This is a chronological list of significant or pivotal moments in the development of Native American art or the visual arts of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas. Earlier dates, especially before the 18th century, are mostly approximate.
Before common era 33,950–15,050 BCE: Artists paints hundreds of images at Serra da Capivara, Piauí, in northeastern Brazil.Anne-Marie Pesses and Niède Guidon. Dating Rock Art Paintings in Serra de Capivara National Park 12,800–8,500 BCE: Artists etch the Winnemucca Lake petroglyphs, near Reno, Nevada.Ker Than. "Oldest North American Rock Art May Be 14,800 Years Old." National Geographic. August 15, 2013. 11,000 BCE: Megafauna bone etched with a profile image of a walking mammoth and cross-hatched designs left near Vero Beach, Florida is the oldest known portable art in the AmericasDell'Amore, Christine. "Oldest American Art Found on Mammoth Bone." National Geographic. 22 June 2011. Retrieved 23 June 2011. 10,000–7000 BCE: "Horny Little Man," a petroglyph depicting a stick figure with an oversized phallus, is carved in Lapa do Santo, a cave in central-eastern Brazil, is the oldest reliably dated rock art in the Americas.Choi, Charles. "Call this ancient rock carving 'little horny man'." Science on NBC News. 22 Feb 2012. Retrieved 9 April 2012. 9250–8950 BCE: Clovis points - thin, fluted projectile points created using bifacial percussion flaking - are created by Clovis culture peoples in the Plains and Southwestern North AmericaO'Brien, Michael John and R. Lee Lyman. Applying Evolutionary Archaeology: A Systematic Approach. New York: Springer, 2000: 355. . 9250–8550 BCE: Monte Alegre culture rock paintings created at Caverna da Pedra Pintada become the oldest known paintings in South America.Wilford, John Noble. Scientist at Work: Anna C. Roosevelt: Sharp and To the Point In Amazonia. New York Times. 23 April 1996"Dating a Paleoindian Site in the Amazon in Comparison with Clovis Culture." Science. March 1997: Vol. 275, no. 5308, pp. 1948–1952. Retrieved 1 Nov 2009. 9000 BCE: A man and child interred in a cave near Serranópolis in central Brazil are accompanied by necklaces of human teeth and mother of pearlSaraceni, Jessica E. and Adriana Franco da Sá. "People of South America." Archaeology. Vol. 49, No. 4, July/August 1996. Retrieved 9 April 2012. 8500 BCE minimum age (could date back to 12,800 BCE): The Winnemucca Lake petroglyphs located near Winnemucca Lake, a dry lakebed in northwestern Nevada, are the earliest known petroglyphs in North America. They feature repeating designs of dots and arches, and other abstract designs."Dating Oldest Known Petroglyphs in North America." Science Daily. 13 Aug 2013. Retrieved 13 Aug 2013. 8000 BCE: Fiberwork left in Guitarrero Cave, Peru is the earliest known example of textiles in South AmericaStone-Miller 17 8200 BCE: Cooper Bison skull is painted with a red zigzag in present day Oklahoma,Bement, 37 becoming the oldest known painted object in North America.Bement 176 7650 BCE: Cave painting in the Toquepala Caves, Peru 7370±90: Stenciled hands are painted with mineral inks at the Cueva de las Manos, near Perito Moreno, Argentina, as well as images of humans, guanacos, rheas, felines, other animals, geometric shapes, the sun, and hunting scenesStraus, Lawrence Guy, Valentin Eriksen, Jon M. Erlandson, and David R. Yesner, eds. Humans at the end of the Ice Age: the archaeology of the Pleistocene-Holocene Transition. New York: Plenum Press, 1996:346. .UNESCO gives the dates: 11,000–9,500 BCE. "Cueva de las Manos, Río Pinturas." UNESCO World Heritage. 