, on the north-central coastal region of Peru, a complex civilization arose which has been termed the Norte Chico civilization , also known as Caral-Supe. It is the oldest known civilization in the Americas and one of

13625-707: The southern tip of South America. Portugal settled in what is mostly present-day Brazil while England established colonies on the Eastern coast of the United States , as well as the North Pacific coast and in most of Canada . France settled in Quebec and other parts of Eastern Canada and claimed an area in what is today the central United States. The Netherlands settled New Netherland (administrative centre New Amsterdam – now New York), some Caribbean islands and parts of Northern South America. European colonization of

13750-435: The strongest DNA or mitochondrial DNA relations to Siberian peoples . The genetic diversity of Amerindian indigenous groups increase with distance from the assumed entry point into the Americas. Certain genetic diversity patterns from West to East suggest, particularly in South America, that migration proceeded first down the west coast, and then proceeded eastward. Geneticists have variously estimated that peoples of Asia and

13875-564: The subject of considerable research. There is evidence of trade routes starting as far north as the Mexico Central Plateau , and going down to the Pacific coast. These trade routes and cultural contacts then went on as far as Central America . These networks operated with various interruptions from pre-Olmec times and up to the Late Classical Period (600–900 CE). The earliest known civilization in Mesoamerica

14000-468: The third side.) Long-distance trading did not prevent warfare and displacement among the indigenous peoples, and their oral histories tell of numerous migrations to the historic territories where Europeans encountered them. The Iroquois invaded and attacked tribes in the Ohio River area of present-day Kentucky and claimed the hunting grounds. Historians have placed these events as occurring as early as

14125-543: The time of the establishment of the first permanent European colonies, around the late 16th to early 17th centuries, and are known primarily through archaeological research of the Americas and oral histories. Other civilizations, contemporaneous with the colonial period, were documented in European accounts of the time. For instance, the Maya civilization maintained written records, which were often destroyed by Christian Europeans such as Diego de Landa , who viewed them as pagan but sought to preserve native histories. Despite

14250-498: The visits to the Caribbean by Christopher Columbus. Mesoamerican is the adjective generally used to refer to that group of pre-Columbian cultures. This refers to an environmental area occupied by an assortment of ancient cultures that shared religious beliefs, art, architecture, and technology in the Americas for more than three thousand years. Between 2000 and 300 BCE, complex cultures began to form in Mesoamerica. Some matured into advanced pre-Columbian Mesoamerican civilizations such as

14375-553: The ways of the Nahua civilization. Through political maneuvers and ferocious martial skills, they managed to rule Mexico as the head of the 'Triple Alliance' which included two other Aztec cities, Tetxcoco and Tlacopan . Latecomers to Mexico's central plateau , the Mexica thought of themselves, nevertheless, as heirs of the civilizations that had preceded them. For them, arts, sculpture, architecture, engraving, feather-mosaic work, and

14500-420: The wheel, but it was used solely as a toy. In addition, they used native copper , silver , and gold for metalworking. Archaic inscriptions on rocks and rock walls all over northern Mexico (especially in the state of Nuevo León ) demonstrate an early propensity for counting. Their number system was base 20 and included zero . These early count markings were associated with astronomical events and underscore

14625-722: The word tracing its origins to a Navajo word meaning "ancestor enemies". The Hohokam thrived in the Sonoran desert in what is now the U.S. state of Arizona and the Mexican state of Sonora . The Hohokam were responsible for the construction of a series of irrigation canals that led to the successful establishment of Phoenix, Arizona via the Salt River Project . The Hohokam also established complex settlements such as Snaketown , which served as an important commercial trading center. After 1375 CE, Hohokam society collapsed and

14750-493: Was a Nahua republic and confederation in central Mexico. The Tlaxcalans fiercely resisted Aztec expansion during the Flower Wars ever since the Aztecs expelled them from Lake Texcoco . The Tlaxcalans would later ally with the Spanish conquistadors under Hernán Cortés as an opportunity to liberate them from the Aztecs and managed to successfully conquer the Aztecs with the help of the conquistadors. The Spaniards would reward

14875-416: Was a time of intense flourishing of Maya civilized accomplishments. While the many Maya city-states never achieved political unity on the order of the central Mexican civilizations, they exerted tremendous intellectual influence upon Mexico and Central America. The Maya built some of the most elaborate cities on the continent and made innovations in mathematics, astronomy, and calendrics. The Maya also developed

15000-583: Was adopted in more temperate and sheltered regions, permitting a dramatic rise in population. After the migration or migrations, it was several thousand years before the first complex societies arose, the earliest emerging about seven to eight thousand years ago. As early as 5500 BCE, people in the Lower Mississippi Valley at Monte Sano and other sites in present-day Louisiana , Mississippi , and Florida were building complex earthwork mounds , probably for religious purposes. Beginning in

15125-569: Was not until the nineteenth century that the work of people such as John Lloyd Stephens , Eduard Seler , and Alfred Maudslay , and institutions such as the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology of Harvard University , led to the reconsideration and criticism of the early European sources. Now, the scholarly study of pre-Columbian cultures is most often based on scientific and multidisciplinary methodologies. The haplogroup most commonly associated with Indigenous Amerindian genetics

15250-624: Was one of the most important Pacific coast sites. A corpus of more than 200 monumental sculptures are known from the city and from neighboring sites that include Palo Verde , Aguna, Palo Gordo , and others. Examples of the Cotzumalhuapa sculptural style are found across the Pacific Coast and highlands of Guatemala , and into El Salvador , where Cara Sucia marks the southeastern limit of the Cotzumalhuapa zone. The inhabitants of Cotzumalhuapa developed an original artistic style and

15375-636: Was peacefully accepted by the crown in Portugal, upon compensation. Slavery has had a significant role in the economic development of the New World after the colonization of the Americas by the Europeans. The cotton , tobacco , and sugarcane harvested by slaves became important exports for the United States and the Caribbean countries. As a part of the British Empire , Canada immediately entered World War I when it broke out in 1914. Canada bore

15500-538: Was the construction of complexes of large earthen mounds and grand plazas, continuing the mound-building traditions of earlier cultures. They grew maize and other crops intensively, participated in an extensive trade network, and had a complex stratified society. The Mississippians first appeared around 1000 CE, following and developing out of the less agriculturally intensive and less centralized Woodland period. The largest urban site of these people, Cahokia —located near modern East St. Louis, Illinois —may have reached

15625-670: Was thought to be the first in America to develop a writing system. After the Olmecs abandoned their cities for unknown reasons, the Maya, Zapotec and Teotihuacan arose. The Purepecha civilization emerged around 1000 CE in Mesoamerica. They flourished from 1100 CE to 1530 CE. They continue to live on in the state of Michoacán . Fierce warriors, they were never conquered and in their glory years, successfully sealed off huge areas from Aztec domination. Maya history spans 3,000 years. The Classic Maya may have collapsed due to changing climate in

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