Today, we know the Andean civilizations or Andean cultures as the pre-Columbian peoples who emerged and developed over twenty centuries in the Andes mountain range (hence their name) in western South America. They lived in a fertile and diverse cultural region comparable to other cradles of civilization such as Mesoamerica and Mesopotamia.
Andean civilizations emerged around the 5th millennium BC and throughout their history reached a significant level of development and cultural complexity.
Almost everything known about them comes from archaeological reconstruction, as they left no written records prior to the invasion of their territory by the Spanish conquistadors in the first third of the 16th century, a period that marked the end of their culture and its replacement by the Hispanic culture.
However, evidence suggests that it was a very diverse region, with important common ethnic, economic, and cultural traits, which is why attempts are made to cover its entirety under the name “Andean civilizations.” Its study is a rapidly developing field of knowledge that yields new surprises every day. Three hypotheses are considered regarding its origin and primary development:
The immigrationist or diffusionist theory, proposed by the German archaeologist Federico Max Uhle (1856-1944), the pioneer of scientific archaeology in Peru. According to this theory, the Andean peoples emerged on the Pacific coast, later expanding toward the mountains, as their first members were Mesoamerican travelers arriving by sea.
The autochthonist or evolutionist theory, proposed by the Peruvian physician and anthropologist Julio César Tello (1880-1947), the first indigenous archaeologist in Latin America. According to this theory, the Andean peoples emerged without connection to Mesoamerica, possibly in the Peruvian Amazon rainforest. Other autochthonists, such as Rafael Larco Hoyle (1901-1966), on the other hand, preferred to believe that they emerged on the coast rather than in the rainforest, albeit independently.
The allochthonist theory, proposed by Peruvian anthropologist, historian, and archaeologist Federico Kauffmann Doig (1928–) in 1962, according to which both Mesoamerican and Andean civilizations had a common origin somewhere in the Mesoamerican geographic region.
From there, their ancestors reached the Ecuadorian coast and founded their first settlement in Valdivia. This theory was questioned by specialists as a return to Max Uhle’s theory, although Kauffmann did not propose that Andean cultures descended from Mesoamerican cultures, but rather that both arose from an ancestral culture prior to the beginning of the Formative or Preclassic period (2500 BC).
In any case, it is known that Andean cultures had periods of great cultural dispersion and periods of concentration, as one of them became dominant and exercised control over the others, only to later enter a phase of decline and fall again. The best known of these cultures was the Inca, creators of the Tahuantinsuyu or Inca Empire, the largest political unit in the history of the region.
Characteristics of Andean Civilizations
The most general features of Andean civilizations are as follows:
They were a very diverse group of peoples, generally named according to the location where their main archaeological sites were found. Some may be separated from others by years or even centuries, over four millennia of history. Their period of greatest diversification is estimated to have been from approximately 200 BC to 600 AD.
They were essentially agricultural cultures, which domesticated and efficiently cultivated corn, cassava, sweet potato, peanuts, achira, potatoes, quinoa, squash and pumpkin, beans, chili peppers, cacao, cotton, and cañihua. Such a plant-based diet was complemented by camelid livestock and fishing, and the food was dehydrated for storage.
They were skilled potters and ceramic makers, and they used very rudimentary metallurgy, primarily for ornamental purposes. They also developed textiles and wore tunics tied with a sash at the waist, turbans (called uncu), and woven bags.
They engaged in intense trade among themselves, but also with the great peoples of Mesoamerica and Central America. The extent to which some of their cultural elements were the result of contagion from the Mesoamericans is a matter of debate.
Although the foundations of their religion are unknown, it is known that they were small theocratic states that largely shared a common imagery expressed in totemic animal figures: eagles, fish, felines, and condors, always in the form of trophy heads. Throughout history they constituted important political units, of greater or lesser military and economic power, among others.
Among them are the Wari Empire (600–1200 AD), the Tiwanaku Empire (700–1187 AD), the Chimu Kingdom (1000–1470 AD), and the Inca Empire (1438–1533). The latter faced the Spanish and, even after being defeated, led numerous insurrections against the colonial order over the course of at least two centuries.
Its archaeological legacy is rich and vast, with important sites of tools, vessels, architectural structures, and mortuary centers with elaborate sarcophagi and statues.
Where did Andean civilizations develop?
Andean cultures developed in the western portion of South America, in the territories of present-day Peru, Ecuador, Chile, and Bolivia, and had a significant influence on the southern regions of Colombia and northern Argentina. Their territories included coasts, mountain ranges, Yungas, and Amazonian jungles.
Inventions and Technology of Andean Civilizations
Andean civilizations inventions agriculture terracesTerrace agriculture allows the mountains to be used for farming.
Many Andean civilizations achieved a sophisticated level of adaptation to their environments, especially to agriculture in the mountains, for which they had to invent various methods and tools, such as:
The Andean foot plow, also called tirapié or chaquitaclla, one of the main agricultural tools in the Andean world, inherited from the first American settlers and which reached its highest level of use during the Tahuantinsuyu. This tool was used to make furrows in the earth for sowing.
Terrace agriculture, a method of taking advantage of the steep slopes of the mountains for planting, by building stone walls to prevent soil erosion and allow it to be leveled for cultivation. This method is unique to the Andes and was common to all mountain cultures.
Large irrigation complexes, using furrows to allow water to run (kanis), followed the contour lines to prevent soil erosion. This system, however, required a significant investment of labor, which was not a disadvantage for the great agricultural empires.
A vast network of roads and tambos, the latter being administrative-military shelters, was built by the Inca Empire throughout its territory to provide shelter for the chasquis, imperial messengers, every 30 km of their journey on foot.
Main Andean Cultures
Among the main Andean cultures are the following:
The Chavín culture: This was the most important of the cultures of the so-called Early Horizon (1200 BC – 400 BC), whose civilizational epicenter was the city of Chavín de Huántar, in the upper basin of the Marañón River, in western Peru.
For a long time, it was thought to be the mother culture of the Andean civilizations, as Julio César Tello postulated when he discovered its first sites.
During its heyday, the Chavín ceremonial center was the most important in the entire Andean region, and remains of goldsmithing, textiles, ceramics, sculpture, gold metallurgy, and architecture have been found there, as well as large stone heads known as “clavas.”
The Paracas culture: Also characteristic of the Early Horizon, this culture developed on the Paracas Peninsula, in the present-day Peruvian region of Ica, between 700 BC and 200 AD.
They were skilled textile makers, basket makers, and pottery makers, and like the Chavín, they were fond of cranial trepanation, that is, deformations of the upper part of the skull using instruments that were probably ritual, although the purpose of this practice is unknown. For many, it is the ancestor of the Nazca culture, with which it has important cultural ties.
The Moche culture: Also known as the Mochica culture, flourished between the 2nd and 5th centuries in the Moche River valley, located in present-day Trujillo province, Peru.
They were important adobe workers and creators of palaces and temples in the shape of truncated pyramids, as well as large hydraulic works such as dams and irrigation canals.
This was also the culture with the greatest and most advanced expertise in metallurgy, mastering various metalworking techniques.
They are also considered among the best ceramists of ancient Peru. Their highly stratified society was composed of confederated lordships or kingdoms, and many of the tombs of their ruling aristocracy are still preserved today.
The Nazca culture: Famous for the famous “Nazca lines,” enormous geoglyphs depicting various animals, humans, and deities through lines, these people developed in the present-day department of Ica, Peru, between the 1st and 7th centuries. Their main ceremonial center was in the current