Pre-Columbian - All Antiquities for Sale

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.

Featured Products

Spondylus Shell Necklace From Peru	Pre-Columbian Gold Eagle - Costa Rica	Moche Portrait Vessel	Chancay Style Ancient Textile Doll	Fine Moche Fox Warrior Stirrup Vessel	Inca Whistling Bridge Spouted Vessel
Moche Warrior Portrait Stirrup Vessel	Pre-Columbian Articulated Pottery Doll	Inca Pottery Offerendo	Mayan Javalina Whistle	Ancient Peruvian Silver Head Kero	How to Buy Ancient Art
Costa Rican Zoomorphic Bowl	Inca Blackware Aryballos	Nazca Wool and Feather Cap	Large Chorrera Spouted Vessel	Rare Bahia/ Manabi, Figural Vessel	Stunning Proto-Nazca Textile Frog
Inca Silver Diadem	Paracas Pottery Bowl w/ Hand Print	Rare Sican Textile Roundel	Michoacan Bowl with Rare Motif	Fine Mayan Green Jade Head	Chimu Pottery Parrot Stirrup Vessel
Moche Copper Figure of Warrior	Rare Aztec Stone Bowl - Flower Form	Moche I Seated Figure, Inlaid Detailing	Moche Bone Fist, Turquoise Inlay	Costa Rican Cast Copper Harpy Eagle	Nazca Polychrome Cup with Trophy Head
Incredible Chimu Copper and Wood Tumi	Pre-Columbian Colima Miniature Pottery Dog	Inca Wooden Snuff Tray and Inhaler	Inca Wooden Kero - Shell Inlays	Miniature Nazca Polychrome Bowls (pair)	Mayan Incised Cylinder
Fine Pre-Columbian Chimu Incised Tumi	Chupicuaro Polychrome Tripod Vessel	Colima Effigy Vessel of Deformed Human	Jalisco Female Effigy, Ameca Style	Delightful Michoacan Pottery Female Flat	Pre-Columbian Colima Armadillo Olla
Chavin Decorated Stirrup Bottle	Peruvian Chancay Chino Vessel	Chancay Deer Vessel - Huge!	Moche Stirrup Vessel of Tortured Male	Huari / Tihuanaco Dog Effigy	Chavin Stirrup Vessel - Duality
Colima Portrait Head of a Shaman	Moche Bronze Pendant - Coatimundi	Chancay Urn - Monkey Eating Fruit!	Peruvian Hairless Dog Effigy	Nazca Ring-Shaped Polychrome Vessel	Costa Rican Stone Ax God - Avian
Costa Rican Stone Celt	Chancay Polychrome Cuchimilco	Framed Inca Textile Child's Tump Line	Framed Proto Nazca Tie-Dyed Textile Panel	Framed Textile Headband - North Coast	Stunning Framed Pre-Columbian Textile Panel
Lambayeque Pottery Stirrup Vessel	Inca Solid Silver Male Offering	Large Nazca Textile Sash - Framed	Huge Proto-Nazca Textile Turbante	Important Moche-Huarmey Belt Fragments	Huge Proto-Nazca Textile-Eye Dazzler
Jamacoaque Pottery Demon God	Moche Vessel of Bound Captive - Ex Sotheby's	Costa Rican Stone Headhunter, Trophy Head	Rare Chavin Stirrup Vessel - Owl Heads	Moche I Sacrificial Stirrup Vessel	Chancay Figural Beaker Vessel
Chancay False Mummy Head	Moche I Cubist Form Stirrup Vessel - Jaguar	Moche Prisoner Vessel	Rare Moche Wood and Copper Atl Atl	Rare Narino Square Chalice, Negative-Resist	Moche Bi-Chrome Pottery Florero
Important Large Nazca Polychrome Bowl	Michoacan Pottery Pretty Lady	Pre-Columbian Colima Warrior Whistle	Chavin / Maranon Stirrup Vessel	Colima Double Duck Vessel	Monumental Jamacoaque Jaguar Head
La Tolita Manioc Fish-Shaped Grater	Proto Nazca Leather Sandals (pr)	Set of 6 Veracruz Pottery Coast Watchers	Moche Bronze Finial of an Atl Atl	Large Perfect Chancay Pottery Cuchimilco	Chimu Inca Blackware Stirrup Vessel
Chorrera Valdivian Stone Mortar	Mayan Carved Stone Hacha	Inca Silver Tupus - Cloak Pins	Mayan Poison Bottle in Form of Pauahtun	Large, Perfect Stone Metate - Costa Rica	Costa Rica Apple-Green Jade Two-Headed Serpent
Sican / Lambayeque Stirrup Vessel - Sea Lion	A Vicus Erotic Vessel	Colima Redware Pottery Bound Prisoner	Jalisco Standing Male, Ex-Royal Athena	Peruvian Textile Ski Cap - North Coast	Recuay Pottery Erotic Couple
Nayarit Seated Warrior, Ex-Sotheby's	Stunning Tairona Pottery Serpent Jar	Inca Silver Tupus, Cloak Pins	Colima Redware Dog Effigy	Rare Nazca Woven Reed Basket	Chavin Polychrome Templadera
Extremely Rare Chinesco Cojoined Couple	Teotihuacan Stone Stucco Cosmetic Container	Massive Inca Pottery Aryballos - Human Form	Choice Nazca Bridge-Spouted Vessel	Rare Inca Pottery Pacqha - Ritual Vessel	Mayan Ulua Valley Polychrome Vessel - Rare Form
