Pre-Columbian era
The haplogroup most commonly associated with Indigenous Amerindian genetics is Y-chromosome haplogroup Q1a3a. Researchers have found genetic evidence that the Q1a3a haplogroup has been in South America for at least 18,000 years. This pattern indicates Indigenous peoples of the Americas experienced two very distinctive genetic episodes: first with the initial peopling of the Americas and second with European colonization of the Americas. The former is the determinant factor for the number of gene lineages and founding haplotypes present in today's Indigenous populations.
Human settlement of the Americas occurred in stages from the Bering Sea coastline, with an initial 20,000-year layover on Beringia for the founding population. The microsatellite diversity and distributions of the Y lineage specific to South America indicate that certain Amerindian populations have been isolated since the initial colonization of the region. The Na-Dené, Inuit, and Indigenous Alaskan populations exhibit haplogroup Q-M242 (Y-DNA) mutations, however, and are distinct from other Indigenous peoples with various mtDNA mutations. This suggests that the earliest migrants into the northern extremes of North America and Greenland derived from later populations.
Exactly when the first people migrated into the Americas is the subject of much debate. One of the earliest identifiable cultures was the Clovis culture, with sites dating from some 13,000 years ago. However, older sites dating back to 20,000 years ago have been claimed. Some genetic studies estimate the colonization of the Americas dates from between 40,000 and 13,000 years ago. The chronology of migration models is currently divided into two general approaches. The first is the short chronology theory with the first movement beyond Alaska into the Americas occurring no earlier than 14,000, 17,000 years ago, followed by successive waves of immigrants. The second belief is the long chronology theory, which proposes that the first group of people entered the hemisphere at a much earlier date, possibly 30,000, 40,000 years ago or earlier.
As early as 5500 BCE, people in the Lower Mississippi Valley at Monte Sano and other sites in present-day Louisiana, Mississippi, and Florida were building complex earthwork mounds, probably for religious purposes. Watson Brake, a large complex of eleven platform mounds, was constructed beginning in 3400 BCE and added to over 500 years. This has changed earlier assumptions that complex construction arose only after societies had adopted agriculture, and become sedentary, with stratified hierarchy and usually ceramics.
Until the accurate dating of Watson Brake and similar sites, the oldest mound complex was thought to be Poverty Point, also located in the Lower Mississippi Valley. Built about 1500 BCE, it is the centerpiece of a culture extending over 100 sites on both sides of the Mississippi. The Poverty Point site has earthworks in the form of six concentric half-circles, divided by radial aisles, together with some mounds. The entire complex is nearly a mile across.
The Mississippian culture was spread across the Southeast and Midwest of what is today the United States, from the Atlantic coast to the edge of the plains, from the Gulf of Mexico to the Upper Midwest, although most intensively in the area along the Mississippi River and Ohio River. One of the distinguishing features of this culture was the construction of complexes of large earthen mounds and grand plazas, continuing the mound-building traditions of earlier cultures. They grew maize and other crops intensively, participated in an extensive trade network, and had a complex stratified society. The largest urban site of these people, Cahokia, located near modern East St. Louis, Illinois, may have reached a population of over 20,000.
The earliest known civilization in Mesoamerica is the Olmec. This civilization established the cultural blueprint by which all succeeding indigenous civilizations would follow in Mexico. Pre-Olmec civilization began with the production of pottery in abundance, around 2300 BCE in the Grijalva River delta. Between 1600 and 1500 BCE, the Olmec civilization had begun, with the consolidation of power at their capital, a site today known as San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán near the coast in southeast Veracruz.
Teotihuacan emerged from that vacuum first settled in 300 BCE. By 150 CE, Teotihuacan had risen to become the first true metropolis of what is now called North America. Teotihuacan established a new economic and political order never before seen in Mexico. Its influence stretched across Mexico into Central America, founding new dynasties in the Maya cities of Tikal, Copan, and Kaminaljuyú. Within the city of Teotihuacan was a diverse and cosmopolitan population. Most of the regional ethnicities of Mexico were represented in the city, such as Zapotecs from the Oaxaca region.
Contemporary to Teotihuacan's greatness was that of the Maya civilization. The period between 250 CE and 650 CE was a time of intense flourishing of Maya civilized accomplishments. While the many Maya city-states never achieved political unity on the order of the central Mexican civilizations, they exerted tremendous intellectual influence upon Mexico and Central America. The Maya built some of the most elaborate cities on the continent and made innovations in mathematics, astronomy, and calendrics.
