documentary on south america and its people

The first evidence for the existence of agricultural practices in South America date back to circa 6500 BC, when potatoes, chillies and beans began to be cultivated for food in the highlands of the Amazon Basin. Pottery evidence further suggests that manioc, which remains a staple food today, was being cultivated as early as 2000 BC. By 2000 BC many agrarian village communities had been settled throughout the Andes and the surrounding religious regions. Fishing became a widespread practice along the coast which helped to establish fish as a primary source of food. Irrigation systems were also developed at this time, which aided in the rise of an agrarian society. South Americans cultures began domesticating llamas, vicuñas, guanacos, and alpacas in the highlands of the Andes circa 3500 BC. Besides their use as sources of meat, and wool, these animals were used for transportation of goods The earliest known settlements, and culture in South America, and the Americas altogether, are the Valdivia on the south east coast of Ecuador. Mama Ocllo and Manco Capac, the most important figures in Incan mythology. The earliest known South American civilization was at Norte Chico, on the central Peruvian coast. Though a pre-ceramic culture, the monumental architecture of Norte Chico is contemporaneous with the pyramids of Ancient Egypt. The Chavín established a trade network and developed agriculture by 900 BC, according to some estimates and archaeological finds. Artifacts were found at a site called Chavín de Huantar in modern Peru at an elevation of 3,177 meters. Chavín civilization spanned 900 BC to 300 BC. The Muisca were the main indigenous civilization in what is now modern Colombia. They established a confederation of many clans, or cacicazgos, that had a free trade network among themselves. They were goldsmiths and farmers. Other important Pre-Columbian cultures include: Moche (100 BC 700 AD, at the northern coast of Peru); Tiuahuanaco or Tiwanaku (100 BC 1200 AD, Bolivia); the Cañaris (in south central Ecuador), Paracas and Nazca (400 BC 800 AD, Peru); Wari or Huari Empire (600 1200, Central and northern Peru); Chimu Empire (1300 1470, Peruvian northern coast); Chachapoyas; and the Aymaran kingdoms (1000 1450, Bolivia and southern Peru). Holding their capital at the great cougar-shaped city of Cusco, the Inca civilization dominated the Andes region from 1438 to 1533. Known as Tawantin suyu, or "the land of the four regions," in Quechua, the Inca civilization was highly distinct and developed. Inca rule extended to nearly a hundred linguistic or ethnic communities, some 9 to 14 million people connected by a 25,000 kilometer road system. Cities were built with precise, unmatched stonework, constructed over many levels of mountain terrain. Terrace farming was a useful form of agriculture. There is evidence of excellent metalwork and even successful brain surgery in Inca civilization Beginning in the 1530s, the people and natural resources of South America were repeatedly exploited by foreign conquistadors, first from Spain and later from Portugal. These competing colonial nations claimed the land and resources as their own and divided it into colonies. European infectious diseases (smallpox, influenza, measles, and typhus) to which the native populations had no immune resistance, and systems of forced labor, such as the haciendas and mining industry's mita, decimated the native population under Spanish control. As was the case with all of the Spanish Missions, the Europeans, seeking to convert the native peoples to Christianity, managed to destroy these cultures that had existed for thousands of years.