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Main article: Pre-Columbian South America Agriculture and domestication of animals The Americas are thought to have been first inhabited by people crossing the Bering Land Bridge from Asia, which is now the Bering Strait. Over the course of millennia, people spread to all parts of the continent. The first evidence for the existence of agricultural practices in South America dates back to circa 6500 BCE, when potatoes, chilies and beans began to be cultivated for food in the Amazon Basin. Pottery evidence further suggests that manioc, which remains a staple foodstuff today, was being cultivated as early as 2000 BCE.[1] South American cultures began domesticating llamas and alpacas in the highlands of the Andes circa 3500 BCE. These animals were used for both transportation and meat.[1] Guinea pigs were also domesticated as a food source at this time.[2] By 2000 BCE, many agrarian village communities had been settled throughout the Andes and the surrounding regions. Fishing became a widespread practice along the coast which helped to establish fish as a primary source of food. Irrigation systems were also developed at this time, which aided in the rise of an agrarian society.[1] The food crops were quinoa, corn, lima beans, common beans, peanuts, manioc, sweet potatoes, potatoes, oca and squashes.[3] Cotton was also grown and was particularly important as the only major fiber crop.[1] The earliest permanent settlement as proved by ceramic dating dates to 3500 BC by the Valdivia on the coast of Ecuador. Other groups also formed permanent settlements. Among those groups were the Chibchas (or "Muiscas" or "Muyscas") and the Tairona, of Colombia, the cañari of Ecuador, the Quechuas of Peru, and the Aymaras of Bolivia were the 3 most important sedentary Indian groups in South America. In the last two thousand years there may have been contact with Polynesians across the South Pacific Ocean, as shown by the spread of the sweet potato through some areas of the Pacific, but there is no genetic legacy of human contact.[4] Cañaris Ingapirca, Ecuador, Caħari ruins: astronomical stone (left), tomb (right) and reconstructed house (background). Distribution of the chibchan languages The Cañaris were the indigenous natives of today's Ecuadorian provinces of Cañar and Azuay. They were an elaborate civilization with advanced architecture and religious belief. Most of their remains were either burned or destroyed from attacks by the Inca and later the Spaniards. Their old city "Guapondelig", was replaced twice, first by the Incan city of Tomipamba, and later by the Colonial city of Cuenca.[5] The city was also believed to be the site of El Dorado, the city of gold from the mythology of Colombia. The Cañaris were most notable to have repelled the Incan invasion with fierce resistance for many years until they fell to Tupac Yupanqui. It is said that the Inca strategically married the cañari princes Paccha to conquer the Cañaris. Many of their descendants are still present in Cañar with a reasonable amount not having mixed and have been reserved from becoming mestizos. Chibchas The Chibcha linguistic communities were the most numerous, the most territorially extended and the most socio-economically developed of the Pre-Hispanic Colombian cultures. By the 3rd century CE, the Chibchas had established their civilization in the northern Andes. At one point, the Chibchas occupied part of what is now Panama and the high plains of the Eastern Sierra of Colombia. The areas that they occupied were the Departments of Santander, Norte de Santander, Boyacá and Cundinamarca, which were also the areas where the first farms were developed. Centuries later it was in the area of these departments where the independence movement originated and the first industries were developed. They are currently the richest areas in Colombia. They represented the most populous zone between the Mexica and Inca empires. Next to the Quechua of Peru and Ecuador and the Aymara in Bolivia, the Chibchas of the eastern and north-eastern Highlands of Colombia were the most striking of the sedentary indigenous peoples in South America. In Colombia's Eastern Sierra, the Chibchas were composed of several tribes who spoke the same language (Chibchan). Among them: Muiscas, Guanes, Laches and Chitareros. Amazon See also: Amazon Rainforest#History Geoglyphs on deforested land in the Amazon rainforest. For a long time, it was believed that Amazon forest dwellers were sparsely populated hunter-gatherer tribes. Archeologist Betty J. Meggers was a prominent proponent of this idea, as described in her book Amazonia: Man and Culture in a Counterfeit Paradise. However, recent archeological findings have suggested that the region was actually densely populated. From the 1970s, numerous geoglyphs have been discovered on deforested land dating between 0–1250 AD, leading to claims about Pre-Columbian civilizations.[6] The BBC's Unnatural Histories claimed that the Amazon rainforest, rather than being a pristine wilderness, has been shaped by man for at least 11,000 years through practices such as forest gardening.