Best Pre Columbian
Tawantinsuyu, or the Inca Civilization, was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. Centered in Cusco, it spanned much of western South America during the 15th and 16th centuries along the Andean mountain range. The state was highly centralized, utilizing a strict administrative hierarchy and a...
Paracas Candelabra, also called El Candelabro, is a large prehistoric geoglyph cut into an arid coastal hillside on the northern side of Peru's Paracas Peninsula, overlooking Pisco Bay. The figure resembles a branching candelabrum or trident and is about 180 meters long. Its exact date, maker and me...
The Aztec or Mexica civilization was a Mesoamerican society that dominated the central valley of Mexico during the 14th and 15th centuries. Centered on the island city of Tenochtitlan, founded circa 1325, they constructed a vast tribute empire known as the Triple Alliance. The civilization ended fol...
The Nazca Astronaut, also called El Astronauta, is an anthropomorphic geoglyph cut into a desert hillside near Nazca, Peru. Its stylized figure has large circular eyes, extended arms, and a simplified body, and the popular nickname comes from a modern resemblance to a space traveler rather than evid...
The Bighorn Medicine Wheel is a prehistoric stone arrangement in the Bighorn Mountains of Wyoming, now part of the Medicine Wheel and Medicine Mountain National Historic Landmark. The roughly 80-foot limestone circle has a central cairn, 28 radiating spokes, and smaller stone enclosures, and stands...
The Cacaxtla murals are pre-Columbian wall paintings preserved at the archaeological site of Cacaxtla in Tlaxcala, central Mexico. Created during the Epiclassic period, they depict armed figures, battle scenes, deities, animals, plants, and ritual imagery in saturated colors. Their combination of ce...
Cerro Pintado is a hill in the Pampa del Tamarugal of Chile’s Tarapacá Region, known for the Pintados geoglyphs on its slopes. Pre-Hispanic peoples created the figures between about 700 and 1500 CE by removing surface material to expose a contrasting layer of ground; the designs include geometric, a...
The Nazca Tree, also called El Árbol, is a plant-form geoglyph on the arid coastal plain of southern Peru. It forms part of the Nazca Lines and Geoglyphs of Nasca and Palpa, a UNESCO World Heritage site whose figures were made by clearing dark surface stones and soil to expose lighter ground beneath...
The Cerro Pintado geoglyphs are a group of pre-Hispanic ground and hillside figures in the Pampa del Tamarugal of Chile’s Tarapacá Region. They form part of the Pintados geoglyph complex, where ancient peoples created geometric and figurative designs by arranging stones and removing or disturbing su...
The Tepantitla murals are wall paintings from a residential compound at Teotihuacan, the major ancient city in central Mexico, and are generally dated to the city's Classic-period occupation. Their best-known composition, often called the Tlalocan mural, combines a richly equipped supernatural figur...
The Nazca Hands, or Las Manos, is an anthropomorphic geoglyph in the Nazca region of southern Peru. The figure is made from exposed lighter ground and cleared or rearranged surface stones, like other Nazca geoglyphs, and is recognizable by its hand-like forms and separated digits. It belongs to the...
The Kingdom of Cusco emerged in the Andes Mountains around 1200 CE as the core state established by Manco Capac. This early polity developed significant administrative and cultural practices that ultimately shaped the Inca Empire. It represents a crucial stage in Andean history and is particularly r...
Man Mound is a prehistoric Native American effigy mound in Sauk County near Baraboo, Wisconsin, shaped as a stylized standing human figure. The surviving earthwork is about 214 feet long and is recognized as a National Historic Landmark; it is often described as the only known surviving human-shaped...
The Nazca Pelican, also known as Alcatraz, is a zoomorphic geoglyph in the Nazca Desert of southern Peru and part of the wider Nazca Lines landscape. It depicts a bird in an elongated, stylized outline made by clearing darker surface stones to expose lighter ground below. The figure is associated wi...
