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 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.

Millennia of independent indigenous existence was disrupted by European colonization from Spain and Portugal, and by demographic collapse. However, the resulting culture both in continent's ''mestizos'', and in indigenous cultures remained quite distinct from those of their colonizers. 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, starting in 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 American, dispersed into North America.

Pre-Columbian era

Agriculture and domestication of animals

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.

The first evidence for the existence of agricultural practices in South America dates back to circa 6500 BCE, when potatoes, chilies and beans began to be cultivated for food in the Amazon Basin. Pottery evidence suggests that manioc, which remains a staple foodstuff today, was being cultivated as early as 2000 BCE.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 BCE. 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.

By 2000 BCE, 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. 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.

Human activity

The earliest archaeological evidence from human settlement comes from Monte Verde (possibly as early as 16,500 BCE). Based on archaeological evidence from an excavation at Caverna da Pedra Pintada, human inhabitants first settled in the Amazon region at least 11,200 years ago.

For a long time it was thought that the Amazon rainforest was only ever sparsely populated, as it was impossible to sustain a large population through agriculture given the poor soil. Archaeologist Betty Meggers

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