North and South America are believed to have been populated by Asian tribes migrating across the land bridge which existed across what is now the Bering strait in the late Ice Age times.
By about Christian times these tribes had settled into the cultural groups of Canada's woods and planes, Mexico and the mountains of South America.
North America
The Eskimos lived the life of stone age man into our own time - wandering hunters living in conditions of extreme cold. Carvings of bone and ivory of animal shapes show a lively naturalism but no sense of grouping or order.
On the Northwest seaboard (now British Columbia) the tribes developed some semblance of a civilization based on the magical powers of nature - Sun, moon, wind, rain etc. and made coloured wood totems and stylized geometric drawings.
Large timber houses or lodges were built for communal living and decorated with carving. In the U.S. Mexico border region, the Pueblo Indians developed a communal way of life. They used mud brick to build multistoried dwellings with irrigation systems to water the surrounding desert. For the most part of the rest of North American tribes were nomadic hunters. Pottery and woven textiles were of a high standard.
Central America
In the civilizations of Maya, Aztecs and Incas we see the extent to which man can develop without the faculty of reason and in isolation from the rest of the world. Here the mind was enslaved to the terror of the powers of nature and superstition from which the peoples of Egypt, Mesopotamia and India had long since escaped.
The Mayan civilizations floured in the south Guatemalan and Honduras jungles and reached its peak between the 2nd and 8th centuries. The Mayan civilization then disappeared and revived again in Yucatan about 1,000 AD. In the north, the Aztecs settled on the high Mexican plateau where Mexico city now stands. This cruel and warlike race was supreme from about 1300 until wiped out by the Spaniards led Cortez in 1521. The Aztecs had a shocking record of blood sacrifice and murder in the worship of their gods.
South America
On the high Andean plateau in Peru and Bolivia the Inca civilization reached its highest development from the 12th century until slaughtered by the Spaniards under Pizzarro in 1533. The Incas were sun worshippers and did not practice the fearful sacrificial rites of the Aztecs, being of a far more peaceful nature.
Architecture
The Maya made use of the arch but otherwise pre-Columbian architecture used stone block and beam. Throughout central America the step pyramid appears (up to 200ft high) on top of which was the idol and sacrificial altar. The pyramid and other buildings were frequently covered with coloured tiles depicting the various gods in a bold rectangular style - Quetzacoatl - the serpent god, appears frequently. Advanced systems of roads, aqueducts, reservoirs, fortresses were built of accurately hand cut stone blocks. The Incas built the cities on the tops of mountain peaks - some were not rediscovered until very recently.
Sculpture
Stone relief carvings of the Mayans achieve a more realistic freedom than that of the Aztecs. Both Mayan and Aztecs had calendars and a numerical system, knowledge of the stars and seasons all of which was recorded in a writing system which had bold rectangular decorative quality. Sculpture is rare with the Incas although the remarkable Chimu portrait vases are note worthy.
Minor Arts
The central and South American peoples excelled in the working of precious metals and stones. Ritual objects, symbols of royalty, weapons, shields and personal adornments gave rise to the "El Dorado" fever of the Spanish explorers. Gold and Silver were in such abundance that the Spaniards plundered and murdered without restraint.