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Andean Peoples

The Pacific coast and highlands of South America.

1,533 CE

Pizarro captures and executes Atahualpa. Smallpox had already killed the previous emperor.

1,450 CE

A royal estate on a ridge, abandoned within a century and never found by the Spanish.

1,438 CE – 1,533 CE

The largest empire in the pre-Columbian Americas, run without writing, wheels or money — but with knotted cords and superb roads.

600 CE – 1,000 CE

Two highland states with monumental stonework, including the Gate of the Sun in Bolivia.

100 BCE – 700 CE

Enormous geoglyphs on the desert floor that can only be read properly from the air.

900 BCE – 200 BCE

A religious centre in the highlands whose art style spreads across the Andes.

3,200 BCE – 1,800 BCE

Cities with monumental architecture but no pottery, no writing and no visual art — a civilisation built on cotton and fish.