2010 (retrieved 15 July 2010) 7300 BCE: A painted herringbone design from Tecolate Cave in the Mojave Desert of California is the earliest well-dated pictograph in North America.Penney, 128 5630 BCE: Ceramics left at Caverna da Pedra Pintada, Brazil are the earliest known ceramics in the AmericasSilverman and Isbell, 365 3450 BCE: Watson Brake, built by a hunter-gatherer society in Louisiana, is the earliest known mound complex in North AmericaWalker, Amélie A. "Earliest Mound Site." Archaeology. Volume 51 Number 1, January/February 1998 (retrieved 15 Nov 2011) 2885 BCE: Valdivia culture pottery is created in coastal EcuadorJosephy, 240 2600–2000 BCE: Monumental architecture, including platform mounds and sunken courtyards, built in Caral, Supe Valley; Asia; Aspero; Salinas de Chao; El Paraíso; La Galgada; and Kotosh, PeruStone-Miller, 21 2500–1800 BCE: Elaborate twined textiles are created at Huaca Prieta in northern coastal Peru, part of the Norte Chico civilizationStone-Miller, 18-19 2000–1000 BCE: Poverty Point culture in northeastern Louisiana features stone work, flintknapping, earthenware, and effigy, conical, and platform mounds, as well as pre-planned settlements on concentric earthen ridges 1500 BCE–250 CE: Maya art is created in their Preclassic Period, in central and southeastern Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador 1400–400 BCE: Olmec culture thrives in Norte Chico, the tropical lowlands of Mexico. Their art includes colossal basalt heads, jade sculpture, carved writing in stones, and ceramic effigy jars. 1000–900 BCE: The Cascajal Block is carved with writing by the Olmec people, becoming the earliest known example of writing in the AmericasMartínez, Ma. del Carmen Rodríguez et al. Oldest Writing in the New World. Science. Vol. 313, No. 5793, 15 Sept 2006: 1610–1614. (retrieved 26 Oct 2009) 1000–200 BCE: Adena culture, known for its mound building, originates in Ohio and expands to Indiana, West Virginia, Kentucky, and parts of Pennsylvania and New York. 900 BCE: Construction begins on Chavín de Huantar, a Chavín city in Callejón de Conchucos, Peru 900–200 BCE: Chavín synthesis flourishes in central coastal Peru and is characterized by monumental architecture,Stone-Miller, 28–29 goldsmithing, stirrup spout ceramics, and Karwa textilesStone-Miller, 41 750–100 BCE: Paracas culture flourishes in south coastal Peru 730 BCE: Porcupine quills used as binding agent in Utah and Nevada 500 BCE: Zapotec civilization emerges in the Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico. They are known for their ceramics, jewelry, and stonework. 200 BCE–500 CE: The Hopewell tradition flourishes in Ohio, Ontario, and surrounding area, featuring ceramics, cut mica, weaving, carved pipes, and jewelry.
Common era 1–600: Moche culture flourishes in northern coastal Peru, characterized by monumental adobe mounds, murals, metalwork, and ceramicsStone-Miller, 82 1–700: Nasca culture thrives in southern coastal Peru, characterized by double spout and bridge vessels and the Nasca lines, monumental geoglyphsStone-Miller, 64 200–700: Maya civilization's Classic Period. Architecture, painting, stone glyphic writing, books, painting, ceramics, and Maya textiles created in central and southeastern Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador 400–900: Tiwanaku culture emerges from Lake Titicaca and spreads to southern Peru, eastern Bolivia, and northern Chile 500–900: Wari culture dominates central coastal Peru 755±65–890±65: likely dates of the Blythe Geoglyphs being sculpted by ancestral Quechan and Mojave peoples in the Colorado Desert, CaliforniaMalki Museum. Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology. 1994. Volume 16, Issue 1: 63 800–1500: Mississippian cultures flourish in the Eastern Woodlands, featuring ceramics, shell engraving, textiles, woodcarving and stonework. 900: Earliest event recorded in the Battiste Good (1821–22, Sicangu Lakota) Winter countGreene and Thornton, 42 900-1470: Chimú culture thrives in Chimor, today's north coastal Peru. Their art is characterized by monochromatic pottery; fine metal working of copper, gold, silver, bronze, and tumbago (copper and gold alloy); and monumental abode construction in their capital city Chan Chan 1000: Island of Marajó flourishes as an Amazonian ceramic center 1000–1200: Dresden Codex written and illuminated. This Yucatecan Mayan codex from Chichén Itzá is the earliest known surviving book from the Americas 1000–1200: Acoma Pueblo and Old Oraibi are established, become the oldest continuously inhabited communities in the United StatesAncient Citadel. Smithsonian Magazine. April 2008.Casey, Robert L. Journey to the High Southwest. Guilford, CT: Globe Pequot Press, 2007: 382. . 