Pre ColumbianArtemis Gallery

Ancient Tairona Pre Columbian Tubular Jasper Beads 11 Bead Lot Rare $0.99

1990 25c Pre-Columbian America, Grand Canyon Scott 2512 Mint F/VF NH $1.15

1989 45c Pre-Columbian Customs Scott C121 Mint F/VF NH $1.74

Scott #2426 Pre-Columbian Customs Plate Block $1.40

US – 1990 – 45 Cents – Pre-Columbian America Airmail Issue #C127 NH VF Nice! $1.87

Scott # 2426 Southwest Pre-Columbian 25c – MNH F/VF $1.00

Sc#C121 — PRE-COLUMBIAN AMERICA AIR MAIL – MNH/OG $0.79

#C131 MNH OG 1991 50c BERING LAND BRIDGE/PRE-COLUMBIAN AMERICA (AIRMAIL)PO FRESH $2.11

1991 50c Pre-Columbian America Scott C131 Mint F/VF NH $2.13

C131. Pre-Columbian America. MNH $2.28

C127.Tropical Coast, Pre-Columbian , MNH $2.28

C121. Costoms,Pre-Columbian American. MNH $2.28

US 2426 FDC Pre-Columbian Art House of Farnam $1.35

50 Used 25c – Scott#: 2426 – Pre-Columbian Customs $1.75

50 Used 25c – Scott#: 2512 – Pre-Columbian Customs $1.75

US Scott # C130-1 Antarctic Treaty & Pre Columbian MNH $2.39

PUAS AMERICA PRE COLUMBIAN ART ARTMASTER CACHET AND STORY UNADDRESSED FDC $1.49

NICARAGUA -1988- PRE-COLUMBIAN ART – AZTEC – S/SHEET! $1.49

Scott # 2512 – Plate Block of 4 – Mint Never Hinged VF – Pre-Columbian America $2.50

CUBA MNH SC#3149-50 PRE-COLUMBIAN INDIAN ART CANOE 1989 $1.00

C121 MNH 45c Pre-Columbian America – 5013 Deduct 10c $1.00

C127 MNH 45c Pre-columbian America – 3863 Deduct 10c $1.00

PRE-COLUMBIAN ART 45 CENT AIR MAIL HOUSE OF FARNUM CACHET UNADDRESSED FDC $1.99

PRE-COLUMBIAN ART 45 CENT AIR MAIL CAT FIGURE ARTMASTER CACHET AND STORY U/A FDC $1.99

C-121 US first day cover FDC airmail Pre Columbian America 1989 artcraft $1.40

Vintage Mexican Sterling Pre Columbian Turquoise Bracelet Miguel Melendez $3.25

SCOTT#2426 PRE-COLUMBIAN AMERICA MNH PB # A111111 UR $3.45

Sc# 2512 Pre-Columbian America (1990) MNH PB/4 CV $2.75 $1.95

C121 MNH/OG Pre-Columbian America Issue Blk/4 1989 $3.50

PHILLIPS PRE-COLUMBIAN ART AUCTION 1980 POSTCARD $2.55

Postcard-Precolumbian Mexicans Monument..Mexico City $3.95

EL SALVADOR 1989 SC 1214-15 MNH UPAEP Archaeology, Pre-Columbian Artifacts $1.99

Chile 866-867,MNH. UPAE-89.Pre-Columbian people:Potter, $3.18

Dover Coloring- Indian Life in Pre-Columbian N. America $1.99

URUGUAY Sc#1611 MNH STAMP Antropology Archeology precolumbian native burial bone $1.65

PERU MNH STAMP llama precolumbian native fauna $1.75

Myths of Pre-Columbian America $4.93

100 USED STAMPS #2426 PRE-COLUMBIAN S.W. CARVED FIGURES $3.95

100 USED STAMPS #2512 PRE COLUMBIAN / GRAND CANYON $3.95

Designs from Pre-Columbian Mexico Dover Pictorial Archive by Jorge 0486227944 $4.97

Pre-Columbian art by Michael Grey 031263580X $4.97

Pre-Columbian Tairona Culture Red Agate Disc Bead $0.99

Beautifully Colored Pre-Columbian Mayan Stone Necklace Bead-BLUE!! $0.99

Rare Pre-Columbian Mayan JADEITE Pendant Bead $0.99

PRE-COLUMBIAN BEAD- RED ANCIENT SHELL BEAD- SPONDYLUS SHELL VERA CRUZ $0.99

URUGUAY MNH STAMP Wool bag handcraft precolumbian theme $2.00

PRE-COLUMBIAN BEAD- RED MELON ANCIENT SHELL BEAD RED SCALLOP $1.04

PRE-COLUMBIAN BEAD-ANCIENT TAIRONA CULTURE JASPER AGATE DISC BEAD $1.04

Perfect Pre-Columbian Mezcala Culture Tubular Bead $1.04

1986-9 USA PRE-COLUMBIAN ART, LIBERTY GOLD PLATE CACHE SET OF 2 FDC’S $3.77

PRE COLUMBIAN AND MODERN ART ON ARGENTINA 1987 Scott 1590 MNH $3.65

Pre-Columbian Mayan Black JADEITE Tubular Necklace Bead $1.36

Pre-Columbian Tairona Culture Carnelian Bird Amulet Bead $1.36

US – 1989 – 45 Cents Pre-Columbian America Airmail Issue #C121 Copyright Block $5.39

