pre-Columbian
Americas before 1492
Pre-Columbian describes the Americas before Christopher Columbus arrived in 1492—the cultures, artifacts, and history of indigenous peoples prior to European contact.
Pre-Columbian civilizations like the Maya and Aztec built sophisticated cities.
The term appears most often in archaeology and art history: a museum of pre-Columbian art.
Ancient Mesoamerican people
- AztecAncient Mexican civilization
- IncaAncient Peruvian civilization member
- OlmecAncient Gulf Coast people
- ZapotecMesoamerican indigenous group
Toltec · Nazca · Mississippian · Arawak · Teotihuacan · Hopewell
Fired clay objects
- obsidianGlassy igneous rock
- jadeCarved ornamental mineral
- figurinesSmall ornamental sculptures
- codicesBound handwritten volumes
glyphs · ceramics · goldwork · featherwork · textiles · mosaics · sculptures · headdresses
Act of unearthing
- stratigraphyStudy of rock layers
- carbon-datingIsotope-based age measurement
- potsherdFragment of earthenware
- tombsChambers for the dead
pyramids · temples · settlements · mounds · iconography · burial sites · middens · radiocarbon
Medieval Scandinavian seafarers
- VinlandNorse term for America
- NorseAncient Scandinavian civilization
- sagasExtended heroic narratives
- L'Anse aux MeadowsViking site in Newfoundland
Leif Erikson · Polynesians · transoceanic · migration · land bridge · Beringia · settlement · oral tradition
Maya
Ancient Mesoamerican people
- AztecAncient Mexican civilization
- IncaAncient Peruvian civilization member
- OlmecAncient Gulf Coast people
Zapotec · Toltec · Nazca · Mississippian · Arawak · Teotihuacan · Hopewell
pottery
Fired clay objects
codices · glyphs · ceramics · goldwork · featherwork · textiles · mosaics · sculptures · headdresses · masks
excavation
Act of unearthing
- stratigraphyStudy of rock layers
- carbon-datingIsotope-based age measurement
- potsherdFragment of earthenware
tombs · pyramids · temples · settlements · mounds · iconography · burial sites · middens · radiocarbon · chronology
Vikings
Medieval Scandinavian seafarers
Leif Erikson · L'Anse aux Meadows · Polynesians · transoceanic · migration · land bridge · Beringia · settlement · oral tradition · seafaring
- Latin AmericaArgentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Cuba
- erasera, epoch, age, bronze age, period
- Colonial Americasconquistadors, colonization, Spanish conquest, encomienda, viceroyalty
- Peruvian HistoryInca Empire, Incas, Machu Picchu, Cusco, Cuzco
- Age of ExplorationMarco Polo, exploration, explorers, expeditions, Silk Road
- ColombiaBogota, Medellin, Cali, Colombian flag, Colombian coffee
pre-Columbianpost-Columbian
After Europeans reached Americas
colonial · colonial era · colonial period · contemporary · Spanish colonial
pre-Columbiancolonial
Of occupied territories
Europeanized · Hispanicized · colonial-era · Spanish colonial · colonized