Pre-Contact Americas

Pre-contact Americas which is also popularly referred to as Pre-colonial North America, pre-Columbian contact or Prehistoric is the period between 40,000-14000 years when the Paleo-Indians migrated to this region. It also eradicated the culture of Native America when contact was established between the indigenous tribes with the European colonists in the 16th century CE. 

It resulted in replacing the region with what is known today as Canada and the United States of America. Thus, before the arrival of the Europeans and the Africans in the year, 1492 people of America lived there for at least ten thousand years. Thus history is important in terms of its own right and its relevance to the interaction of the Native Americans with the Atlantic World that emerged in the 16th century.

More About Pre-Contact Americas

As there was no concept of the written scriptures regarding the lifestyle and the culture prevailing in the Ancient American society and many of the oral historic communication has been destroyed by the development of the colonial ruling in the region, thus most of its pieces of evidence are from the archaeological excavation and from the written documentation of the European colonies. With the continuity of some of the history and rupture of many in the 15th and the 16th century of the prehistoric era of America, many of the historians are now integrating the pre-contact or pre-history with the long-running history of America. 

It was Christopher Columbus who first initiated the concept of colonization in pre-American civilization after he landed in the West Indies in the year 1492. This has encouraged the Dutch followed by the French and then finally the British to establish their colonies in American land beginning in 1534 through 1620. This has given rise to rapid colonization for the next 100 years. 

Prior to the arrival of the Europeans to establish their colonies, the Americans were living an autonomous life as a tribe starting from what is known today as Alaska, to Canada and throughout the lower 48 United States. Modern scholars and experts have divided the era into different segments for easy study. These are as follows:-

• Paleoindian-Clovis Culture – c. 40,000 - c. 14,000 BCE

• Dalton-Folsom Culture c. 8500-7900 BCE

• Archaic Period – c. 8000-1000 BCE

• Woodland Period – c. 500 BCE - 1100 CE

• Mississippian Culture – c. 1100-1540 CE

Though the scholar has tried to compile and specify the dates according to the development of the ancient North American civilizations, various Native American cultures have developed in different ways and in different time periods. Thus different scholars have dated this era differently in their respective studies.  

History of Pre-Columbian Contact

The Pre-Columbian contact, in the history of America, spans from the permanent settlements of the Americans (earlier referred to as tribes) that started from the upper stone age period till the colonization of the Europeans after Christopher Columbus discovered the West Indies in the year 1492 on his voyage. Until the significance of the Europeans on the tradition and culture of the native Americans, the era covers the history of indigenous American cultures. For certain cultures, this influence may have occurred for decades or even centuries after Columbus.

Permanent settlements, cities, agriculture, civic and monumental architecture, major earthworks, and complex societal hierarchies were the mark of much Pre-Columbian civilization. By the time the first European Colonization was permanently established in the late 16th and early 17th century, many of the civilizations had long faded. 

Therefore the information about the faded civilizations is only known through oral history and archaeological investigation. Many of the other civilizations that were contemporaries of European colonization have been mentioned in the documents of the European historical accounts. Some of the ancient American civilizations such as the Maya had their own written scriptures. 

But at that time such scriptures were considered Pagan by the Christians of Europe, therefore, men like Diego de Landa burned them even when they aimed to preserve the native history. While many of the original scriptures were dictated or transcribed to Spanish few of the hidden original scriptures have survived with their original language. That in turn has given glimpses of ancient culture and knowledge to modern historians. 

While evolving and adopting the modern world, many indigenous people of America still continue to practice old traditions and beliefs.