1989 PRE-COLUMBIAN CUSTOMS – #C121 Mint MNH Plate Block $4.25

Dominican Republic 1998 SC 1269 MNH Pre Columbian Art $3.50

Master Works of Mexican Art from Pre-Columbian Times to $5.52

1989 USA Pre-Columbian Artifact FDC $2.99

US – 1990 – 45 Cents Pre-Columbian America Airmail Issue #C127 Copyright Block $5.74

US – 1990 – 45 Cents Pre-Columbian America Airmail Issue #C127 Zip Block NH Nice $5.74

Cuba mnh stamps precolumbian nude native aborigin columbus ship galleon tobacco $2.75

URUGUAY Sc#1806 MNH STAMP precolumbian aborigin native antropology cv$4.25 $2.95

Designs from Pre-Columbian Mexico (Dover Pictorial Archive) By Jorge Enciso $1.99

Stamps Mexico 1721-1723 MNH 1980 Pre-Columbian Monument $1.00

6 Pre-Columbian Pottery Shards, Ancient Indian Artifact, Latin American $1.99

ARIZONA PRE COLUMBIAN POTTERY PATTERNS THREE CARDS $5.99

CAMBODIA PRECOLUMBIAN POTTERY SET & S.S. $10.00 VALUE! $4.99

Daily Life in Pre-Columbian Native America (The Greenwood Press Daily Life Throu $5.99

EL SALVADOR 1976 SC 875-77 C388-90 MNH Archaeology Pre-Columbian Vases $3.00

America FDC, C121 2426, Heartland, Pre-Columbian Art $5.00

El Salvador 1985 Sc.#1036-42 Pre-Columbian Archaeology MNH Set & S/S $3.00

Turks & Caicos 1989 America UPAEP Pre-Columbian Culture Set MNH $3.00

Pre-Columbian Mayan Black Jade / Hardstone Celt/Axe Head – 400 – 800 AD $0.01

Stamps Mexico 1761-1763 MNH 1981 Pre-Columbian Monument $1.11

ARTIFACT HIGH QUALITY PRE COLUMBIAN OBSIDIAN CORNER NOTCH ARROWHEAD $3.25

Precolumbian alcoholic popular drink Pisco – Peru mnh stamp $3.20

Pre-Columbian Mayan Black Jade / Hardstone Celt/Axe Head – 400 – 800 AD $3.25

Colombia stamp set MNH pre-columbian art air 663 – 666 $3.30

Metate Pre-Columbian Art Costa Rica Postcard 0294 $3.53

PRE-COLUMBIAN BEAD-ANCIENT TAIRONA CULTURE BULLET BEAD SCULPTED $2.47

Bolivia Mch#741/2 mnh stamps Lions precolumbian native peasant at agriculture $3.50

URUGUAY Sc#1293/4 MNH STAMP America UPAE precolumbian pottery native aborigin $3.50

PRE COLUMBIAN NATIVE ART ST LUCIA 1988 Sc 906-909 MNH $5.00

Stamps Mexico 1701-1703 MNH 1980 Pre-Columbian Monument $1.53

URUGUAY 1989 UPAEP AMERICA PRECOLUMBIAN ART MNH $1.60

Precolumbian Textiles, Ancient Peru Indian Artifact, Latin American Collectible $3.25

Precolumbian art of North America and Mexico;, Francesco, editor Abbatte, Very G $6.89

Mexico 1761-1763 MNH 1981 Pre-Columbian Monuments $1.57

Mexico 1701-1703 MNH 1980 Pre-Columbian Monuments $1.57

Mexico 1721-1723 MNH 1980 Pre-Columbian Monuments $1.57

C121 Plate block Air mail 45cent Pre Columbian customs $6.00

Master Works of Mexican Art from Pre-Columbian Times to the Present., Fernando ( $6.97

C121. Costoms. Pre-Columbian American. USPS Block of 6. MNH $6.98

BRAZIL. 1989. America – Pre Columbian Artefacts Set SG: 2385/86. MNH. $3.92

BRAZIL BRASIL 1989 UPAEP AMERICA PRECOLUMBIAN ART MNH $1.99

ARGENTINA 1989 UPAEP -AMERICA ART PRECOLUMBIAN MASK MNH $1.99

Antigua & Barbuda 1989 America UPAEP Pre-Columbian Culture Set & S/S MNH $4.00

Dominica1989 America UPAEP Pre-Columbian Culture Set & S/S MNH $4.00

Pre-Columbian America by Donald A. MacKenzie SC (1996) $3.00

Cambodia 1159-1165,MNH.ESPAMER-91.Pre-Columbian pottery $6.00

The pre-Columbian era incorporates all period subdivisions in the history and prehistory of the Americas before the appearance of significant European influences on the American continents, spanning the time of the original settlement in the Upper Paleolithic period to European colonization during the Early Modern period.

