Editing Venezuela (section)

===Pre-Columbian history===
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| image1            = IdolosRoques.jpg
| caption1          = [[Cult image]] sculpted in ceramic, [[Los Roques Archipelago]]
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| caption2          = [[Petroglyph]] in the [[El Ávila National Park|Waraira Repano National Park]]
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Evidence exists of human habitation in the area now known as Venezuela from about 15,000 years ago. Tools have been found on the high [[River terraces (tectonic–climatic interaction)|riverine terraces]] of the [[Pedregal River|Rio Pedregal]] in western Venezuela.{{sfn|Kipfer|2000|p=91}} [[Late Pleistocene]] hunting artifacts, including spear tips, have been found at a similar series of sites in northwestern Venezuela; according to [[radiocarbon dating]], these date from 13,000 to 7,000 BC.{{sfn|Kipfer|2000|p=172}}

It is unknown how many people lived in Venezuela before the Spanish conquest; it has been estimated at one million.{{sfn|Wunder|2003|p=130}} In addition to Indigenous peoples known today, the population included groups such as the [[Kalina people|Kalina]] (Caribs), [[Auaké people|Auaké]], [[Caquetio]], [[Mariche]], and [[Timoto–Cuica people|Timoto–Cuicas]]. The Timoto–Cuica culture was the most complex society in Pre-Columbian Venezuela, with pre-planned permanent villages, surrounded by irrigated, terraced fields.{{sfn|Mahoney|p=89}} Their houses were made of stone and wood with thatched roofs. They were peaceful and depended on growing crops. Regional crops included potatoes and [[ulluco]]s.<ref name=art>[http://en.amigosprecolombino.es/cultures/central-america-and-intermedia/venezuela "Venezuela".] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110904200841/http://en.amigosprecolombino.es/cultures/central-america-and-intermedia/venezuela |date=4 September 2011}} ''Friends of the Pre-Columbian Art Museum''. (retrieved 9 July 2011)</ref> They left behind art, particularly anthropomorphic ceramics, but no major monuments. They spun vegetable fibers to weave into textiles and mats for housing. They are credited with having invented the [[arepa]], a staple in [[Venezuelan cuisine]].{{sfn|Salas|2004|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=6-1QnKS6xG4C&pg=PA142 142]}}

After the conquest, the population dropped markedly, mainly through the spread of infectious diseases from Europe.{{sfn|Wunder|2003|p=130}} Two main north–south axes of pre-Columbian population were present, who cultivated maize in the west and [[manioc]] in the east.{{sfn|Wunder|2003|p=130}} Large parts of the ''[[llanos]]'' were cultivated through a combination of [[slash and burn]] and permanent settled agriculture.{{sfn|Wunder|2003|p=130}}