South American History
Earliest Evidence of Indigo Dye Found at Ancient Peruvian Burial Site
The dyed fabrics represent the earliest known use of indigo in the world, predating Egyptian samples by about 1,600 years
Rare Maya Burial Temple Discovered in Belize
Excavations at Xunantunich have uncovered the remains of a body and hieroglyphics that tell the story of the snake-head dynasty
Peru Cracks Down on Illegal Gold Miners
A boom in outlaw mining activity in the last five years is polluting rivers, poisoning people and destroying forests in the Peruvian Amazon
The Media Village at the Rio Olympics Is Built on a Mass Grave of Slaves
As Brazil looks forward to an Olympic future, it buries its past
Browse Though the Amazon's 12,000 Tree Species in This New Master List
Gotta count 'em all
Researchers Travel to the Amazon to Find Out if Musical Taste is Hardwired
Members of the Tsimane tribe showed no preference between consonant and dissonate tones, meaning Western music is probably not biologically based
Commemorate the Panama Canal's Expansion With These Photos From Its Construction
The Panama Canal is opening a third lane to accommodate new mega cargo ships, a feat almost—but not quite—as impressive as building the original
NASA Announces World's New Lightning Hotspot
The electric capital tops the charts with lightning storms 297 nights per year
Newly Discovered Dinosaur Species Had Great Eyesight and a Droopy Head
Sarmientosaurus weighed as much as two elephants but had a brain the size of a lime
21 Million Years Ago, Monkeys May Have Floated to North America on Rafts
Fossil teeth in Panama show monkeys made it to Central America, probably on floating mats of vegetation
What Mummy DNA Reveals About the Spread and Decline of People in the Americas
Researchers have pieced together how humans spread from Alaska to Argentina and the extent of devastation from the introduction of European disease
Genes of Ancestral Peanuts May Help Feed the World
Researchers have sequenced the genome of peanuts and its ancient cousins, which could lead to disease and drought-resistant varieties
What Are North American Trout Doing in Lake Titicaca?
The famous lake between Bolivia and Peru is struggling due to pollution, overfishing and the misguided intentions of almost 100 years ago
Meet the Celebrity Skulls of Bolivia’s Fiesta de las Ñatitas
Each November, the Aymara people honor their special bond with the helpful spirits of the deceased
In a Small Village High in the Peruvian Andes, Life Stories Are Written in Textiles
Through weaving, the women of Ausangate, Peru, pass down the traditions of their ancestors
Argentinian Grandmothers Are Using DNA to Track Down Stolen Children
A national genetic bank and novel identification techniques have helped identify over 100 children abducted during Argentina’s “Dirty War”
A Parade of Bright Flowers in a City With a Dark Past
Farmers carried 500 dazzling flower designs through the streets of Medellín, Colombia
What Endures From the Ancient Civilizations That Once Ruled the Central Andes?
To journey here is to roam through almost six thousand years of civilization, to one of the places where the human enterprise began
What It's Like to Travel the Inca Road Today
A rocky rollicking journey to Machu Picchu along one of the greatest engineering feats in the Americas
How the Inca Empire Engineered a Road Across Some of the World's Most Extreme Terrain
For a new exhibition, a Smithsonian curator conducted oral histories with contemporary indigenous cultures to recover lost Inca traditions
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