History of South America

The history of South America is the study of the past, particularly the written record, oral histories, and traditions, passed down from generation to generation on the continent of South America. The continent continues to be home to indigenous peoples, some of whom built high civilizations prior to the arrival of Europeans in the late 1400s and early 1500s. South America has a history that has a wide range of human cultures and forms of civilization. The Norte Chico civilization in Peru dating back to about 3500 BC is the oldest civilization in the Americas and one of the first six independent civilizations in the world; it was contemporaneous with the Egyptian pyramids. It predated the Mesoamerican Olmec by nearly two millennia.

Indigenous peoples' thousands of years of independent life were disrupted by European colonization from Spain and Portugal and by demographic collapse. The resulting civilizations, however, were very different from those of their colonizers, both in the mestizos and the indigenous cultures of the continent. Through the trans-Atlantic slave trade, South America (especially Brazil) became the home of millions of people of the African diaspora. The mixing of ethnic groups led to new social structures.

The tensions between Europeans, indigenous peoples, and African slaves and their descendants shaped South America as a whole, starting in the sixteenth century. Most of Spanish America achieved its independence in the early nineteenth century through hard-fought wars, while Portuguese Brazil first became the seat of the Portuguese empire and then an empire independent of Portugal. With the revolution for independence from the Spanish crown achieved during the 19th century, South America underwent yet more social and political changes. These have included nation building projects, absorbing waves of immigration from Europe in the late 19th and 20th centuries, dealing with increased international trade, colonization of hinterlands, and wars about territory ownership and power balance. During this period there has also been the reorganization of Indigenous rights and duties, subjugation of Indigenous peoples living in the states' frontiers, that lasted until the early 1900s; liberal-conservative conflicts among the ruling classes, and major demographic and environmental changes accompanying the development of sensitive habitats.

Prehistory

In the Paleozoic and Early Mesozoic eras, South America and Africa were connected in a landmass called Gondwana, as part of the supercontinent Pangaea. In the Albian, around 110 mya, South America and Africa began to diverge along the southern Mid-Atlantic Ridge, giving rise to a landmass of Antarctica and South America. During the late Eocene, around 35 mya, Antarctica and South America separated and South America became a massive, biologically rich island-continent. During approximately 30 million years, the biodiversity of South America was isolated from the rest of the world, leading to the evolution of species within the continent.

The event that caused the mass-extinction of dinosaurs 66 Mya gave rise to neotropical rainforest biomes like the Amazonia, replacing species composition and structure of local forests. During ~6 million years of recovery to former levels of plant diversity, they evolved from widely spaced gymnosperm-dominated forests to the forests with thick canopies which block sunlight, prevalent flowering plants and high vertical layering as known today.

Geological evidence suggests that approximately 3 million years ago, South America became connected to North America when the Bolivar Trough marine barrier disappeared and the Panamanian land bridge formed. The joining of these two land masses led to the Great American Interchange, in which biota from both continents expanded their ranges. The first species known to have made the northward migration was Pliometanastes, a fossil ground sloth roughly the size of a modern black bear. Migrations to the Southern Hemisphere were undertaken by several North American mammalian carnivores. Fewer species migrated in the opposite direction from south to north. The result of the expansion of a North American fauna was a mass extinction in which hundreds of species disappeared in a relatively short time. About 60% of present-day South American mammals have evolved from North American species. Some South American species were able to adapt and spread into North America. Apart from Pliometanastes, during the Irvingtonian stage of the mammal land stages, around 1.9 mya, species as Pampatherium, a giant armadillo, ground sloth Megatherium, giant anteater Myrmecophaga, a Neogene capybara (Hydrochoerus), Meizonyx, opossum Didelphis, and Mixotoxodon followed the route north. The terror bird Titanis, the only large carnivore in South America, dispersed into North America.

Pre-Columbian era

Earliest inhabitants

The Americas are thought to have been first inhabited by people from eastern Asia who crossed the Bering Land Bridge to present-day Alaska; the land separated and the continents are divided by the Bering Strait. Over the course of millennia, three waves of migrants spread to all parts of the Americas. Genetic and linguistic evidence has shown that the last wave of migrant peoples settled across the northern tier, and did not reach South America.

Amongst the oldest evidence for human presence in South America is the Monte Verde II site in Chile, suggested to date to around 14,500 years ago. From around 13,000 years ago, the Fishtail projectile point style became widespread across South America, with its disappearance around 11,000 years ago coincident with the disappearance of South America's megafauna as part of the Quaternary extinction event.

Genomic research indicates that the initial peopling of South America involved at least three major population dispersals rather than a single continuous migration. Ancient-DNA evidence suggests subsequent regional differentiation, population replacement in some areas, and long-term genetic continuity in others.

