



Where did they come from?


Asia
Europe, Africa, South
Pacific, etc.?
How did they get here?
 Beringia – land bridge
 Boat crossings?
When did they get here?

15,000-70,000 years ago
How long did it take to settle both continents?
 Many archaeologists believe it took less than 1000 years...this supports the idea of more than one entrance
Entrance to the Americas

Lesson 2 – Cities and Empires

 1200 BC – 300 BC


Located on Gulf Coast of
Mexico, Guatemala, &
Honduras
Cause of decline is unknown
 Known in modern times for large statues they created...evidence of contact with Africa &
Europe?

Lesson 2 – Cities and Empires
 MAYA
 Peaked b/w 250-900



Located in Mexico,
Guatemala, Honduras, &
Belize
Built large cities  each contained at least one stone pyramid
 Some pyramids reached
200 ft. tall
 Pyramids had temples on top theocracy
– society ruled by religious leaders
Pyramid at Chichen Itza

Lesson 2 – Cities and Empires
Mayan Astronomers
 MAYA
 Astronomy – were able to predict eclipses and developed a 365-day calendar...
end of the world on December
21, 2012?
 Cause of decline is unknown (900) but descendants of Maya are still around in
Central America today

Lesson 2 – Cities and Empires

Peaked 1325-1519 
Tenochtitlan



Located in Mexico
Tenochtitlan



Capital city
Located on an island in the middle of a lake
One of the largest cities in the world at the time
Military Empire



Conquered nearly all of central
& southern Mexico
Conquered peoples became slaves
Human sacrifice important part of religious ceremonies


Lesson 2 – Cities and Empires
INCA
 Peaked 1200-1531


Located in western South America in Andes Mtns. (3000 miles in length)
Daily Life





At its height, population was over
9 million
Built over 10,000 miles of paved roads and rope bridges
Extensive messenger system – similar to Pony Express
No system of writing – used quipus  system of using various colors & lengths of string with knots to keep records
Used terraces to help with farming on mountainsides
Inca Rope Bridge

Lesson 3 – North American Peoples
 EARLY NORTH
AMERICAN CULTURES
 MOUND BUILDERS



Found in central & eastern North America
ADENA – one of the earliest groups, built the Great Serpent
Mound in present-day
Ohio
HOPEWELL – built mounds in the shapes of birds, bears, and snakes
The Great Serpent Mound

Lesson 3 – North American Peoples
Cahokia
 EARLY NORTH
AMERICAN CULTURES
 MOUND BUILDERS
 MISSISSIPPIANS – built Angel Mounds
(near Evansville,
IN)…also built city of
Cahokia (present-day
Illinois)

 contained Monks
Mound (100 ft. high) was largest city in US until Philadelphia in the 1800s

Lesson 3 – North American Peoples
 EARLY NORTH
AMERICAN CULTURES
 HOHOKAM




Peaked 200-1400
Located in present-day
Arizona
Used irrigation channels to water their fields
Shells found on sites show they had contact with coastal peoples
Hohokam Irrigation Channel

Lesson 3 – North American Peoples
Mesa Verde National Park - Colorado
 EARLY NORTH
AMERICAN CULTURES
 ANCIENT PUEBLOANS
 Formerly called
“Anasazi”-descendants dislike the name




Lived around the same time as the Hohokam
Lived in the “Four
Corners” region of the
American Southwest 
AZ, NM, CO, UT
Built large stone dwellings
– some in the walls of steep cliffs
Disappeared from the area around 1300 AD

Lesson 3 – North American Peoples
 NATIVE AMERICANS circa 1492


NORTHERN PEOPLES
INUIT


Found in the area around Arctic Ocean
May have been the last group to cross land bridge from Asia
 Built igloos, used sea and land for food and resources
Inuit village

Lesson 3 – North American Peoples
 NATIVE AMERICANS circa
1492



WESTERN PEOPLES
TLINGIT, HAIDA, & CHINOOK


Found in Alaska, Canada,
Washington, & Oregon
Used forest & sea for resources
NEZ PERCE & YAKIMA
 Found in eastern WA & ID
 Lived in earthen homes
Haida totem poles – Field Museum (Chicago)

Lesson 3 – North American Peoples
 NATIVE AMERICANS circa
1492



WESTERN PEOPLES
POMO
 Found in central California
 Pounded acorns into flour for food
UTE & SHOSHONE


Found in Great Basin (Nevada
& Utah)
Nomadic – temporary shelters made from branches & reeds

Lesson 3 – North American Peoples
 NATIVE AMERICANS circa
1492



SOUTHWESTERN PEOPLES
HOPI, ACOMA, & ZUNI
 Built homes from adobe
 Used irrigation channels to grow different crops
APACHE & NAVAJO


Primarily hunters & gatherers
Navajo lived in square homes called ‘hogans’

Lesson 3 – North American Peoples
Tepee village
 NATIVE AMERICANS circa 1492
 PLAINS PEOPLES



Found in Great Plains region of US
Nomadic people – move frequently, lived in tepees
Tamed wild horses – were able to use spears and bows while riding

Lesson 3 – North American Peoples
 NATIVE AMERICANS circa 1492


EASTERN PEOPLES
IROQUOIS LEAGUE


Confederation made up of Onondaga, Seneca,
Mohawk, Oneida, &
Cayuga
Located in northern NY &
Canada
 Had a constitution and representative form of government

Lesson 3 – North American Peoples
 NATIVE AMERICANS circa
1492


SOUTHEASTERN PEOPLES
CREEK, CHEROKEE, &
CHICKASAW



Creek - farming was very important – corn, squash, tobacco, etc.
Cherokee – farmed in the
Appalachian Mtns
….Smokies
Chickasaw – farmed in fertile river bottomlands