Timeline of the Americas Foldout Chart

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[ArturoStojanoff]

I'm from Argentina and I completely understand you can't include everything in a 20 minute video so I wanted to add some stuff you couldn't include here.
East of the Andes you have the Amazon rainforest, and south of that you start to see the area populated by the Tupí-Guaraní ethno-linguistic group, which was a semi-nomadic group with some agriculture that extended throughout most of southern Brazil, all of Paraguay and a great deal of the northeast of Argentina. They domesticated the Capybaras and Yerba Mate, and they were quite friendly with the Spanish, which is why a great deal of the mestizos of South America have Guaraní blood. So much so that Paraguay still speaks both Spanish and Guaraní to this day.
Further south, Argentina and Chile were more like the U.S., with mostly nomadic, hunter-gatherer groups, but some are worth pointing out. The Selknam people in the southern tip of the continent used to swim in the frigid waters by slathering their bodies with whale grease, and it is believed they were genetically adapted to colder weather. They also were apparently pretty tall and corpulent, which is why the first Europeans to reach the area called them "patagons, " meaning "giants, " which is where we get the name Patagonia.
Later, however, most of the people groups of the region were displaced by the Tehuelche and especially the Mapuche people group, who became outstanding horsemen after the horse was introduced from Europe. They were formidable fighters, and they were some of the last people groups to be subdued by Western forces.
Before any of this, however, there were already people in South America at least around 7, 300 BC. We know this because of the "Cueva de las Manos, " or "Cave of the Hands, " in modern day Santa Cruz, Argentina, which is a cave with the imprint of dozens of colorful hands that date back to that time.

[homerth]

I work as a professional archaeologist in Arizona. Some corrections: Pit structures were in use as early as 4, 100 years ago. Maize agriculture has also been documented 4, 100 years ago. The oldest irrigation canals date to 3, 500 years ago. Pottery use in the SW became widespread around AD 50. Also, pueblos are primarily made out of stone instead of mud bricks (you even show Mesa Verde, which is made from stone).

[loislewis]

I gave this book and several of your other charts to my son (a high school history teacher) for Christmas. He loved them. !!!

[UsefulCharts]

Also, there's a mistake near the bottom of the chart: Under the Incas, it should say, "Viceroyalty of Peru". Luckily, the book version does not have this mistake.

[diegoaxexxx]

As a Colombian I feel in the need to complement with some of the Golden Precolombian Civilizations like the Muisca Confederation, Quimbaya, Tayrona, Calima, San Agustín, Tolima, Zenu, Tumaco. In the amazon you had the Arawak, Araucan, Guahibo, Tukano, Witoto, etc. All of them from Colombia. Ethnically they all where from two or three main people groups, the Chibchas, which the spanish told were more kind and diplomatic, and the Caribs (from which the sea is named after), more violent and combative.

[rodrigodepierola]

The Norte Chico (or Caral-Supe) culture is a coastal civilization not andean, focused both on the fertile lowland valleys of the otherwise desertic Peruvian coast, and the sea.

[pedromenchik]

Nice video! I really missed a line going over the different peoples of the Amazonian forest, as they are very different from the other cultures you mentioned. The Marajoara, for instance, had interesting pottery and made a settlement of around 100, 000 people according to some authors.

[lostfan]

I love how you say "tenochtitlan". It's a tough word. The Aztec language is among the more tricky langues for English speakers, and it has a lot of TL in it. Even the word Mexico comes from the Aztec word "Mexitl", I believe. I could be wrong tho.

Anyway GREAT video!!! Love your content.

[marioalbertocamposcamacho]

Some points for a future version of this chart:
- South America being a single line vs USA+Canada being multiple is a terrible disproportion.
- SA was not jus Central Andes, and even there Coast and Highland cultures could have their own lines.
- The Caribbean and the intermediate area of Central America are other ignored regions.
- Dont just finish Maya (not Mayans) at end of their classic era, maya city states continued even with great entities ike the League of Mayapán and some very late like Nojpetén in 1697.
- Zapotec golden age could be followed by the rise of Mixtec kingdoms.
- A line of Western México and Gulf Coast cultures is also easy to add for Mesoamerica.

[mathieuleader]

I first learnt of Omec society from the Simpsons episode Blood Feud where Mr. Burns donates an Omec head as unique gift after Bart donated his blood to Mr. Burns.

[m-w-x]

Many places/reservations in the US use the term "American Indian" as a way help identify the tribes that are specifically affected by the US government/citizens. It's a term that's also still baked into laws and treaties. CP grey has a video that works as a good starting point on the subject if interested

[JaredtheRabbit]

This looks quite cool! One of the ideas that I had, as a Métis man living in the Cowichan Valley (located on Vancouver Island, British Columbia), was making a comic that is an adaptation of the 1988 animated film “The Land Before Time”. There’s a twist to this adaptation, though; it is set in the aforementioned valley, but prior to European settlement; hence why the adaptation is titled “The Time Before the Europeans”.

[josue]

This chart is so North America centric. The greatest civilizations we're located in meso america, yet 60% of the chart is dedicated to north American civilizations.

[sanexpreso]

Also the oldest city in America is located in Peru, it is called Caral-Supe, with more than 5000 years old.

[bryanvanloo]

I love these charts. Great guides for project-based learning. I use them as scaffolding and students do research to fill in the details with the most current data available. Thanks so much for sharing!

[turingmachine]

always glad to see a post from useful charts! Informative, well designed and produced!

[earthknight]

A quick note on the Maya.... Mayan is generally used to refer specifically to linguistic aspects of the culture, Maya is generally the preferred term for the people, civilization, culture, etc. (Eg, Maya people, Maya mathematics, Maya foods; Mayan language).

This is something that confuses a lot of English speakers, likely due to the expectations of pluralization rules, but in almost all cases Maya is the term that should be used, not Mayan, unless it's in specific reference to the language itself.

[robertstrawser]

Great video and chart although I would echo some of the former comments regarding the omission of the rest of South America and the Caribbean cultures. I would add that the post-classic Maya civilizations of the Yucatán deserve mention, Chichen Itza, Mayapan, etc… also the Mayan writing system was actually still in use till right up to the conquest. The monumental stone inscriptions may have ended in the late 9th century, but they were still producing books right up to the contact period. In the 16th century there were still enough natives, who were familiar with the script, to give DeLanda an approximate “alphabet” which later proved invaluable in deciphering the glyphs (right before he burned hundreds of their books). He was also able to record the intricate calendar system as well, which was still in use up to the 1500’s. Also, you may want to have mentioned chocolate, a very important cultural beverage in Mesoamerica and, along with corn, potatoes, tomatoes and chili peppers, one of the most popular crops in the world. Kudos, though, for mentioning the 3 sisters.

[chriselliott]

Yes new vid! Recently purchased three of your charts; amazing quality and size. More than I imagined they would be. You guys do great work, keep it up!

[Math.C.T]

17:51 well the Incan Empire wasn't in the Viceroyalty of Brazil but in Peru