While the phrase “pre-Columbian era” literally refers only to the time preceding Christopher Columbus’s voyages of 1492, in practice the phrase usually is used to denote the entire history of American indigenous cultures until those cultures were conquered or significantly influenced by Europeans, even if this happened decades or centuries after Columbus’s first landing. For this reason the alternative terms of Pre-Colonial Americas or Prehistoric Americas are also in use.

Many pre-Columbian civilizations established hallmarks which included permanent settlements, cities, agriculture, civic and monumental architecture, major earthworks, and complex societal hierarchies. Some of these civilizations had long faded by the time of the first permanent European arrivals (c. late 15th-early 16th centuries), and are known only through archaeological investigations. Others were contemporary with the colonial period, and were described in historical accounts of the time. A few, such as the Maya, had their own written records. Because most Christian Europeans of the time viewed such texts as heretical, they destroyed many texts in pyres. Only a few hidden documents have survived, giving modern historians glimpses of ancient culture and knowledge.

Where they persist, the societies and cultures that descended from these civilizations may now be substantively different in form from those of earlier ones. Many of these peoples and their descendants maintain various traditions and practices which relate to the earlier times, as well as combining them with more recently adopted ones.Asiatic migration
Main articles: Settlement of the Americas and Paleo-Indians
Further information: Genetic history of indigenous peoples of the Americas

Asian nomads are thought to have entered the Americas via the Bering Land Bridge (Beringia), now the Bering Strait and possibly along the Northwest coast. Genetic evidence found in Amerindians’ maternally inherited mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) supports the theory of multiple genetic populations migrating from Asia.[1][2] Over the course of millennia, Paleo-Indians spread throughout North America and South America. Exactly when the first group of people migrated into the Americas is the subject of much debate. One of the earliest identifiable cultures was the Clovis culture, with sites dating from some 13,000 years ago. However, older sites dating back to 20,000 years ago have been claimed. Some genetic studies estimate the colonization of the Americas dates from between 40,000 to 13,000 years ago.[3] The chronology of migration models is currently divided into two general approaches. The first is the short chronology theory with the first movement beyond Alaska into the New World occurring no earlier than 14,000 – 17,000 years ago, followed by successive waves of immigrants.[4][5][6][7] The second belief is the long chronology theory, which proposes that the first group of people entered the hemisphere at a much earlier date, possibly 50,000 – 40,000 years ago or earlier.[8][9][10][11]

Artifacts have been found in both North and South America which have been dated to 14,000 BP,[12] and humans are thought to have reached Cape Horn at the southern tip of South America by this time. The Inuit and related peoples arrived separately and at a much later date, probably during the first millennium AD, moving across the ice from Siberia into Alaska.
[edit] North America
Main articles: Aboriginal peoples in Canada#History, Native Americans in the United States#History, and Pre-Columbian Mexico
See also: List of archaeological periods (North America)

After the migration or migrations, it was several thousand years before the first complex civilizations arose, at the earliest emerging 5000 BCE. The inhabitants of the Americas were hunter-gatherers. Even after the emergence of advanced civilizations, hunter-gatherers inhabited most of the continents’ area until the 18th century. Within this timeframe, roughly pertaining to the Paleo-Indian Period, the Archaic Period, the Early Woodland Period, the Middle Woodland Period and the Late Woodland Period, numerous archaeological cultures have been identified.

Early Paleoamericans soon spread throughout the Americas, diversifying into many hundreds of culturally distinct nations and tribes.[13] Paleo-Indian adaptation across North America was likely characterized by small, highly mobile bands consisting of approximately 20 to 50 members of an extended family. These groups moved from place to place as preferred resources were depleted and new supplies were sought.[14] Paleo-Indian groups were efficient hunters and carried a variety of tools. These included highly efficient projectile points/knives (PP/Ks) of the types mentioned above[ambiguous], as well as less distinctive implements used for butchering and hide processing. During much of the Paleo-Indian period, bands are thought to have subsisted primarily through hunting now-extinct megafauna such as mastodon and bison antiquus.[15]

