Nothing major happened in South America that we know of until 1492, when Christopher Columbus discovered the Americas. What we do know is pretty limited, partly because the Spanish and Portuguese destroyed much of the natives homes and killed many natives themselves, partly because the natives didn’t write much or even know what their ancestors did. We do know that there were two small empires controlling the western side of South America, though they were very small. The Chimu Empire occupied some of what is now modern day Peru, while the Inca Empire controlled part of modern day Bolivia. The rest of the continent was divided among small groups of natives that would have got by with some farming and quite a few hunter-gatherers. The only major landmarks made by, presumably, the ancient Chimu’s is the Nazca lines, a collection of pictures made by mounding up dirt on such a large scale that they can only be seen from above. I say it was presumably the Chimu’s since the lines are found in Peru, but we don’t really know how much the kingdoms moved around.
After 1492, however, the Spanish came in force and wiped away the natives, taking the western side for their colonies while Portugal took the eastern side. The colonists only missed one major town, Machu Pichu, which has allowed historians a glimpse into the ancient peoples lives. Spain also moved up into Central America and even North America, also taking control from the sparse villages populating the area.
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