[7] The first European to travel the length of the Amazon River was Francisco de Orellana in 1542.[8] The BBC documentary Unnatural Histories presents evidence that Francisco de Orellana, rather than exaggerating his claims as previously thought, was correct in his observations that an advanced civilization was flourishing along the Amazon in the 1540s. It is believed that the civilization was later devastated by the spread of diseases from Europe, such as smallpox.[7] Some 5 million people may have lived in the Amazon region in 1500, divided between dense coastal settlements, such as that at Marajó, and inland dwellers.[9] By 1900 the population had fallen to 1 million and by the early 1980s it was less than 200,000.[9] One of the main pieces of evidence is the existence of the fertile Terra preta (black earth), which is distributed over large areas in the Amazon forest. It is now widely accepted that these soils are a product of indigenous soil management. The development of this soil allowed agriculture and silviculture in the previously hostile environment; meaning that large portions of the Amazon rainforest are probably the result of centuries of human management, rather than naturally occurring as has previously been supposed.[10] In the region of the Xinguanos tribe, remains of some of these large settlements in the middle of the Amazon forest were found in 2003 by Michael Heckenberger and colleagues of the University of Florida. Among those were evidence of roads, bridges and large plazas.[11] Andean civilizations Caral Supe Caral The ancient city of Moche with the "Huaca del Sol" in the background The Caral Supe civilization is among the oldest civilizations in the Americas, going back to 27th century BCE. It is noteworthy for having absolutely no signs of warfare. It was contemporary with urbanism's rise in Mesopotamia. Norte Chico On the north-central coast of present-day Peru, the Norte Chico civilization emerged around the time of Caral-Supe civilization. Chavín The Chavín, a South American preliterate civilization, established a trade network and developed agriculture by 900 BCE, according to some estimates and archeological finds. Artifacts were found at a site called Chavín de Huantar in modern Peru at an elevation of 3,177 meters. Chavín civilization spanned 900 to 200 BCE. Moche The Moche thrived on the north coast of Peru 2000–1500 years ago. The heritage of the Moche comes down to us through their elaborate burials, recently excavated by UCLA's Christopher B. Donnan in association with the National Geographic Society. Skilled artisans, the Moche were a technologically advanced people who traded with faraway peoples, like the Maya. Almost everything we know about the Moche comes from their ceramic pottery with carvings of their daily lives. We know from these records that they practiced human sacrifice, had blood-drinking rituals, and that their religion incorporated non-procreative sexual practices (such as fellatio). Tiwanaku The Tiwanaku were settled in Bolivia in around 400 BC. Inca Holding their capital at the great puma-shaped city of Cuzco, the Inca civilization dominated the Andes region from 1438 to 1533. Known as Tawantin suyu, or "the land of the four regions", in Quechua, the Inca civilization was highly distinct and developed. Inca rule extended to nearly a hundred linguistic or ethnic communities, some 9 to 14 million people connected by a 25,000 kilometer road system. 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 skull surgery in Inca civilization. The Incas had no written language, but used quipu, a system of knotted strings, to record information. Arawac and Carib civilizations The Arawak, lived along the eastern coast of South America, as far south as what is now Brazil, and up into Guayana. When first encountered by Christopher Columbus, the Arawak were described as a peaceful people, although the Arawak had already dominated other local groups such as the Ciboney. The Arawak had, however, come under increasing military pressure from the Caribs, who are believed to have left the Orinoco river area to settle in the Caribbean. Over the century leading up to Columbus' arrival in the Caribbean archipelago in 1492, the Caribs are believed to have displaced many of the Arawaks who previously settled the island chains, and making inroads into what would now be modern Guyana. The Caribs were skilled boatbuilders and sailors, and owed their dominance in the Caribbean basin to their military skills. Cannibalism formed a key part of the Caribs' war rituals: the limbs of victims may have been taken home as trophies. It is not known how many indigenous peoples lived in Venezuela and Colombia before the Spanish Conquest; it may have been approximately one million,[12] included groups such as the Auaké, Caquetio, Mariche, and Timoto-cuicas.[13]The number was reduced after the Conquest, mainly through the spread of new diseases from Europe.[12] There were two main north-south axes of pre-Columbian population; producing maize in the west and manioc in the east.[12] Large parts of the llanos plains were cultivated through a combination of slash and burn and permanent settled agriculture.[12] |
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