Pre-Columbian - All

To distinguish the major characteristics of pre-Columbian civilizations, three general chronological divisions have been widely used: the “Pre-Classic,” or Formative, period (ca. 1500 b.c. to 300 A.D.); the “Classic,” or Florescent, period (ca. 300 to 900 A.D.); and the “Post-Classic” period (ca. 900 to 1540 A.D.). Outstanding in Pre-Columbian artistic development were architecture, sculpture, painting, and decorative arts such as pottery, metalwork, and textiles. Despite the great range and variety of artwork, certain characteristics were repeated throughout the region, namely a preference for angular, linear patterns, and three-dimensional ceramics.

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Chancay Style Ancient Textile Doll	Jamacoaque Seated Figure	Jaina Figural Lord Whistle	Proto-Mayan Seated Figure	Inca Canopa Semi-Transluscent	Inca Pottery Offerendo
Mayan Boar Whistle	Ancient Peruvian Silver Head Kero	Recuay Terracotta Jaguar Amulet	How to Buy Ancient Art	Chavin Carved Bone Pendant	Chancay Mounted Textile Fragment
Costa Rican Zoomorphic Bowl	Ancient Coca Bag w/ Band from Peru	Inca Blackware Aryballos	Costa Rican Jade Bead Necklace	Huari Textile Four Corner Pile Hat	Mayan Polychrome Tripod Plate
Chupícuaro Polychrome Bowl - Large	La Aguada Incised Bowl - Argentina	Inca Aryballos, Stylized Human Head	Chancay Moon Goddess Cochemilco	Inca Painted Pottery Offerendo	Peruvian Viru Erotic Vessel
Nazca / Huari Tumpline Tassels	Moche Handless Man Vessel	Chimu Silver Head Kero	Inca Copper Tumi - 2 Birds Catching Fish	Vicus Double-Chambered Bat Whistle	Chavin Single-Spout Bottle
Nazca Pottery Trumpet	Chavin/Salinar Double-Chambered Stirrup	Chancay Shaman Carrying Pet Deer	Chavin Single-Spout Blackware Bottle	Pre-Columbian Colima Gingerbread Figure	Chavin Cupisnique Stirrup Vessel
Pre-Columbian Mini Colima Flat	Moche Canteen with Warrior	Mezcala Jadeite Earspools / Flares	Maya Deity Rattle	Moche Copper Nose Ornaments	Mezcala Stone Axe God
Peruvian Bronze Tumi, Reptilian Blade	Valdivian Terracotta Venus Figure	Inca Pottery Offerendo w/ People	Aztec Tripod Incensario	Colima Bedded Female Figure	Chavin Shaman Stirrup Vessel
Pre-Columbian Colima Rattle	Tiahuanaco Polychrome Cup, Rattle Base	Pre-Columbian Chimu Deer Effigy	Pre-Columbian Inca Silver Kero	Guerrero Stone Figure / Axe God	Moche IV Fineline Stirrup Vessel
Mixtec Cocoa Bean Enema Vessel	Tiahuanaco Bi-Chrome Pottery Kero	Pachacamac Textile Fragment	Moche Spondylus Shell Necklace	Mayan Spiral Shell Necklace	Tiahuanaco Polychrome Kero
Nayarit Pottery Cylinder	Belen / Argentina Earthenware Urn	Belen / Argentinian Earthenware Bowl	Chimu Balance Beam - Carved Birds	Huari Double Spout-and-Bridge Jar	Chimu Copper Tumi
Moche Bronze Tumi Blade - Jaguar	Huari Portrait Head Vessel	Costa Rican Bird-Form Mace Head	Tiwanaku Textile Belt Fragment	Chancay Hunchback Effigy Vessel	Mochica Copper Offering Bowl
Pre-Columbian Chancay Fisherman Urn	Chimu Pyro-Engraved Gourd	Chancay Chuspa / Coca Leaf Bag	Peruvian Chimu Silver Diadems - Pr.	Chancay Coca Bag / Chuspa	Moche I Llama Stirrup w/ Burden Sack
Pre-Columbian Aztec Coyote Head	Moche I Erotic Stirrup Jar	Nazca Polychrome Bowl - Hummingbirds	Moche IV Corn Popper Vessel	Olmec Blackware Bowl - Las Bocas	Pre-Columbian Inca Tumi - 2 Deers Mating
Olmec Jade Disk w/ Jaguar - Las Bocas	Moche Bronze Sacrificial Rattle Tumi	Moche III/IV Stirrup Vessel - Seated Ai Apec	Large Vera Cruz Head Fragment	Chavin Stone Shaman Transformation - Frog, Snake	Moche IV Fineline Fox Warrior
Moche IV Portrait Vessel	Chavin Gold Pectoral Disc	eBay's Worst-of-the-Worst Sellers of Fake Antiquities	Huari Gold Armband - Skeleton Masks	Sican Copper Royal Tumi - Naylamp	Moche V Fineline, El Morro de Peten
