Migration to the Americas: The Journey, Hunting, and the Rise of Civilization

1. Chapter 1 Section 1 Migration to the Americas

2. Vocab. and Key Terms • Archaeology – • Artifact – • Nomad – • Migration – • Maize – • Carbon Dating – • Culture – • Source – • Estimate – • Ice Age –

3. The Journey From Asia • The First Americans • Hunters and Gatherers • Migrated from Asia • Crossed the Land Bridge to populate North and South America

4. Crossing the Land Bridge • The Ice Age • Began about 100,000 years ago. • Ended about 12,000 years ago. • Period of low sea level and extreme cold • Massive sheets of ice, or glaciers, covered much of the Earth.

5. Crossing the Land Bridge (cont.) • “Beringia” • The Land Bridge • Exposed during the period of the lowest sea levels during the Ice Age. • Connected Siberia (North East Asia) to what is now Alaska (northwestern tip of the Americas) • Now Lies under the bearing sea

6. Searching for Hunting Grounds • Nomads • Early Americans were people who moved from place to place • Ate grains and fruits • Depended largely on hunting for food • In search of food, and likely following migration patterns of animals, the first Americans crossed the land bridge into Alaska and Canada. link • Migration • Movement of a large number of people to a new homeland. • During the ice age, many people crossed the land bridge and spread across the Americas. • Spread as far east as the Atlantic Coast • Spread as far south as the tip of South America.

7. Hunting for Food • Huge Mammals • Early Americans found massive mammals when they arrived • Saber Toothed Tiger, Wooly Mammoth, and the Mastodon • Served as a great source of food • A single mammoth could feed a group for months • Nomads used every part of animal. • Used skin for clothing and bones for weapons, tools and building shelters.

8. Hunting for Food (cont.) • Early Americans were skilled and hunting the animals • Used spears fashioned from wood and stone • Hunted in large groups and would overwhelm the animals

9. Hunting for Food (cont.) • Ice Age Ends • About 15,000 years ago, temperatures begin to rise • Glaciers melted and ocean levels rose • Beringa is covered again • America is cut-off from Asia

10. Hunting for Food (cont.) • New challenges for hunters • Mammoths and other large animals begin to die out • Overhunted by newly isolated Early Americans • Environmental changes impact animals’ ability to survive • Early Americans forced to find other sources of food

11. Settling Down • Agriculture changed the way of life for early Americans • The disappearance of hunted animals had a great impact of the way of life • Hunted smaller game • Caught fish • Gathered berries and grain •  Began farming for the first time. 

12. Farming/Agriculture First American farmers learned to plan Maize in what is now Mexico. • Provided steady and reliable food source • Also Planted pumpkins, beans, and squash • Reduced need to move around • Allowed time to spend on other activities besides hunting • Improved overall quality of life

13. Establishing Cultures • Some early Americans continued to be nomadic. • Others settled into communities • Villages have been found dating back as far as 5,000 years • Early people built shelters from clay, stone, and wood • Made pottery and cloth • Developed common customs and beliefs that eventually became their own culture.

14. Chapter 1 Section 2 Cities and Empires

15. Vocab. and Key Terms • Civilization • Theocracy • Hieroglyphics • Quechua • Quipu • Terraces • Complex • Link • Olmec • Maya • Aztec • Inca

16. Before Europeans • Great civilizations in Americas before arrival of Europeans in 1500s • The Olmec, Maya, and Aztec • Complex systems of writing, counting, and tracking time • Palenque • Early Maya city carved from granite • Wonder of design and craftsmanship

17. The Olmec • Flourished from 1500 B.C. – 300 B.C. • Settled along the Gulf Coast • Great farmers • Produced enough food for cities of over 1,000 people • Workers • Sculpted large stone monuments • Built stone pavement and drainage systems • Reasons for decline and collapse are unknown.