Rare Mayan Peten Square Vase - Early!	Colima Seated Dwarf Jester	Chavin Chongoyape Jaguar Vessel	Tiahuanaku Stone Hacha - Jaguar	Rare Huari Bronze Atl Atl Finial	Chimu Inca Stone Corn God Sculpture
Zapotec / Monte Alban Standing Lord	Mezcala Guerrero Stone Slab Figure	Cute Recuay Pottery Vessel - Peruvian	Chancay Stone Feline Lime Mortar	Vivid Inca Pottery Offrenda - Chucu Plaque	Massive Inca Offrenda / Chucu Plaque - Rare!
Moche Double Monkey Stirrup Vessel	Rare Moche Pottery Mask	Chancay Spotted Llama Vessels - Matched Pair!	Important Veracruz Stone Yoke Fragment	Pre-Columbian Textile Coca Bag	Pre-Columbian Inca Textile Coca Bag
Casas Grandes Human Effigy Vessel	Chimu Pottery Blackware Canteen	Sican Lambayeque Water Bird Vessel	Rare Vera Cruz Whistle - Black	Rare Mayan Pottery Flute	Casas Grandes Fish Effigy Bowl
Tairona Blackware Ocarina of Human Bat	Colima Gingerbread Type Flat	Incised Chavin Stone Cup, Shell Inlays	Moche Pottery Blackware Muscovy Duck	Chimu Blackware Whistling Bridge Vessel	Tairona Pottery Blackware Ocarina
Unusual Inca Mudfish Paccha	Fine Inca Polychrome Arballoid Jar	Attractive Inca Stone Canopa	Vera Cruz Articulated Pottery Doll	Huge Colima Dog with Bowl on Back	Mayan Carved Green Jade Pendant
Rare Sinu Colombian Carved Bone Finial	Fine Moche Bone Spoon - Human Head	La Aguada Incised Bowl - Argentina	Peruvian Viru Erotic Vessel	Moche Handless Man Vessel	Chimu Silver Head Kero
Vicus Double-Chambered Bat Whistle	Chavin/Salinar Double-Chambered Stirrup	Mezcala Jadeite Earspools / Flares	Maya Deity Rattle	Mezcala Stone Axe God	Valdivian Terracotta Venus Figure
Inca Pottery Offerendo w/ People	Colima Bedded Female Figure	Pre-Columbian Colima Rattle	Pre-Columbian Chimu Deer Effigy	Guerrero Stone Figure / Axe God	Huari Portrait Head Vessel
Pre-Columbian Chancay Fisherman Urn	Peruvian Chimu Silver Diadems - Pr.	Chancay Coca Bag / Chuspa	Chavin Stone Shaman Transformation - Frog, Snake	Chavin Gold Pectoral Disc	Huari Gold Armband - Skeleton Masks
Moche V Fineline, El Morro de Peten	Chancay Textile Cloth Doll	Narino Pottery Bowl w/ Warrior	Quimbaya Standing Male Figure	Chimu Bone Balance Beam, Orig. Mesh	Calima Bridge-Spout Whistling Vessel
Peruvian Belt Fragment - Zoomorphs	Sican / Lambayeque Stirrup - Naylamp	Olmec Standing Jade Figure	Primitive Stone Axe - Surinam(e)	Peruvian Textile Fragment - Vibrant	Jalisco Ameca Style Seated Female Figure
Chupicuaro Tripod Bowl	Narino Bullet Amphora - Miniature Form!	Pre-Columbian Colima Seated Flat Figure	Moche III / IV Warrior Single Spouted Jar	Quimbaya Standing Female Figure	Chupicuaro Polychrome Female Figure
Offrenda Painted Plate - Chuquibamba	Cupisnique / Chavin Single Spout Vessel	Nazca Polychrome Olla - Harvest Dance	Sican Silver Kero - Rows of Stars	Colima Flat Figure	Mayan Polychrome Cylinder from Copan
Peruvian Offrenda - Radiating Sun	Michoacan Venus Figure	Colima Maternity Idol	Peruvian Stone Canopa / Votive	Vera Cruz Seated Female Figure	Costa Rican Tripod Vessel, Rattle Legs
Mezcala Stone Idol Pendant	Chimu Pre-Columbian Silver Kero	Pre-Columbian Gold Turtle - Chiriqui-Diquis	Colima Tri-Lobed Redware Vessel	Chorrera Long-Neck Redware Vessel	Mezcala Jade Pendant - Two Heads
Teotihuacan Eccentric Flint Human Figure	Set of 4 Mochica Silver Lime Spoons	Proto-Nazca Bridge-Spouted Vessel	Chimu Inca Shell Necklace With Silver Tweezers	Chimu Inca Shell Necklace w/ Silver Tweezers	Chimu Inca Shell Necklace - Animal Pendant
Imilac Pallasite Meteorite - Stunning!	Moche Bronze Tupu - Kissing Birds	Carnelian, Crystal and Green Stone Necklace	Jalisco Blackware House Miniatures	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	Bridge-Spouted Vessel, Casma Valley	Moche Fineline Bottle - Warrior	Mezcala Ax God Figure
Paracas Face Vessel	Whistling Colima Dancers, ex-Butterfield's	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.