Holding their capital at the great cougar-shaped city of Cusco, Peru, the Inca civilization dominated the Andes region from 1438 to 1533. Known as Tawantinsuyu, or
The Marajoara culture flourished on Marajó Island at the mouth of the Amazon River in northern Brazil between 800 and 1400 CE. The Marajoara consisted of a complex society that built mounds and constructed sophisticated settlements. The indigenous people of the area adopted methods of large-scale agriculture through the use of terra preta, which would support complex chiefdoms. Studies suggest that the civilization housed around 100,000 inhabitants.
Located in the Xingu Indigenous Park in Brazil, Kuhikugu consisted of an urban complex that housed around 50,000 inhabitants and 20 settlements. The civilization was likely established by the ancestors of the Kuikuro people. The people also constructed roads, bridges, and trenches for defensive purposes and were purported to be farmers, as evidenced by the fields of cassava and the use of terra preta. Like most other Amazonian civilizations, the disappearance of Kuhikugu was largely attributed to Old World diseases introduced by European colonists.
Also known as the Omagua, Umana, and Kambeba, the Cambeba are an indigenous people in Brazil's Amazon basin. The Cambeba were a populous, organized society in the late pre-Columbian era whose population suffered a steep decline in the early years of the Columbian Exchange. The Spanish explorer Francisco de Orellana traversed the Amazon River during the 16th century and reported densely populated regions running hundreds of kilometers along the river.
Before the development of archaeology in the 19th century, historians of the pre-Columbian period mainly interpreted the records of the European conquerors and the accounts of early European travelers and antiquaries. It was not until the nineteenth century that the work of people such as John Lloyd Stephens, Eduard Seler, and Alfred Maudslay, and institutions such as the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology of Harvard University, led to the reconsideration and criticism of the early European sources.
Now, the scholarly study of pre-Columbian cultures is most often based on scientific and multidisciplinary methodologies. Genetic evidence found in Indigenous peoples' maternally inherited mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) supports the theory of multiple genetic populations migrating from Asia. After crossing the land bridge, they moved southward along the Pacific coast and through an interior ice-free corridor. Throughout millennia, Paleo-Indians spread throughout the rest of North and South America.
A 2007 paper published in PNAS put forward DNA and archaeological evidence that domesticated chickens had been introduced into South America via Polynesia by late pre-Columbian times. These findings were challenged by a later study published in the same journal, that cast doubt on the dating calibration used and presented alternative mtDNA analyses that disagreed with a Polynesian genetic origin. The origin and dating remain an open issue.
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Common questions
When did the first people migrate into the Americas according to genetic studies?
Genetic studies estimate the colonization of the Americas dates from between 40,000 and 13,000 years ago. The short chronology theory suggests movement beyond Alaska occurred no earlier than 14,000 or 17,000 years ago. The long chronology theory proposes that the first group entered the hemisphere at a much earlier date possibly 30,000 or 40,000 years ago.
What is the oldest mound complex in the Lower Mississippi Valley before Poverty Point?
Watson Brake is a large complex of eleven platform mounds constructed beginning in 3400 BCE and added to over 500 years. This site changed earlier assumptions that complex construction arose only after societies had adopted agriculture and become sedentary. It predates the Poverty Point site which was built about 1500 BCE.
Which civilization established the cultural blueprint for succeeding indigenous civilizations in Mexico?
The Olmec civilization began around 1600 BCE with the consolidation of power at their capital San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán near the coast in southeast Veracruz. This earliest known Mesoamerican civilization established the cultural blueprint by which all succeeding indigenous civilizations would follow in Mexico. Pre-Olmec civilization began with pottery production in abundance around 2300 BCE in the Grijalva River delta.
When did Teotihuacan rise to become the first true metropolis of North America?
Teotihuacan emerged from that vacuum first settled in 300 CE and rose to become the first true metropolis of what is now called North America by 150 CE. The city established a new economic and political order never before seen in Mexico. Its influence stretched across Mexico into Central America founding new dynasties in the Maya cities of Tikal Copan and Kaminaljuyú.
How many inhabitants lived in the Marajoara culture on Marajó Island between 800 and 1400 CE?
Studies suggest that the Marajoara civilization housed around 100,000 inhabitants during its flourishing period between 800 and 1400 CE. This complex society built mounds and constructed sophisticated settlements while adopting methods of large-scale agriculture through terra preta. The culture existed at the mouth of the Amazon River in northern Brazil.