Pre-Columbian Era

2000 BCE – 1500 CE · 37 sites

All sites in this period

Continent Record

Most-Visited Ancient Site in South America

Machu Picchu

1450 CE – 1572 CE

An Inca citadel built c. 1450 CE, Machu Picchu sits atop a mountain ridge in Peru. Abandoned during the Spanish conquest, it remained unknown to the outside world until 1911.

Pre-ColumbianHigh MedievalEarly Modern

Featured

Continent Record

Southernmost Known Site in South America

Rapa Nui

1100 CE – 1722 CE

Rapa Nui (Easter Island) is famed for its colossal stone moai, crafted by a Polynesian society that flourished from roughly 1100 to 1722 CE, leaving a cryptic legacy of monumental art and ecological transformation.

Pre-ColumbianHigh MedievalEarly Modern

Featured

Continent Record

Most-Visited Ancient Site in North America

Chichén Itzá

600 CE – 1200 CE

A major Maya-Toltec ceremonial center from 600–1200 CE, featuring the iconic stepped pyramid of Kukulcán and one of the largest ballcourts in Mesoamerica.

Pre-ColumbianEarly MedievalHigh Medieval

Featured

Country Record

Earliest Known Site in Mexico

Teotihuacan

100 BCE – 650 CE

Teotihuacan, the 'City of the Gods,' was a vast metropolis and ceremonial center in central Mexico, dominating Mesoamerica from 100 BCE to 650 CE.

Pre-ColumbianClassicalRoman

Featured

Country Record

Longest Recorded History in Peru

Nazca Lines

500 BCE – 500 CE

The Nazca Lines, vast geoglyphs etched into Peru’s desert, date from c. 500 BCE–500 CE and remain one of archaeology’s most intriguing legacies of ancient monumental art.

ClassicalHellenisticRoman

The megalithic zigzag walls of Sacsayhuamán above Cusco, Peru

Country Record

Oldest Fortress in Peru

Sacsayhuamán

1100 CE – 1536 CE

A monumental Inca complex on the hill above Cusco, famous for three tiers of zigzagging defensive walls built from limestone blocks so vast — some weighing over 100 tonnes — and cut so precisely that they fit together without mortar, with joints a knife blade cannot penetrate. It is the supreme example of Inca megalithic masonry.

Pre-Columbian

Featured

Country Record

Earliest Known Site in United States

Cahokia

1050 CE – 1350 CE

Massive pre-Columbian city of the Mississippian culture, Cahokia flourished from 1050–1350 CE with monumental earthen mounds and a complex society.

High MedievalPre-Columbian

Featured

Tulum

1200 CE – 1524 CE

A late Maya walled city perched on a limestone cliff above the turquoise Caribbean on the eastern coast of the Yucatán — one of the last cities built and inhabited by the Maya, flourishing as a trading port between the 13th and 16th centuries and still occupied when the Spanish arrived. Its clifftop "Castillo" overlooking the sea is among the most photographed ruins in the Americas.

Pre-Columbian

Featured

Continent Record

Oldest City in North America

Tikal

400 BCE – 900 CE

Tikal, a preeminent Maya city in Guatemala, flourished from c. 400 BCE to 900 CE as a political, economic, and ceremonial hub, boasting towering temples and extensive urban infrastructure in the Petén rainforest.

Pre-ColumbianClassicalRoman

Temple of the Inscriptions at Palenque, tomb of K'inich Janaab' Pakal

Featured

Country Record

Oldest City in Mexico

Palenque

226 BCE – 900 CE

A Classic Maya city in the Chiapas jungle whose Palace, Temple of the Inscriptions, and exquisite carved reliefs make it one of the greatest Maya sites — home to the undisturbed tomb of the ruler K'inich Janaab' Pakal, discovered in 1952.

Pre-ColumbianClassical

Featured

Continent Record

Oldest Complex in North America

Mesa Verde

600 CE – 1300 CE

Mesa Verde, in Colorado, USA, preserves elaborate cliff dwellings built by the Ancestral Pueblo people between 1190 and 1280 CE, reflecting a sophisticated pre-Columbian society.

Late AntiqueEarly MedievalHigh Medieval

Templo Mayor

1325 CE – 1521 CE

The principal temple of the Aztec capital Tenochtitlan, rebuilt seven times and now excavated beneath Mexico City's historic center — its discovery in 1978 transformed understanding of Aztec religious life.

Pre-Columbian