South America

c. 610–1000

Southern Chile · Pitrén and El Vergel · Pitrén tradition

Southern Chilean communities share pottery and burial traditions.

Sources: Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino. Olla-challa Pitrén, 400–1000 DC.

c. 610–800

San Agustín · Monumental funerary centres

Northern Andean communities build burial mounds and stone statues.

Sources: UNESCO. San Agustín Archaeological Park.

c. 800–1200

Muisca · Eastern Cordillera · Early Muisca period

Farming communities and local centres develop on the high plateau.

Sources: Universidad Pedagógica y Tecnológica de Colombia. Parque Museo Arqueológico de Tunja: periodización Herrera, Muisca Temprano y Muisca Tardío.

c. 1000–1300

Ichma · Pachacamac · Power in the Lurín and Rímac valleys

Local rulers build ramped pyramids; Pachacamac remains an important sanctuary.

Sources: The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History: Central and Southern Andes, 1000–1400 A.D.

c. 1000–1200

Lucre · Chokepukio · Political centres after Wari

After Wari’s disintegration, local political societies continue in the Cusco Valley. In the Lucre Basin, Chokepukio sustains monumental construction and collective ceremonies. This is the region’s history before the rise of the Inca Empire.

Chokepukio is the centre of a local polity.

Local craftspeople continue pottery production.

Feasting halls link public ceremonies with the authority of local elites.

Sources: Gordon McEwan, Arminda Gibaja, Melissa Chatfield. Arquitectura monumental en el Cuzco del Periodo Intermedio Tardío. Boletín de Arqueología PUCP 9, 2005.

c. 1000–1150

Tiwanaku · Decline of the centre

Tiwanaku’s political dominance weakens. The city loses population and its regional system breaks apart during the eleventh and first half of the twelfth centuries.

Sources: UNESCO. Tiwanaku: Spiritual and Political Centre of the Tiwanaku Culture.; The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History: Central and Southern Andes, 1000–1400 A.D.

c. 1300–1453

Aymara lordships of Titicaca · Several highland lordships

Aymara lordships, including Colla and Lupaca, coexist around Lake Titicaca. Farming, llama herds and exchange link the highlands with other ecological zones.

Sources: The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History: Central and Southern Andes, 1000–1400 A.D.

c. 1300–1399

Casarabe · Late Llanos de Mojos centres

Settlements with earthen platforms, canals and causeways remain connected. The Casarabe archaeological culture is traced to approximately 1400.

Sources: Heiko Prümers et al. Lidar reveals pre-Hispanic low-density urbanism in the Bolivian Amazon. Nature 606, 2022, pp. 325–328.

c. 1300–1374

Chimú · Chan Chan · Valleys under Chan Chan

Chimú extends its power over irrigated coastal valleys. The capital Chan Chan brings together palace compounds and specialised workshops.

Sources: UNESCO. Chan Chan Archaeological Zone.; The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Central and Southern Andes, 1400–1600 A.D.; Chimú Beaker. British Museum. Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui.

c. 1600

Tairona · Sierra Nevada · Subjugation and survival of mountain communities

At the end of the sixteenth century Spanish campaigns break the power of several local rulers. Mountain communities and their cultural history continue after conquest.

Sources: The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Central and Southern Andes, 1400–1600 A.D.; Northern Andes, 1400–1600 A.D.; British Museum. Tairona Period. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Ocarina, Tairona, 1300–1500.

c. 1601–1789

Spanish centres in Chile · Central Chile and the Biobío frontier

Santiago and the central valleys remain under Spanish rule; south of the Biobío, Mapuche retain autonomy.

Royal officials, town councils and local intermediaries.

Taxation, markets and maritime trade.

Colonial society assigns unequal rights to Indigenous residents, settlers, free and enslaved people.

Sources: Biblioteca Nacional de Chile. Cronología 1600–1699; Parlamento de Quilín and the Guerra de Arauco.

c. 1601–1693

Palmares · free communities · Palmares settlement alliance

People escaping slavery establish farming settlements and defend them against colonial expeditions.

Leaders connect defended mocambo settlements.

Farming, crafts and exchange between settlements.

Kinship, languages and local traditions persist through political changes.

Sources: Fundação Joaquim Nabuco. Quilombo dos Palmares. Fundação Cultural Palmares. Dossiê Serra da Barriga.

1808–1814

Portuguese Brazil · coastal centres · Brazil · royal court

The Portuguese court arrives in Rio de Janeiro; open ports and new institutions transform Brazil’s position.

Sources: Library of Congress. Country Studies: Mexico, Colombia, Paraguay, Chile, Brazil. Historical setting.

1810–1815

Viceroyalty of New Granada · New Granada · juntas and royalists

Juntas in Bogotá and Cartagena compete with one another and royalists. Quito and Panama follow distinct paths; Cartagena’s capture in 1815 opens the Spanish reconquest.

Sources: Library of Congress. Country Studies: Mexico, Colombia, Paraguay, Chile, Brazil. Historical setting.

1810–1815

Río de la Plata · Rio de la Plata · revolutionary provinces

The May Revolution establishes a junta in Buenos Aires. Provinces contest authority; independence will be declared in 1816.

Sources: Library of Congress. Country Studies: Mexico, Colombia, Paraguay, Chile, Brazil. Historical setting.

1915–1918

Montevideo · royalists · Oriental Republic of Uruguay

After civil wars the state consolidates government; José Batlle y Ordóñez pursues social reforms in the early twentieth century.

Sources: Leslie Bethell, ed. The Cambridge History of Latin America, III–V.

1915–1918

Paraguay · Spanish administration · Paraguay · post-war recovery

Military defeat brings occupation, territorial cessions and economic reconstruction.

Sources: Library of Congress. Paraguay: A Country Study.

1915–1918

Upper Peru · royalist centres · Bolivia · loss of the Pacific coast

Chile occupies the coast in 1879. Its loss is confirmed by the 1904 treaty.

Sources: Biblioteca Nacional de Chile. Ocupación militar y colonización de la Araucanía (1851–1883); Guerra del Pacífico (1879–1884).

1946–1960

Quito · royalist centre · Republic of Ecuador

Conservative and liberal governments compete; the 1895 revolution brings liberal reforms.

Sources: Leslie Bethell, ed. The Cambridge History of Latin America, III–V.

1946–1960

Venezuela · independence war · Republic of Venezuela

The Federal War of 1859–63 changes state institutions; subsequent government remains dominated by military strongmen.

Sources: Leslie Bethell, ed. The Cambridge History of Latin America, III–V.

1946–1960

French Guiana · Vichy · French Guiana

In March 1943, Guiana joins Free France.

Sources: Ministère chargé des Outre-Mer. Guyane — histoire.

1992–2000

Guyana · colony · Guyana

Independence is attained in 1966; national institutions replace colonial administration.

Sources: Office of the Historian. A Guide to Recognition and Diplomatic Relations: Guyana.

1992–2000

Suriname · colony · Suriname

Independence is attained in 1975; national institutions replace colonial administration.

Sources: Office of the Historian. A Guide to Recognition and Diplomatic Relations: Suriname.

1992–2000

Peru’s north coast · Peru’s north coast

Communities continue farming, crafts and trade in independent Peru. Political change does not end land disputes or social inequality.

Sources: Congreso del Perú. Decreto del 28 de octubre de 1836; Marina de Guerra del Perú. Historia: siglo XIX.