In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era, also known as the pre-contact era, spans from the original peopling of the Americas in the Upper Paleolithic to European colonization, which began with Christopher Columbus's voyage of 1492. Usually, the era covers the history of Indigenous cultures until significant influence by Europeans. This may have occurred decades or even centuries after Columbus for certain cultures.
Artist's reconstruction of Poverty Point, 1500 BCE
Hopewell mounds from the Mound City group in Ohio
Monks Mound of Cahokia (UNESCO World Heritage Site) in summer. The concrete staircase follows the approximate course of the ancient wooden stairs.
An artistic recreation of The Kincaid site from the prehistoric Mississippian culture as it may have looked at its peak 1050–1400 CE
Christopher Columbus was an Italian explorer and navigator from the Republic of Genoa who completed four Spanish-based voyages across the Atlantic Ocean sponsored by the Catholic Monarchs, opening the way for the widespread European exploration and European colonization of the Americas. His expeditions were the first known European contact with the Caribbean and Central and South America.
Posthumous portrait by Sebastiano del Piombo, 1519
Christopher Columbus House in Genoa, Italy, an 18th-century reconstruction of the house in which Columbus grew up. The original was likely destroyed during the 1684 bombardment of Genoa.
Colombo giovinetto, sculpture of young Columbus by Giulio Monteverde, Genoa
Portrait of Christopher Columbus preserved in the Library of Congress of the United States of America – 19th century copy from an engraving by Aliprando Caprioli
