pre-Columbian art and architecture Arts of Mexico, Central America, and the Andean region of South America before colonization. In the Maya period, beginning c.ad 200, many cities or ceremonial centres were built in Central America. The Teotihuacán, Zapotec, and Mixtec cultures also built pyramid temples. The Toltec and Aztec civilizations succeeded these cultures in the post-classical period (ad 900–1300). The cultures constructed monuments without wheels or the use of the arch, and dazzling patterns decorated building surfaces. In the Andean region, the early Chavín sculptures were succeeded by the Mochica, the Tiahuanaco and, in the 14th century, by the rich temple architecture and sophisticated engineering of the Inca. Gold-working, weaving and sculpture were other important pre-Columbian arts.

Pre-Columbian architecture. Architecture of the Americas before their discovery by Columbus in C15.