Argentina

=== Pre-Columbian era ===
{{Main|Indigenous peoples in Argentina}}
[[File:Cueva_de_las_Manos_(6811931046).jpg|left|thumb|The [[Cueva de las Manos|Cave of the Hands]] in [[Santa Cruz province, Argentina|Santa Cruz province]]]]

The earliest traces of human life in the area now known as Argentina are dated from the [[Paleolithic]] period, with further traces in the [[Mesolithic]] and [[Neolithic]].{{sfn|Abad de Santillán|1971|p=17}} Until the period of European colonization, Argentina was relatively sparsely populated by a wide number of diverse cultures with different social organizations,{{sfn|Edwards|2008|p=12}} which can be divided into three main groups.{{sfn|Abad de Santillán|1971|pp=18–19}}

The first group are basic hunters and food gatherers without the development of [[pottery]], such as the [[Selk'nam people|Selk'nam]] and [[Yaghan people|Yaghan]] in the extreme south. The second group are advanced hunters and food gatherers which include the [[Puelche people|Puelche]], [[Querandí]] and Serranos in the centre-east; and the [[Tehuelche people|Tehuelche]] in the south—all of them conquered by the [[Mapuche]] spreading from [[Chile]]{{sfn|Edwards|2008|p=13}}—and the [[Kom people (South America)|Kom]] and [[Wichi]] in the north. The last group are farmers with pottery, like the [[Charrúa]], [[Minuane]] and [[Guaraní people|Guaraní]] in the northeast, with [[slash and burn agriculture|slash and burn]] semisedentary existence;{{sfn|Edwards|2008|p=12}} the advanced [[Diaguita]] sedentary [[trade|trading culture]] in the northwest, which was conquered by the [[Inca Empire]] around 1480; the [[Toconoté]] and [[Comechingones|Hênîa and Kâmîare]] in the country's centre, and the [[Huarpe]] in the centre-west, a culture that raised [[llama]] cattle and was strongly influenced by the Incas.{{sfn|Edwards|2008|p=12}}