Ancient North American Civilizations

It was European civilization that discovered the continents of North and South America in the late 15 century AD. But many of the people arrived in America some 15000 years ago. Though many of the early civilizations were thriving to exist in America many of them were extinct before the colonization of the Europeans established in the United States of America post-1492. Thus the scholar has compiled the civilizations of America into 10 major divisions according to the time period which also portrays the pre colonial America timeline as follows:-

1. Caral Supe Civilization, 3000-2500 BC - It is known as one of the oldest and advanced civilizations of America among all the civilizations that have been discovered to date. It was recently discovered in the 21st century where it has been seen that the villages of Caral Supe were located in the present-day location of Central Peru. There have been more than 20 villages that have been identified so far with its central place of the urban community located at Caral. There were gigantic earthen platform mounds and the monuments that were so huge that it was hidden in the plains sight and was thought to be low hills. 

2. Olmec Civilization, 1200-400 BC - This civilization was the first one to create the first pyramid with the stones in the North American continent and flourished on the gulf coast of Mexico. They were also well known for the babyface monuments crafted with stones. Other than building enormous pyramids, King Olmec developed the game of Mesoamerican ballgame, domesticated beans, and developed the earliest writing in the Americas. The cacao tree was domesticated by the Olmec king that later gave chocolates to the world.

3. Maya Civilization, 500 BC-800 AD - Between 2500 B.C. and 1500 A.D, much of central North America was occupied by the Maya Civilization which was based on the gulf coast of what is now known as Mexico. Maya was composed of many of the individual city-states that shared the culture and traditional qualities. These comprise of their great work including the creation of Pyramids, advanced water control systems and developing complex artworks.

4. Zapotec Civilization, 500 BC-750 AD - The capital of the city Zapotec was Monte Alban which is situated in the valley of Oaxaca in central Mexico. It is the most intensively studied city and archaeological site in America and is included in very few “disembedded capitals” of the world. J and Los Danzantes were the two astronomical observatory buildings that this civilization was well known for along with captive and stunning records of the greatly amusing kings and warriors. 

5. Nasca Civilization, 1-700 AD - The people of this civilization are known for their ancient ground drawing, effigy or the geometric work that are developed by the humans on the ground or stones or low rief mounding. They belonged to the south coast of Peru. The images are usually of the birds or the animals that are made by humans by moving around the gigantic varnished rock of the vast arid desert. Ceramic potteries and textiles were the areas of expertise for the people belonging to this civilization.

6. Tiwanaku Empire, 550-950 AD - The capital of the Tiwanaku emperor is situated on the shores of Lake Titicaca which falls in between the borders of which is known today as  Peru and Bolivia on both sides. Their distinctive architecture shows that the architecture work was done by the workgroups. During the peak of this empire, it controlled most parts of the southern Andes and the coastline of South America.

7. Wari Civilization, 750-1000 AD - Wari state was in direct competition with the Tiwanaku empire. It was situated in the central  Andes mountains of Peru. They are always remembered for their remarkable influence on the upcoming civilizations seen at sites like Pachacamac.

8. Inca Civilization, 1250-1532 AD - During the arrival of the Spanish conquerors in the early 16th Century, it was the largest civilization of America among all other civilizations known today. They are known for their unique writing system known as quipu, Machu Picchu which was a lovely ceremonial centre and magnificent advanced road system. They had an amazing ability to build earthquake-resistant buildings apart from a very interesting burial ceremony. 

9. Mississippian Civilization, 1000-1500 AD - This was the term that was used by the experts and the scholar to identify and describe the civilization that inhabited across the length of the Mississippi River. In the central Mississippi River valley of southern Illinois, the highest level of sophistication was reached. It is now near present-day St. Louis, Missouri, and the capital city of Cahokia. They were the first civilization that was visited by the Spanish at the beginning of the 16th century. 

10. Aztec Civilization, 1430-1521 AD - It is the best-known civilization in the Americas. It is because they were at the peak of their powers when the Spanish arrived in the early 16th century. Because of their warlike, aggressive and intractable nature, they mostly occupied central America. The Aztecs were considered more than just a community of warlike. 

Conclusion

Thus, in this article we have learned about the Pre-Contact history of America. It was basically a time period before the contact between the Europeans and the natives. In this article, we have also covered a list of ancient civilizations of North America in brief.