North America, Central America,
and South America
 Most
scientist and historians believe that the
first Americans arrived via a land bridge.
• The bridge was called Beringia, it was during the
last Ice Age in which the frozen water caused a drop
in sea level which created a bridge over the gap that
is today known as the Bering Straight. (p. 237)
• The Ice Age that is believed to allow this to happen
lasted from roughly 1,900,000 – 10,000 BC.
 Early
Americans were thought to have
crossed following large game like
bison and mammoth.
 Hunter-Gatherers
 Early
Americans migrate from Alaska,
through Central America, all the way
to the Southern tip of South America.
 When
early Americans in today’s Central
Mexico discovered they could raise crops
like MAIZE, squash, gourds, beans,
avacados, and chiles; they began to
abandon the hunter-gatherer lifestyle.
 Maize
– is a variety of corn that
became the most important crop to
early Americans.
 Could
very
easily feed an
entire family,
with minimal
effort.
 Also
known as “Central America”
 Olmec
 Zapotec
 Mesoamerica’s
 Lived
first known civilization
in the jungles of Southern Mexico
 Know
as the “mother culture” of
Mesoamerica, because it influenced all
civilizations that are formed after it in
Mesoamerica.
 Hot
unforgiving climate with up to 100
inches of rainfall annually.
 The
rainforest climate they lived in
provided many raw materials like salt,
tar, clay, wood, and rubber.
 The
hills to the north of their civilization
provided stone with which they built
enormous stone head carvings.
 Built
large earthen mounds and pyramids
believed to be a burial mound for a great
Olmec ruler. (100 ft. tall pyramid, not any
where near the size of Egypt’s pyramids).
 Believed
to have worshiped a jaguar
like creature due to the discovery of
several half-jaguar half-human stone
sculptures and carvings.
 Lived
in southwest Mexico in an area
called the Oaxaca Valley
 The
Oaxaca Valley has extremely fertile
soil, a very mild climate, and enough
rainfall to support agriculture.
 Built
large stone statues and carvings
hinting at their contact and influence of
the Olmec culture.
 500
BC the Zapotec built a large city
named Monte Alban which housed
15,000 to 25,000 people.
 Monte
Alban was the first urban center in
the Americas, connecting large
pyramids, towers, and palaces made of
stone.

Aztecs

Maya

Inca

Ch. 16 e-mail N.A. student powerpoint

http://educationportal.com/academy/lesson/mesoamericancivilizations-the-olmecs-to-cortes.html#lesson