Americas before Columbus

Early peoples in the Americas started as

• hunter-gatherers and gradually became farmers.

• This change took a long time—about 5,000 to 6,500 years, starting around 7,000 years ago.

In Mesoamerica (Central America), farmers grew the “three sisters” crops:

maize (corn), beans, and squash.

In South America, the main crop was

potatoes, grown by around 3400 BCE.

Unlike Old World civilizations, they did not use

draft animals (like oxen) or wheeled vehicles

The Olmecs lived in

Mesoamerica from about 1200–300 BCE and are called a “mother culture” because they influenced later civilizations.

The Olmec “Mother Culture”

• They were probably authoritarian, meaning rulers had strong control over people.

• They organized large groups of workers to build:

  • Ceremonial sites, tombs, temples, and drainage systems

  • Massive stone heads—up to 10 feet tall and 20 tons each.

• To move these huge heads, they rolled them on logs, using about 1,000 workers per head.

Teotihuacan

was a major city and religious center that grew large by 500 BCE but declined and was attacked by the 8th century.

Maya Civilization (3rd–9th centuries CE)

• The Maya lived in thousands of villages and cities across Mesoamerica.

• They were connected by shared language and trade networks.

• They often fought wars to capture enemy soldiers.

  • Captured enemies could be sacrificed or enslaved.

• Maya rulers practiced ceremonial bloodletting as part of religious rituals.

• The reasons for the Maya decline are still unclear—could be human-made problems (like overpopulation) or natural disasters.

Maya Writing: Glyphs

• The Maya wrote using glyphs, which combined:

  • Ideographs (symbols for ideas or words)

  • Syllable-alphabet symbols (symbols representing sounds)

• Most of their writings were destroyed over time.

• Today, thanks to research, most of the surviving Maya glyphs have been deciphered (we can read them).

Popol Vuh – Mayan Creation Myth

• sacred book of the Maya that tells their creation story.

• It explains how the world, humans, and gods came into being.

• The story includes the Hero Twins, who go on adventures, face challenges, and help establish the order of the world.

• It also teaches Mayan values, religion, and beliefs about life and the universe.

Earliest Humans in South America

• Archaeologists studied the Santa Elina rock shelter in Mato Grosso, Brazil.

• They found evidence that humans lived there about 27,000 years ago.

• This shows that people were in South America much earlier than previously thought.

Chavín culture (c.1000–300 BCE):

One of the earliest civilizations in the Andes, known for art and religious centers.

Moche peoples (c.100–700 CE):

Famous for elaborate tombs, including the Lord of Sipan (3rd century CE) and the Lady of Cao (c.450 CE).

Tiwanaku (c.600–1000 CE):

A major city-state near Lake Titicaca with a large urban population.

Chimú Civilization (12th–15th centuries CE):

• Founded Chan Chan around 850 CE.

• Had a commercial agricultural economy.

• Built complex irrigation systems to increase food production.

all of which were later absorbed

by the Inca Empire.

Moche: Lady of Cao

• powerful female leader of the Moche civilization in northern Peru around 450 CE.

• Her tomb was discovered in the 2000s, filled with precious artifacts like jewelry, weapons, and ceremonial items.

• This shows that women could hold high status and political power in Moche society.

Chimú Civilization (12th–15th centuries CE)

• The Chimú lived on the northern coast of Peru.

• They founded Chan Chan around 850 CE, which became a huge city.

• They had a commercialized agricultural economy, growing crops for trade.

• Built complex irrigation systems to bring water to farmland and increase food production.

• In the 1460s, the Inca Empire conquered the Chimú.

Vikings in North America

• The Vikings reached North America around 1021 CE.

• They established a short-lived settlement called Vinland, likely in what is now Newfoundland, Canada.

• This was long before Columbus arrived in 1492.

• The settlement did not last and was eventually abandoned.

Speculative Voyages

These are ideas or experiments suggesting people may have traveled long distances in the past, even if evidence is limited:

947 – Kon-Tiki expedition (Thor Heyerdahl):

Heyerdahl sailed a raft from South America to Polynesia to show it was possible for ancient peoples to cross the Pacific.

1976–77 – St. Brendan voyages (Tim Severin):

Severin recreated a medieval Irish monk’s voyage to show early Europeans could have reached North America.

China, 1421 (Gavin Menzies, 2002):

A controversial claim that Chinese fleets under Zheng He explored the world, including the Americas.

Muslims in 1178? (Recep Tayyip Erdoğan):

A speculative idea that Muslim sailors may have reached the Americas before Columbus.