The Nazca people begin construction of the Nazca Lines in Peru
Scratched on the ground, they number in the thousands and depict creatures from both the natural world and the human imagination.
South America
Saladoid culture thrives in modern-day Venezuela and the Caribbean
Saladoid culture is a pre-Columbian indigenous culture of territory in present-day Venezuela and the Caribbean that flourished from 500 B.C.E. to 545 C.E. Concentrated along the lowlands of the Orinoco River, the people migrated by sea to the Lesser Antilles, and then to Puerto Rico.
Timoto-Cuica culture thrives in modern-day Venezuela
Pre-Columbian Venezuela had an estimated population of one million. The Timoto-Cuica culture was the most complex society in Pre-Columbian Venezuela; with pre-planned permanent villages, surrounded by irrigated, terraced fields and with tanks for water storage.
The Charrúa peoples emerge in modern-day Uruguay
About 4,000 years ago Charrúa and Guarani people arrived here. During pre-colonial times Uruguayan territory was inhabited by small tribes of nomadic Charrúa, Chaná, Arachán and Guarani peoples who survived by hunting and fishing and probably never reached more than 10,000 to 20,000 people.
Ancient Andeans build first city in the Americas, Caral, in modern-day Peru
Caral was a large settlement in the Supe Valley, near Supe, Barranca Province, Peru. Caral is the most ancient city of the Americas and a well-studied site of the Norte Chico civilization.
Humans of the Andes domesticate quinoa
Quinoa was first domesticated by Andean peoples around 3,000 to 4,000 years ago and has been an important staple in the Andean cultures.
Humans settled near Lake Titicaca domesticate the potato
Various cultures of indigenous peoples in Bolivia developed in the high altitude settings of altiplano, where they coped with low oxygen levels, poor soils and extreme weather patterns.
Humans create “Cave of the Hands” in modern-day Argentina
An important site of prehistoric art in southern Argentina, Cueva de las Manos is a rock shelter which is famous for its collages of hand stencils and other handprints.
Humans of ancient Brazil independently invent pottery
The earliest pottery ever found in the Western Hemisphere, radiocarbon-dated 8,000 years old, has been excavated in the Amazon basin of Brazil, near Santarém, providing evidence to overturn the assumption that the tropical forest region was too poor in resources to have supported a complex prehistoric culture.
The ancient people of South America independently invent clothing
Guitarrero Cave has evidence of human use around 8,000 B.C.E. In the 1960s, archeologists discovered artifacts in an extraordinary state of preservation at the site. Remarkably, textiles, wood and leather tools, and basketry have been preserved intact.