18. The Maya • Population may have reached 2 million people • Built many Huge Cities • Each city had a large stone pyramid • Temples sat on top of the pyramids and served as religious and political centers • Maya Theocracy • Believed the gods controlled everything • Priests held great power in Maya society

19. The Maya • Great Knowledge of astronomy • Predicted eclipses • Formed 365 day calendar • Hieroglyphics • Early form of writing • Used symbols and pictures to represent things, ideas, and sounds

20. Maya Transport and Trade • Trade Routes • No wheeled vehicle or horses • Carried goods by hand • On trails cut through jungle • Maize, vegetables, cotton, cloth, pottery, deer meat and salt • Carried goods by canoe • Up and down Mexico’s east coast • Jade statues, turquoise jewelry, and cacao beans

21. Decline of the Maya • Began to decline around 900 AD • By 1100 almost entire gone • Reasons for decline largely unknown • Possible cause • Soil exhaustion from farming and erosion • Unable to sustain food source for large numbers of people • Maya descendants still live in parts of Mexico and Central America

22. The Aztec • Hunters who thrived centuries after the Maya • Wandered through Mexico until they came to an Island in Lake Texcoco • Settled Tenochtitlan around year 1325 in what is now Mexico

23. Tenochtitlan • One of the greatest ancient American Cities • Wonder of labor and engineering • Center of trade • During its time, one of the largest cities in the Americas and the world

24. Aztec War and Religion • Aztec civilization grew into a military empire • Conquered all rival peoples nearby in the 1400s • Forced neighbors to work as slaves • Organized society around religion • Believed sacrifices were necessary to satisfy the gods • Sacrificed thousands of prisoners of war

25. The Inca • Well organized empire with structured society • Largest of early American civilizations • Stretched more than 3,000 miles across the western highlands of South America • Built on war • Powerful army • Conquered peoples who did not resist were absorbed and allowed to participate in the empire. • Those who resisted were brutally punished

26. Life in the Inca Empire • Cuzco – Inca Capitol City • Connected to the population of over 9 million by over 10,000 miles of paved road • Founded around 1200 • Language • Quechua – official spoken Inca language • Quipus – System of record keeping • Used different colored strings with various knots to keep records • Used to keep information about resources such as grain stores.

27. Life in the Inca Empire (cont.) • Farming • Farmed mountainous land • Terraces • Broad platform carved into steep slopes • Stone walls held soil and plants in place • Grew maize, squash, tomatoes, peanuts, chili peppers, cotton, and potatoes

28. Chapter 1 Section 3 North American Peoples

29. Vocab. And Key Terms • Pueblo • Clan • Federation • Channel • Structure

30. Early Native Americans • The Hohokam , Anasazi, and The Mound Builders • Most advanced of early Native American civilizations

31. The Hohokam • Desert of what is now Arizona • Flourished from 300 to 1300 AD • Irrigation Channels • Trenches that carried water to their fields. • Left behind pottery, carved stone, and acid etched shells.

32. The Anasazi • 1 to 1300 AD (roughly same time as Hohokam) • Settled the Four Corners • Modern day Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico

34. The Anasazi (cont.) • Pueblos • Stone dwellings built by Anasazi • Pueblo Bonito • Famous Anasazi Pueblo • Trade and religious center for Anasazi • Cliff Dwellings • Anasazi shelter built in the side of cliffs • Mesa Verde • In modern day Colorado • One of the largest cliff dwelling (held thousands of inhabitants)

35. The Mound Builders • Early North American Native Americans • Built mounds much like the Maya pyramids • Stretched from what is now Pennsylvania to the Mississippi River Valley

37. Mound Builders • Adena • Hunters and Gatherers • Ohio Valley (800bc) • Hopewell • Farmers and Traders • Midwest ( 200bc – 500ad) • Huge burial mounds shaped like animals

39. Cahokia • Largest Mound Builder Settlement • In Illinois • Built by the Mississippians (mound builder tribe) • Resembled great cities Mexico • Monks Mound • Largest of the mounds • Rises over 100 feet • Temple sat on top

40. Peoples of the North • Inuit • Settled the furthest north in North America • Near the Arctic Ocean • May have been last migrants to cross beringia • Built Igloos • Low lying snow block dwellings • Hunters and fishers

41. Peoples of the West • Northwestern Coast • Tlingit, Haida, and Chinook • Depended on forest and sea • Built wooden houses • Plateau Region • Nez Perce and Yakima • Lived in earthen houses • Many other native peoples lived along the west coast near modern day California.

42. People of the Southwest • Descendants of the Anasazi • Hope, Acoma, and Zuni • Built homes with adobe • Sun dried mud bricks • Farmers and traders • Trade route spread throughout the southwest and Mexico • Apache and Navajo • Settled the region in the 1500s • Hunters and gatherers • Built square homes called hogans

43. Peoples of the Plains • Nomadic people • Temporary homes • Tepees • Cone shaped skin tents • Comanche and Dakota • Captured and tamed wild horses • Became skilled riders who hunted and fought on horseback

44. Peoples of the East • Algonquian • Group of natives linked by similarities • Formed Federations • Governments that linked different groups • