The Dumbarton Oaks Museum in Washington, D.C., has a kickass collection of pre-Columbian American artifacts. Let’s look at some!
“Effigy Spoon and Rattle: A man sitting on a small stool blows into a conch shell. His hair, drawn into a knot above the forehead, identifies him as a ritual specialist. Several tiny pellets inside the figure can produce a rattling sound. The spoon may have been used to hold hallucinogenic snuffs, which were an important part of Chavín rituals.” The Chavín culture existed in the northern Andes about 1000 – 200 BCE. This spoon dates to 400 – 200 BCE and is one of the oldest things I saw at the museum. 
This Infinity Gau — uhh, gold hand inlaid with turquoise, made by the Lambayeque (a.k.a. Sican) society in northern Peru, between 900 and 1100. 
This (bad picture of) an array of little critters such as birds, snakes, turtles, frogs and crocodiles. They come from various places and time periods. If you open the picture in its own tab you may be able to read the captions. 
These Maya ceramic figurines, which are also whistles, 650 – 800. I love the amount of detail to them. 
Monkey-shaped Aztec jar, carved from onyx marble, 1200 – 1520. 
Solid gold tweezers! Mixtec, 900 – 1520. 
Grave goods from a Chimú burial site, 900 – 1470. Earrings, a nose ring, a beaded band, bangles, a pectoral (the big piece, meant to be worn on the chest), a spear thrower, a bottle stopper, a decorative tip for a staff, a lot of sequins and a little block of plain old gold. 
Mosaic hand mirror with a pyrite surface, from the Wari culture, 650 – 1000. You can juuust see your reflection in it. 
And this little friend, from the same culture and period as the mirror. A figurine representing a high-ranking man or woman, carrying gold objects in both hands.
