The overall history of Venezuela goes all the way back to the first inhabitants, Amerindians who lived in the Upper Paleolithic Period (12,000-50,000 years ago). They were mainly food gatherers and they lived when humans first developed art and complex social structures. Some other prominent indigenous groups that arrived were the Arawak and the Carib. Nomadic hunting and fishing groups also roamed around Lake Maracaibo. Another group near the Andes were the most technologically advanced indigenous group in Venezuela at the time. The first European appearance in Venezuela was Christopher Columbus in 1498. European people named it Venezuela after seeing indigenous houses on stilts (Little Venice). In the first quarter of the 16th century, the Europeans hunted for indigenous peoples to enslave and pearl fished for money. The first Spanish settlement in Venezuela wasn't made until 1523. In the second quarter of the 16th century, European activity shifted towards the northeastern coast. This is also the time period when the Welser banking house from Augsburg, Germany “purchased” exploration and colonization “rights”. Germany failed to gain any precious materials and the Spanish regained control of the land in 1546. An English explorer named Walter Raleigh sailed up the Orinoco in Venezuela and “discovered” Guiana. In the second half of the 16th century, the Spanish issued encomiendas (grants of the land and indigenous slaves). This is also when Caracas was founded in 1567. By the year of 1600, more than 20 European settlements were placed all across the Venezuelan Andes and the Caribbean coast. Over the course of the 17th and 18th centuries, Roman Catholic missionary orders took over the Llanos and Maracaibo. The colonial economy was mainly run by agriculture. Corn, beans, and beef were domestic food staples in the colonial times. The French and English took over Venezuela’s commerce, but in the early 18th century Spain established a monopoly trading company and took control of Venezuela’s commerce. Bolivár made Venezuela an independent country in 1811. Which is why many things were based on Bolivár and Gran Colombia.