The Andean civilizations were South American complex societies of many indigenous

people.[1] They stretched down the spine of the Andes for 4,000 km (2,500 mi) from
southern Colombia, to Ecuador and Peru, including the deserts of coastal Peru, to
north Chile and northwest Argentina. Archaeologists believe that Andean
civilizations first developed on the narrow coastal plain of the Pacific Ocean. The
Caral or Norte Chico civilization of coastal Peru is the oldest known civilization
in the Americas, dating back to 3500 BCE.[2] Andean civilization is one of the six
"pristine" civilizations of the world, created independently and without influence
by other civilizations.

Despite the severe environmental challenges of high mountains and hyper-arid

desert, the Andean civilizations domesticated a wide variety of crops, some of
which, such as potatoes, peppers, peanuts, manioc, chocolate, and coca, became of
worldwide importance. The Andean civilizations were noteworthy for monumental
architecture, an extensive road system, textile weaving, and many unique
characteristics of the societies they created.

Less than a century prior to the arrival of the Spanish conquerors, the Incas, from
their homeland centered on the city of Cusco, united most Andean cultures into one
single empire that encompassed nearly all of what is usually called Andean
civilization. The Timoto Cuica of Venezuela remained outside the Inca orbit. The
Inca Empire was a patchwork of languages, cultures and peoples. Spanish rule ended
or transformed many elements of the Andean civilizations, notably influencing
religion and architecture.

History
Main article: History of Andean South America

Reconstruction of one of the pyramids of Aspero

After the first humans — who were then arranged into hunter-gatherer tribal groups
— arrived in South America via the Isthmus of Panama, they spread out across the
continent, with the earliest evidence for settlement in the Andean region dating to
circa 15,000 BCE, in what archaeologists call the Lithic Period. In the ensuing
Andean preceramic period, plants began to be widely cultivated, and first complex
society, Caral-Supe civilization, emerged at 3500 BCE, and lasted until 1800 BCE.
Also, distinct religious centres emerged, such as the Kotosh Religious Tradition in
the highlands.[3]

Aerial photograph of one of the Nazca lines, taken in July 2015, that shows the
design known as "The monkey"
This was followed by the Ceramic Period. Various complex societies developed at
this time, such as Chavín culture, lasting from 900 BCE to 200 BCE, Paracas
culture, lasting from 800 BCE to 200 BCE, its successor Nazca culture, lasting from
200 BCE to 800 CE, the Moche civilisation, lasting from 100 to 700, Wari and
Tiwanaku Empires, with both lasting from 600 to 1000, and Chimor, lasting from 900
to 1470.

Machu Picchu, a mountainous settlement that was inhabited during the time of
Tahuantinsuyu.
In later periods, much of the Andean region was conquered by the indigenous Incas,
who in 1438 founded the largest empire that the Americas had ever seen, named
Tahuantinsuyu, but usually called the Inca Empire. The Inca governed their empire
from the capital city of Cuzco, administering it along traditional Andean lines.
The Inca Empire rose from Kingdom of Cuzco, founded around 1230.

In the 16th century, Spanish colonisers from Europe arrived in the Andes,
eventually subjugating the indigenous kingdoms and incorporating the Andean region
into the Spanish Empire.

Uniqueness

A quipu

Coastal Andean Men's tunic, 13th–15th century

The civilization of the Andes was one of six in the world deemed by scholars to be
"pristine", that is indigenous and not derived from other civilizations.[4] Due to
its isolation from other civilizations, the indigenous people of the Andes had to
come up with their own, often unique solutions to environmental and societal
challenges.[5]

Andean civilization lacked several characteristics distinguishing it from the

pristine civilizations in the Old World and from the Mesoamerican cultures. First,
and perhaps most important, Andean civilizations did not have a written language.
Instead, their societies used the quipu, a system of knotted and colored strings,
to convey information. Few quipus survive and they have never been fully
deciphered. Scholars differ on whether the knotted cords of the quipu were able
only to record numerical data or could also be used for narrative communication, a
true system of writing. If it is true writing, it is still unique because it is not
a set of symbols, but rather knotted strings.[6] The use of the quipu dates back at
least to the Wari Empire (600–1000 CE) and possibly to the much earlier
civilization of Caral/Norte Chico of the third millennium BCE.[7]

Andean civilizations also lacked wheeled vehicles and draft animals. People on land
traveled only by foot and the transport of goods was only by humans or llama, pack
animals which could carry loads of up to one-fourth of their weight, a maximum of
45 kilograms (99 lb).[8] Llamas were not big or strong enough to be used for
plowing or as riding animals for adults.[5]

Moreover, Andean civilizations faced severe environmental challenges. The earliest

civilizations were on the hyper-arid desert coast of Peru. Agriculture was possible
only with irrigation in valleys crossed by rivers coming from the high Andes, plus
in a few fog oases called lomas. In the Andes, agriculture was limited by thin
soils, cold climate, low or seasonal precipitation, and a scarcity of flat land.
Freezing temperatures may occur in every month of the year at altitudes of more
than 3,000 metres (9,800 ft), the homeland of many of the highland Andean
civilizations.[9]

Finally, the Andean civilizations lacked money. Copper axe-monies (also called
"naipes")[10] and Spondylus shells[11] functioned as mediums of exchange in some
areas, especially coastal Ecuador, but most of the Andes area had economies
organized on reciprocity and redistribution rather than money and markets. These
characteristics were especially notable during the Inca Empire but originated in
much earlier times.[12]

Agriculture

Agricultural terraces (andenes) were widely built and used for agriculture in the
Andes.
Agriculture in South America may have begun in coastal Ecuador with the
domestication of squash about 8000 BCE by the Las Vegas culture.[13]

Some scholars believe that the earliest civilizations on the Peruvian coast
initially relied more upon maritime resources than agriculture during the formative
period of their societies.[14][15] However, as in all civilizations until the late
19th century, agriculture was the principal occupation of the great majority of the
people. The greatest contribution of Andean civilization to the modern world has
been the plants its people domesticated