Knowra Pre-Columbian era Pre-Columbian era The history of the Americas before sustained European contact and colonization, conventionally ending with Christopher Columbus’s 1492 voyage. It encompasses diverse Indigenous societies across the continents.
Maya civilization : A Mesoamerican civilization known for its city-states, hieroglyphic writing, mathematics, and calendar traditions. Its cities and intellectual traditions developed over centuries before European contact.
Indigenous peoples of the Americas : The diverse peoples descended from populations that inhabited the Americas before European colonization. The era’s history is primarily the history of these peoples and their societies.
Mesoamerican chronology : A framework dividing Mesoamerican history into broad periods such as Preclassic, Classic, and Postclassic. Its periods organize major shifts within one central region of the era.
Clovis culture : An archaeological culture in North America known for distinctive fluted stone points, dating to around 13,000 years ago. Clovis was once treated as the earliest American culture, a view later evidence has revised.
Columbian exchange : The transoceanic exchange of organisms, technologies, peoples, and diseases following sustained contact between the Americas and Afro-Eurasia. It describes profound changes that followed the period’s conventional endpoint.
Aztec Empire : A Mesoamerican empire centered on Tenochtitlan and ruled by the Mexica-led Triple Alliance. Its rapid expansion made it a major power in central Mexico by the time of Spanish arrival.
Mesoamerica : A cultural region extending from central Mexico into Central America, shaped by interconnected Indigenous societies. Its shared traditions help explain connections among societies such as the Maya and Mexica.
Three Sisters : An Indigenous intercropping system combining maize, beans, and squash. This complementary cultivation system supported communities in parts of North America.
Monte Verde : An archaeological site in southern Chile with evidence of human occupation dating to at least 14,500 years ago. Its early dates challenged models placing the first settlement of the Americas much later.
Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire : The campaign from 1519 to 1521 that brought the Mexica-led Aztec Empire under Spanish rule. It shows how conquest followed contact in one major American polity.
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