South American History | smithsonianmag.comhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/rss/tag/south-american-history/RSS feed for South American HistoryenTue, 12 May 2026 21:13:28 +0000Potatoes Didn't Just Feed Ancient Indigenous Communities in the Andes—the Tasty Tubers Also Reshaped People's DNAhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/potatoes-didnt-just-feed-ancient-indigenous-communities-in-the-andes-the-tasty-tubers-also-reshaped-peoples-dna-180988732/A new study finds that Indigenous Andeans living in what is now Peru have extra copies of a gene called AMY1, which helps the body digest starchTue, 12 May 2026 21:13:28 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/potatoes-didnt-just-feed-ancient-indigenous-communities-in-the-andes-the-tasty-tubers-also-reshaped-peoples-dna-180988732/A New Big Database of DNA From Indigenous Americans Shakes Up Scientists' Theories About Human Settlement of South Americahttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a-new-big-database-of-dna-from-indigenous-americans-shakes-up-scientific-theories-about-human-settlement-of-south-america-180988628/Genomic data provides evidence for a previously unknown wave of migration, with Indigenous groups living in central and southern Mexico spreading into South America and the Caribbean starting around 1,300 years agoTue, 28 Apr 2026 10:00:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a-new-big-database-of-dna-from-indigenous-americans-shakes-up-scientific-theories-about-human-settlement-of-south-america-180988628/Anthropologists Recover DNA of Syphilis-Causing Bacterium Relative From 5,500-Year-Old Human Remains, the Earliest Ever Foundhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/anthropologists-recover-dna-of-syphilis-causing-bacterium-relative-from-5500-year-old-human-remains-the-earliest-ever-found-180988066/The findings represent the oldest complete set of genetic information from this bacterial group and shed light on its evolutionary historyTue, 27 Jan 2026 17:00:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/anthropologists-recover-dna-of-syphilis-causing-bacterium-relative-from-5500-year-old-human-remains-the-earliest-ever-found-180988066/Archaeologists Discovered the 'Holy Grail' of Shipwrecks a Decade Ago. Now, They're Finally Beginning to Unravel the Secrets of the 'San José'https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/archaeologists-discovered-the-holy-grail-of-shipwrecks-a-decade-ago-now-theyre-finally-beginning-to-unravel-the-secrets-of-the-san-jose-180988050/A new book by author Julian Sancton explores the lengthy quest to find the Spanish galleon—and the political firestorm that has engulfed the wreck ever sinceTue, 27 Jan 2026 13:00:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/archaeologists-discovered-the-holy-grail-of-shipwrecks-a-decade-ago-now-theyre-finally-beginning-to-unravel-the-secrets-of-the-san-jose-180988050/Meet 13 People Who Survived on Deserted Islands, From a Real-Life Robinson Crusoe to a Noblewoman Marooned With Her Loverhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/meet-13-people-who-survived-on-deserted-islands-from-a-real-life-robinson-crusoe-to-a-noblewoman-marooned-with-her-lover-180988028/Ahead of the release of Sam Raimi's "Send Help," revisit the stories of Alexander Selkirk, Marguerite de la Rocque, the Tongan castaways and others who endured in remote localesThu, 22 Jan 2026 12:30:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/meet-13-people-who-survived-on-deserted-islands-from-a-real-life-robinson-crusoe-to-a-noblewoman-marooned-with-her-lover-180988028/This Inca Building—the Only Surviving Structure of Its Kind—Might Have Been Designed to Amplify Sound and Musichttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/this-inca-building-the-only-surviving-structure-of-its-kind-might-have-been-built-to-amplify-sound-and-music-180987597/Researchers will use 3D modeling to assess what the "carpa uasi" in Huaytará, Peru, originally looked like and how sound traveled through itThu, 30 Oct 2025 15:48:27 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/this-inca-building-the-only-surviving-structure-of-its-kind-might-have-been-built-to-amplify-sound-and-music-180987597/The World's Oldest Mummies Might Be These Smoke-Dried, 12,000-Year-Old Skeletons From Southeast Asiahttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/the-worlds-oldest-mummies-might-be-these-smoke-dried-12000-year-old-skeletons-from-south-america-180987348/The human remains predate Chile's Chinchorro mummies and the famously preserved pharaohs of ancient Egypt by millenniaTue, 16 Sep 2025 17:53:22 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/the-worlds-oldest-mummies-might-be-these-smoke-dried-12000-year-old-skeletons-from-south-america-180987348/A Lock of Braided Human Hair Could Change How We Think About Inca Society and Record-Keepinghttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a-lock-of-braided-human-hair-could-change-how-we-think-about-inca-society-and-record-keeping-180987187/The khipu knot-tying system was thought to have only been used by elites, but one artifact suggests commoners, too, knew how to use itFri, 15 Aug 2025 15:48:23 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a-lock-of-braided-human-hair-could-change-how-we-think-about-inca-society-and-record-keeping-180987187/This Colorful Mural of Stars and Fish Is the First of Its Kind Found on the Coast of Northern Peruhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/this-colorful-mural-of-stars-and-fish-is-the-first-of-its-kind-found-on-the-coast-of-northern-peru-180987144/The 3,000- to 4,000-year-old artwork decorated the wall of a temple atrium during Peru's Formative PeriodMon, 11 Aug 2025 18:45:49 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/this-colorful-mural-of-stars-and-fish-is-the-first-of-its-kind-found-on-the-coast-of-northern-peru-180987144/Archaeologists Unveil a 3,500-Year-Old City in Peru That Sheds Light on the Caral Culturehttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/archaeologists-unveil-a-3500-year-old-city-in-peru-that-sheds-light-on-the-caral-culture-180986944/Known as Peñico, the city is now open to tourists. It was once a vibrant urban center that connected coastal, mountain and jungle communitiesThu, 10 Jul 2025 12:00:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/archaeologists-unveil-a-3500-year-old-city-in-peru-that-sheds-light-on-the-caral-culture-180986944/