Chancay Textile Cloth Doll	Narino Pottery Bowl w/ Warrior	Quimbaya Standing Male Figure	Guerrero Stone Axe God Figure	Nazca Double Spouted Water Jar Feline Demon God	Quimbaya Slab Seated Male
Chimu Bone Balance Beam, Orig. Mesh	Framed Chancay Painted Textile	Guanacaste White Jadeite Axe God	Calima Gold Mask	Proto Nazca Feather Necklace	Moche IV Stirrup Vessel - Lord w/ Coca Bag
Viru Jaguar Stirrup Vessel	Nazca Beaker - Flying God	Paracas Decorated Olla, Swirling Dancers	Moche Portrait Vessel, Young Lord	Calima Bridge-Spout Whistling Vessel	Inca Checkerboard Textile Fragment
Peruvian Textile - Warriors, Trophy Heads	Peruvian Belt Fragment - Zoomorphs	Sican / Lambayeque Stirrup - Naylamp	Olmec Standing Jade Figure	Primitive Stone Axe - Surinam(e)	Chavin Stirrup - Hallucinogenic Vines
Chancay Textile Fragment - Zoomorphs	Peruvian Textile Fragment - Vibrant	Chimu Balance Beam, Human-Like Creatures	Colima Standing Dog Vessel	Peruvian Textile Fragment	Moche II Stirrup Vessel - Jaguar
Moche IV Catching Fish	Jalisco Ameca Style Seated Female Figure	Michoacan Dog Effigy Vessel - Huge!	Extremely Rare Inca Silver Kero	Chupicuaro Tripod Bowl	Moche III Stirrup Vessel, Standing Warrior
Narino Bullet Amphora - Miniature Form!	Pre-Columbian Colima Seated Flat Figure	Bolivian Polychrome Rattle Base Kero	Nayarit / Jalisco Polychrome Bowl	Mixtec Carved Marble Figure of Tlaloc	Pre-Columbian Inca Alpaca Head Effigy
Chavin / Cupisnique Incised Bottle	Chancay Whistling Vessel - Clown / Acrobat	Mochica Stirrup Bottle - AiApec, Jaguar, Crab	Mochica Gilded Masquette with Inlaid Eyes	Chimu Bronze Lime Dipper, Bird Finial	Inca Tin Bronze Ornamental Knife (Tumi)
Nazca Double-Spouted Water Jar	Moche III / IV Warrior Single Spouted Jar	Jalisco Redware Bowl	Moche Bronze Tupu - Kissing Birds	Carnelian, Crystal and Green Stone Necklace	Chavin Fish Stirrup, Anthropomorphic Face
Jalisco Blackware House Miniatures	Peruvian Spondylus Shell Necklace	Nayarit Redware Seated Figure	Costa Rican Stone Figure	Solid Silver Necklace, Chimu Fish Stones	Choker Necklace, Original Pre-Columbian Art
Inca Copper Tumi - Man, Monkey	Olmec Blackware Swan Bowl - Exceptional!	Peruvian Crystal & Black Agate Necklace	Moche Culture Spondylus Shell Necklace	Spondylus Shell Necklace From Peru	Moche Spondylus Shell Bead Necklace
Peruvian Textile Scarf Panel	Very Cool Long Peruvian Sash - Zoomorphs	Small Pre-Columbian Coca Bag	Ancient Peruvian Textile Sash - Long!	Peruvian Coca Bag / Chuspa	Large Nazca Woven Belt - Complete!
Chancay Textile Bag from Peru	Vivid Peruvian Textile Band	Inca Gold Mask - Rare and Important!	Moche I/ Salinar Stirrup Vessel Ai Apec	Paracas Face Vessel	Moche Pottery Stirrup Vessel - Sea Creatures
Moche Pottery Trumpet	Whistling Colima Dancers, ex-Butterfield's	Proto Nazca Textile Sash / Belt	Exceptional Colima Dog Effigy	Huari / Wari Canteen - Woman, Snakes	Xiochopola Incised Stone Bowl
Nayarit Pottery Seated Effigy Couple	Mezcala Guerrero Slab Figure

Pre-Columbian civilizations living across Peru, Mexico and Central America flourished prior to the arrival of Europeans, including Christopher Columbus, in the New World. Gods, humans and nature were woven into an intricate tapestry of beliefs and expressions by the societies of Peru and Mesoamerica (Pre-Columbian Mexico and Central America). Religion played a central organizing role in structuring people's lives. Great civilizations developed, such as the Maya in Mesoamerica and the Moche in Peru, where divine kings believed to be descended from gods ruled over vast cities and constructed monuments rivaling those of ancient Greece or Egypt. Pre-Columbian societies were connected through cosmologies in which creation and existence were explained through complex mythologies. Those mythologies told of the creation of humans and nature, and through their ideologies provided ways for humans to properly worship and sustain the universe.