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How did they get here?

The payoff was huge! These large beasts could feed a group of people for months.

About 15,000 years ago the world warmed. With temperatures rising sea levels began to rise. Beringia was submerged and the Americas cut off from Asia.

Another issue was that these large animals began to die out. Now early Americans had to find other sources of food.

Around 9,000 years ago people living in what is now Mexico learned to plant and raise maize, an early form of corn. They also started planting pumpkins, beans, and squash.

Now the former nomads had a steady source of food and they no longer needed to move from place to place.

These Americans began to develop their own Cultures or way of life.

Carbon Dating is a method that provides us with an estimated date of an artifact's age. This is done by scientists who measure the amount of radioactive carbon in an artifact made from bone or wood.

The Olmec, Maya, and Aztec civilizations of Mexico and Central America flourished long before the arrival of Europeans.

They all developed complex, or highly detailed, systems for writing, counting, and tracking time.

Establishing Unique Cultures

Some early Americans chose to remain nomadic, others decided to settle down.

North American Peoples

Settling Down

The Inca

The Inca in South America developed a well-organized empire with a structured society

The Aztec City of Tenochtitlan

Say: tay - nawch - teet - LAHN

became the largest city in the Americas and one of the largest in the world

Its construction was an amazing feat of engineering

All done by human labor

The Aztec

Eagle with a snake in its beak sitting on a cactus

The Hohokam

Arizona was the home of the Hohokam who arrived from Mexico about 300 BCE

Their way of life depended on the irrigation CHANNELS, or trenches, they dug to carry water into their fields.

Aztec, War & Religion

The Aztec:

  • Civilization grew into a military empire.
  • Conquered rivals in the region & enslaved people.
  • Believed that human sacrifices were necessary. Why?

The Maya

Their civilization was located in the rain forests of present day Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and Belize.

They planted maize, beans, sweet potatoes, and other vegetables to feed their population of 2 million people.

The Inca Empire

grew to a population of 9 million

Inca Language was called Quechua

(say KEH - chuh - wuh)

They had a system of record keeping with strings called quipus (say KEE - poos)

Cities & Empires

Section 2 Pages 10-15

The Olmec, Maya, & Aztec civilizations of Mexico & Central America flourished long before the arrival of Europeans.

Early Native Americans

The Hohokam, the Anasazi, and the Mound Builders were among the most advanced of North American civilization.

New food sources included smaller game, fish and gathering berries and grains.

They also began to farm.

Hieroglyphics uses symbols or pictures to represent things, ideas and sounds.

Theocracy a society ruled by religious leaders

Long before the Europeans arrived in the 1500s, several great civilization, or highly developed societies, arose what is now Mexico and Central America.

The Olmec

Existed from 1500 BCE-300 BCE

Along the Gulf Coast in what is now Mexico, Guatemala & Honduras

They created a food surplus this allowed thousands of people to live in cites

The 1st Americans

The Anasazi

Lived in the area known as the 4 corners

They built great stone dwellings called PUEBLOS

PUEBLOS BONITO is one of the Anasazi's most spectacular pueblos

The huge semicircular STRUCTURE, or building, of stone and sun-dried earth resembles an apartment building.

Prehistory to 1492

Hunting for Food

Native American legends talk of giant beasts. They were right!

Saber-toothed tiger, the woolly mammoth and the mastodon

The Mound Builders

The people of North America were influenced by the early cultures of Mexico & Central America

Early Americans became skilled hunters. They learned to hunt these huge animals using weapons and tools and by working together.

Searching for Hunting Grounds

Prehistoric Native Americans built mounds and were known as the Mound Builders.

Cahokia

The Cahokia was the largest settlment of Mound Bounders.

Early Americans were nomads who relied on hunting for much of their food.

While on the hunt they crossed Beringia into what is now Alaska & Canada.

Crossing the Land Bridge

Earth has gone through several ice ages.

Other Native North Americans

The early inhabitants of North America developed ways of life that were well suited to their environments

How do we know what happened?

During an ice age sea level is much lower than now.

Surprise Vocab Quiz #2

Define the following terms:

Archeology | Artifact | Beringia

Nomad | Migration | Source

Maize | Carbon Dating | Estimate

Culture

Enter the Archaeologists!

How do they learn about the past?

What are artifacts?

Homework:

  • Begin reading pages 6 - 9
  • Migration to Americas
  • Define the Vocab words in your notebook
  • Study for "Surprise" Vocab Quiz

People of the North

The INUIT were the people who settled the northern most part of North America in the lands around the Arctic Ocean.

Experts in archeology, the study of ancient peoples, continue to piece together the story of the 1st Americans

Archaeologists learn from the past from artifacts - tools, weapons, baskets, and carvings of early peoples.

The most recent ice age began 100,000 years ago and ended about 12,000 years ago

A land bridge was exposed - Beringia - during this time. It now lies under the Bering Strait.

Surprise Vocab Quiz #3

Define the following terms:

Aztec | Civilization | Culture

Hieroglyphics | Inca | Maya

Quechua | Quipu | Terrace

Theocracy

Homework:

  • Begin reading pages 10 - 15
  • Cities and Empires
  • Define the Vocab words in your notebook
  • Study for "Surprise" Vocab Quiz

The First Americans were hunters and gatherers who came from Asia and spread throughout the Americas.

People of the West

Because of the mild climate and dependable food source we find many different groups in this region.

Surprise Vocab Quiz #3

Adobe | Channel | Clan|

Federation | Inuit | Iroquois |

Longhouse | Pueblo |

Pueblo- Bonito | Structure

By 1500 AD millions of Native Americans, belonging to more than 2,000 different groups, lived on the 2 continents of North America & South America

Homework:

  • Begin reading pages 16 - 22
  • North American Peoples
  • Define the Vocab words in your notebook
  • Study for "Surprise" Vocab Quiz

The IROQUOIS lived in LONGHOUSES, bark covered buildings that could shelter several families

Peoples of the Southeast

The Creek, Chickasaw and Cherokee lived in the warmer climate in the woodlands

They grew corn, tobacco, squash and other crops.

People of the Southwest

The Hopi, the Acoma and the Zuni all built their homes from sun-dried mud bricks called ADOBE.

The Apache & Navajo will join them in the 1500s

Peoples of the East

The peoples who lived in the woodlands of eastern North America formed complex societies

SACHEM

Or Great Chief

STUDY!

The IROQUOIS lived in what is now called northern NY State

There were 5 IROQUOIS groups or nations.

FEDERATIONS were formed, governments that links different groups like the IROQUOIS.

Peoples of the Plains

The Comanche, the Dakota and other plains people were nomadic.

Wild horses will be tamed by these people and they would become skilled riders.

The Iroquois constitution established the Grand Council. Different members of the Iroquois League were organized by CLANS or groups of related families.

SACHEM-the Sachem is chosen to represent a tribe or group of bands.

Migration to

the Americas

The Journey from Asia

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