1070: Great Serpent Mound built in Ohio.Saraceni, Jessica E. Redating the Serpent Mound. Archaeology. Vol. 49, No. 6 Nov/Dec 1996 (retrieved 26 Oct 2009) 1100: Pueblo Bonito in Chaco Canyon reaches apex in size at 800 roomsBerlo and Phillips, 274 1100: Hohokam Culture reaches apex in present day ArizonaBerlo and Phillips, 274 1142: Wampum invented by Ayenwatha, which the Haudenosaunee used to record information.Gawyehnehshehgowa: Great Law of Peace. Degiya'göh Resources. (retrieved 14 March 2009)Johansen, Bruce E. Dating the Iroquois Confederacy. Akwesasne Notes. Fall 1995, Volume 1, 3 & 4, pp. 62–63. (retrieved through Ratical.com, 26 Oct 2009) 1200–1533: Inca civilization originated in the Peruvian highlands and spreads across western South America 1250: Cliff Palace, Mesa Verde, and other Ancestral Pueblo architectural complexes reach their apexBerlo and Phillips, 275 1325–1521: The Aztec Empire thrives, based in Tenochtitlan, central Mexico. Their arts are characterized by monumental stone architecture, turquoise mosaics, stone carving, ceramics, cotton textiles, and Aztec codices 1430: Construction of Machu Picchu begins, a classic example of Incan architecture 1479: Aztec Sun Stone, a monolithic calendar stone, almost 12 feet in diameter, is carved"Aztec calendar stone." Aztec History. (retrieved 2 Nov 2009) 1492: Glass beads are introduced to Taíno people 1500: Calusa culture flourishes in Key Marco, Florida,Berlo and Phillips, 275 characterized by woodcarving 1500–1800: Navajo people learn loom-weaving techniques from Pueblo peopleBerlo and Phillips, 275 1600–1615: Felipe Guaman Poma de Ayala (Quechua) illustrates his 1,189-page book, El primer nueva corónica [sic] y buen gobierno. 1600–1650: Fernando de Alva Cortés Ixtlilxochitl (Texcocan, 1568/1580–1648) illustrates the Codex Ixtlilxochitl with watercolor paintings 1688: European and Mestizo members of the Cuzco School part ways with the Indian painters, allowing them to develop their own styles.Fane, pp. 39–40 1725: Quebec Grey nuns and Mi'kmaq women devise new floral appliqué techniques in moose hair embroideryBerlo and Phillips, 277
19th century 1820s: Haida argillite carving emerges, in the wake of the declining Fur trade 1820s: Tuscarora brothers David and Dennis Cusick, both self-taught artists, begin painting, founding the Iroquois Realist Movement 1825: Ursuline nuns teach floral embroidery to Métis and Dene women in Fort Chipewyan and Winnipeg,Berlo and Phillips, 277 which will revolutionize Great Lakes quillwork, embroidery, and beadwork 1830–1900: Tribes near Niagara Falls create beadwork whimsies, birch bark boxes, and other art forms, jumpstarting an active souvenir trade, following the decline in the fur trade 1840s: Zacharie Vincent (Wendat, 1815–1886) begins his career as a realist oil painter 1826/8: David Cusick (ca. 1780–ca. 1831) published his self-illustrated Sketches of Ancient History of the Six Nations. 1853: Atsidi Sani (ca. 1830–1918) becomes the first known Navajo silversmith 1858–1869: Aron of Kangeq (1822–1869), a Kalaaleq sculptor and carver, paints over 300 watercolors about traditional ways of life in Greenland, later to be published in books 1860s: Depletion of buffalo and forced relocation onto reservations causes Plains Indians to shift from hide painting to painting and drawing on cloth and paper, giving birth to Ledger art 1876: Mississauga Ojibwe sculptor Edmonia Lewis is the talk of the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia for her monumental marble sculpture, The Death of Cleopatra.Wolfe, 93