Tlatelolco Market is a mural scene by Diego Rivera within his historical cycle at the National Palace in Mexico City. It reconstructs the vast marketplace of pre-Columbian Tlatelolco through a panoramic gathering of merchants, customers, officials, goods, and ritual activity. Rivera used the market...
The Maya civilization flourished in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica from approximately 250 AD to the Spanish conquest. This complex society is recognized for its sophisticated advancements including a fully developed hieroglyphic writing system, an intricate astronomical calendar used for predicting celes...
Tejate is a traditional cold beverage originating from the Mexican state of Oaxaca, with roots tracing back to pre-Columbian Zapotec and Mixtec cultures. Often described as a drink or porridge, it is made by grinding toasted corn masa, cacao beans, mamey sapote seeds (known as pixtle), and the aroma...
The Tarapacá Geoglyphs are pre-Hispanic ground drawings and geometric designs distributed across desert routes in northern Chile. Indigenous communities made them by clearing or arranging the dark surface stones of the Atacama Desert, producing figures visible from nearby slopes and travel corridors...
The Norte Chico civilization, also known as the Caral-Supe civilization, was an ancient complex society that flourished along the north-central coast of present-day Peru from approximately 3000 to 1800 BCE. Its principal urban center, Caral, is located in the Supe Valley and is considered one of the...
The Aztec Empire flourished in Mesoamerica from roughly 1428 to 1521. This post-classic civilization centered around a powerful military and sophisticated agricultural techniques developed within its capital city of Tenochtitlan. The empire’s influence extended across central Mexico, primarily benef...
The Inca Empire flourished in present-day Peru and surrounding Andean South America from roughly 1438 to 1533. It represents one of history’s most impressive pre-Columbian civilizations renowned for sophisticated engineering including intricate stonework and an extensive road system. The empire’s ce...
Located in the Palpa Valley of Peru, the Clapham Junction geoglyphs are a dense cluster of intersecting straight lines and trapezoids created by the Paracas and Nazca cultures.
The Atetelco compound at Teotihuacan, Mexico, preserves wall paintings associated with residential and ceremonial spaces of the ancient city. Murals dated broadly to Teotihuacan's later occupation include repeated processional figures identified as jaguars, coyotes, or costumed warriors, together wi...
The Ancestral Puebloans were an Indigenous culture of the Four Corners region in the American Southwest, flourishing from roughly 100 to 1300 CE. They are distinguished by their distinctive architectural achievements, including multistory cliff dwellings and large ceremonial structures called kivas....
The Chimu civilization was an Andean state that thrived on the northern coast of Peru from roughly 900 to 1470 CE. Centered at the massive adobe city of Chan Chan, the Chimu built the largest pre-Columbian city in the Americas, featuring complex walled compounds, intricate irrigation systems, and pl...
The Chimor Kingdom, also known as the Chimú Empire, was a pre-Columbian state that flourished on the northern coast of modern-day Peru from approximately 900 to 1470 CE. Its capital, Chan Chan, was the largest earthen city of its era, characterized by massive adobe compounds and complex irrigation s...
The Nazca civilization flourished in southern Peru's arid coastal region from approximately 100 BCE to 800 CE. They are best known for creating the Nazca Lines, a collection of massive geoglyphs etched into the desert floor that depict various animals, plants, and geometric shapes. The society also...
Murals at Xochicalco, Morelos, Mexico, dating to around 700–900 CE, depict feathered serpents and calendrical imagery reflecting the convergence of diverse Mesoamerican cultures.
The Wari (or Huari) were a pre-Columbian Andean civilization that flourished from approximately 600 to 1000 CE. Centered near the modern city of Ayacucho in the Peruvian highlands, the Wari are considered one of the first empire-scale societies in South America. They constructed an extensive network...
Nazca Flower, also called La Flor, is a plant-shaped geoglyph in the Nazca desert region of southern Peru. It belongs to the broader group of desert figures and lines associated with the Nazca culture, whose makers created large designs by removing darker surface stones to expose lighter ground bene...