The North American climate finally stabilized by 8000 BCE; climatic conditions were very similar to today’s.[16] This led to widespread migration, cultivation and subsequently a dramatic rise in population all over the Americas.[16] Over the course of thousands of years, American indigenous peoples domesticated, bred and cultivated a large array of plant species. These species now constitute 50-60% of all crops in cultivation worldwide.[17]

Due to the vastness and variety of the climates, ecology, vegetation, fauna, and landforms, ancient peoples migrated and coalesced separately into numerous separate peoples of distinct linguistic and cultural groups.[18] According to the oral histories of many of the indigenous peoples of the Americas, they have been living there since their genesis, described by a wide range of traditional creation stories.
[edit] Middle Archaic period

As early as 6500 BCE, people in the Lower Mississippi Valley at the Monte Sano site were building complex earthwork mounds to express their religious ceremonies and cosmology. This is the earliest dated mound of numerous sites of mound complexes found in present-day Louisiana, Mississippi and Florida, from thousands of years before the construction of pyramids in Egypt. Since the late twentieth century, archeologists have explored and dated these sites. They have found that they were built by hunter-gatherer societies, whose people occupied the sites on a seasonal basis, and who had not yet developed ceramics. Watson Brake, a large complex of eleven platform mounds, was constructed beginning in 3400 BCE and added to over 500 years. This has changed earlier assumptions that complex construction arose only after societies had adopted agriculture, become sedentary, often developed stratified hierarchy, and generally also developed ceramics. These ancient people had organized to build complex mound projects from a different basis.
[edit] Late Archaic period
Poverty Point, 1500 BCE

Until the accurate dating of Watson Brake and similar sites, the oldest mound complex was thought to be Poverty Point, also located in the Lower Mississippi Valley. Built about 1500 BCE, it is the centerpiece of a culture extending over 100 sites on both sides of the Mississippi. The Poverty Point site has earthworks in the form of six concentric half-circles, divided by radial aisles, together with some mounds. The entire complex is nearly a mile across.

Mound building was continued by succeeding cultures, who built numerous sites in the middle Mississippi and Ohio River valleys as well, adding effigy mounds, conical and ridge mounds and other shapes.
[edit] Woodland period
Main article: Woodland period
Hopewell mounds from the Mound City Group in Ohio

The Woodland period of North American pre-Columbian cultures refers to the time period from roughly 1000 BCE to 1000 CE in the eastern part of North America. The term “Woodland” was coined in the 1930s and refers to prehistoric sites between the Archaic period and the Mississippian cultures. The Adena culture and the ensuing Hopewell tradition during this period built monumental earthwork architecture and established continent-spanning trade and exchange networks.

This period is considered a developmental stage without any massive changes in a short period, but instead having a continuous development in stone and bone tools, leather working, textile manufacture, tool production, cultivation, and shelter construction. Some Woodland peoples continued to use spears and atlatls until the end of the period, when they were replaced by bows and arrows.
[edit] Mississippian culture
Main article: Mississippian Culture
Mississippian site in Arkansas, Parkin Site, circa 1539. Illustration by Herb Roe.

The Mississippian culture was spread across the Southeast and Midwest from the Atlantic coast to the edge of the plains, from the Gulf of Mexico to the Upper Midwest, although most intensively in the area along the Mississippi River and Ohio River. One of the distinguishing features of this culture was the construction of complexes of large earthen mounds and grand plazas, continuing the moundbuilding traditions of earlier cultures. They grew maize and other crops intensively, participated in an extensive trade network, and had a complex stratified society. The Mississippians first appeared around 1000 CE, following and developing out of the less agriculturally intensive and less centralized Woodland period. The largest urban site of this people, Cahokia – located near modern East St. Louis, Illinois – may have reached a population of over 20,000. Other chiefdoms were constructed throughout the Southeast, and its trade networks reached to the Great Lakes and Gulf of Mexico. At its peak, between the 12th and 13th centuries, Cahokia was the most populous city in North America, and was not surpassed by European-American cities in population until 1800. Larger cities were constructed in Mesoamerica and South America. Monk’s Mound, the major ceremonial center of Cahokia, remains the largest earthen construction of the prehistoric New World. The culture reached its peak in c. 1200-1400, and in most places, it seems to have been in decline before the arrival of the Europeans.

Many Mississippian groups were encountered by the Hernando de Soto Expedition of the 1540s, mostly with disastrous results for both sides. Unlike the Spanish expeditions in Mesoamerica, who conquered vast empires with relatively few men, the de Soto expedition wandered the American Southeast for four years, becoming more bedraggled, losing more men and equipment, and eventually arriving in Mexico as a fraction of its original size. The local people fared much worse though, as the fatalities of diseases introduced by the expedition devastated the populations and produced much social disruption. By the time Europeans returned a hundred years later, nearly all of the Mississippian groups had vanished, and vast swaths of their territory were virtually uninhabited.[19]