Crossing to the Americas
Chap 1 Sec 1
Notes
The First People in America
-Some Native Americans believed Gods created their Ancestors
-Some believed ancestors were born of mother earth
-Scientists think they migrated from Asia
-Some may have crossed a land bridge that joined Asia and N-America during the
Ice-Age
-Scientist believe American arrived 12,000-30,000 years ago
Agriculture Lead to Civilization
-Culture-way of life shared by people with similar arts, beliefs, customs
-First Americans were Hunter/Gathers
-small animals-rabbit
-large animals- woolly mammoth
-wild seeds, nuts, berries
-5,000 years ago humans began domestication
-Domestication-is the practice of breeding plants or taming animals
-people in central Mexico perfected Maze or corn
-Knowledge of Agriculture spread
-Having a stable food supply changed the way people lived
-built permanent villages
-produced large harvest
-few people had to farm-led to other crafts
-Civilization has 5 features
1. Cities that are center of trade
2. Specialized jobs for different people
3. organized forms of government and religion
4. System of record keeping
5. Advanced tools
Early Mesoamerican Civilizations
-Mesoamerica-central Mexico to present day Nicaragua
-Olmec thrived on Gulf of Mexico
-developed trade routes
-Maya- in Southern Mexico and Guatemala
-created calendar and number system
-Hohokam live in Arizona
-land is dry and dug canals
-developed irrigation techniques
-grew corn, bean, squash
-traded widely with people
-Anasazi lived in Utah, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico
-built large houses
-800 rooms housed 1,000 people
-Mound Builders
- lived in Eastern U.S.
-Early Native Americans that built large earthen structures
-large trade network from Atlantic to the Rockies
-By 1700’s most Mississippians died from disease