Who were the Moche? South American history
Moche portrait of a blind man, 400-500 AD (thanks to Oberlin College) When did the Moche get started? The collapse of the Chavin state in Peru, about 250 BC, seems to have opened [...]
Who were the Maya? Central American history
Maya royal palace at Palenque, Chiapas, Mexico (600s-700s AD) When did they get started? When the Olmec rulers began to lose control of their country about 600 BC, new leaders came forward and [...]
Who are the Mapuche? South American history
Changos whale hunt, El Madano, ca. 1000 AD (before the Mapuche) When did people first reach Chile? There were probably people living in Chile (a narrow strip of land in [...]
South and Central American history
The Andes mountains run down the Pacific side of South America People first came to Central and South America probably around 20,000 years ago. They were probably traveling south from North America, though [...]
Who were the Inca? South American history
Inca history: Macchu Picchu Before the Inca Until the 1400s AD, the Pacific coast of South America was made up of a lot of small independent kingdoms. First the Valdivia and Norte Chico people [...]
Who were the Guarani? South American history
Guarani people performing a dance in the 1800s The Tupi move south When the first Tupi people expanded their territory from Central America to reach the coast of Brazil about 900 BC, some [...]
Who were the Chavin? South American history
Chavin stone carving From Norte Chico to Chavin By around 900 BC, the Norte Chico people of northern Peru developed into the Chavin culture. Like the earlier Norte Chico people, the Chavin people [...]
Brazil’s early history – South America
Venus of Santarem (Brazil, ca. 1400-1000 BC) When did people get to Brazil? The first people probably arrived on the Atlantic coast of South America about 15,000 BC. Probably a second wave [...]
Who were the Aztec? Central American history
Aztec brazier (about 1300 AD) Mexica people move to Mexico Beginning in the 1100s AD, the Medieval Warm Period seems to have made it too hard to live where the Mexica were in [...]
Who are the Arawak? – South American history
Arawak history: Arawak family in Trinidad, ca. 1500 AD The Arawak arrive in Venezuela The Arawak probably first arrived in South America with the second wave of people, around 15,000 BC. They [...]