Agriculture and domestication of animals The first evidence for the existence of agricultural practices in South America dates back to circa 6500 BC, when potatoes, chilies and beans began to be cultivated for food in the Amazon Basin. Pottery evidence suggests that manioc, which remains a staple food supply today, was being cultivated as early as 2000 BC.O'Brien, Patrick. (General Editor). Oxford Atlas of World History. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005. p. 25

South American cultures began domesticating llamas and alpacas in the highlands of the Andes circa 3500 BC. These animals were used for both transportation and meat; their fur was shorn or collected to use to make clothing. Guinea pigs were also domesticated as a food source at this time.Diamond, Jared. Guns, Germs and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies. New York: Norton, 1999, p. 100

By 2000 BC, many agrarian village communities had developed throughout the Andes and the surrounding regions. Fishing became a widespread practice along the coast, with fish being the primary source of food for those communities. Irrigation systems were also developed at this time, which aided in the rise of agrarian societies. The food crops were quinoa, corn, lima beans, common beans, peanuts, manioc, sweet potatoes, potatoes, oca and squashes.Diamond, Jared. Guns, Germs and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies. New York: Norton, 1999 (pp. 126–27) Cotton was also grown and was particularly important as the only major fiber crop.

Among the earliest permanent settlements, dated to 4700 BC is the Huaca Prieta site on the coast of Peru, and at 3500 BC the Valdivia culture in Ecuador. Other groups also formed permanent settlements. Among those groups were the Muisca or "Muysca," and the Tairona, located in present-day Colombia. The Cañari of Ecuador, Quechua of Peru, and Aymara of Bolivia were the three most important Native peoples who developed societies of sedentary agriculture in South America.

In the last two thousand years, there may have been contact with the Polynesians who sailed to and from the continent across the South Pacific Ocean. The sweet potato, which originated in South America, spread through some areas of the Pacific. There is no genetic legacy of human contact.Howe, Kerry R., The Quest for Origins, Penguin Books, 2003, , pp. 81, 129

Caral-Supe / Norte Chico

On the north-western coast of present-day Peru, the Caral-Supe civilization, also known as the Norte Chico civilization emerged as one of six civilizations to develop independently in the world. It was roughly contemporaneous with the Egyptian pyramids. It preceded the civilization of Mesoamerica by two millennia. It is believed to have been the only civilization dependent on fishing rather than agriculture to support its population.

The Caral Supe complex is one of the larger Norte Chico sites and has been dated to 27th century BC. It is noteworthy for having absolutely no signs of warfare. It was contemporary with urbanism's rise in Mesopotamia.

Cañari

The Cañari were the indigenous natives of today's Ecuadorian provinces of Cañar and Azuay at the time of European contact. They were an elaborate civilization with advanced architecture and religious belief. Most of their remains were either burned or destroyed from attacks by the Inca and later the Spaniards. Their old city "Guapondelig", was replaced twice, first by the Incan city of Tomipamba, and later by the colonial city of Cuenca. The city was believed by the Spanish to be the site of El Dorado, the city of gold from the mythology of Colombia.

The Cañari were most notable in having repulsed the Incan invasion with fierce resistance for many years until they fell to Tupac Yupanqui. It is said that the Inca strategically married the Cañari princess Paccha to conquer the people. Many of their descendants still reside in Cañar.

Chibchan Nations

The Chibcha-speaking communities were the most numerous, the most extended by territory, and the most socio-economically developed of the Pre-Hispanic Colombian cultures. They were divided into two linguistic subgroups; the Arwako-Chimila languages, with the Tairona, Kankuamo, Kogi, Arhuaco, Chimila and Chitarero people and the Guna-Colombian languages with Guna, Nutabe, Motilon, U'wa, Lache, Guane, Sutagao and Muisca.

Muisca

Of these indigenous groups, the Muisca were the most advanced and formed one of the four grand civilisations in the Americas.Ocampo López, 2007, p.26 With the Inca in Peru, they constituted the two developed and specialised societies of South America. The Muisca, meaning "people" or "person" in their version of the Chibcha language; Muysccubun, Muysca – Muysccubun Dictionary Online inhabited the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, the high plateau in the Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes and surrounding valleys, such as the Tenza Valley. Commonly set at 800 AD, their history succeeded the Herrera Period.* The people were organised in a loose confederation of rulers, later called the Muisca Confederation. At the time of the Spanish conquest, their reign spread across the modern departments Cundinamarca and Boyacá with small parts of southern Santander with a surface area of approximately and a total population of between 300,000 and two million individuals.Although sources state "47,000", this cannot be correct as that would be whole Boyacá and Cundinamarca and include Panche, Lache and Muzo Muisca Confederation area almost 47,000 km2, page 12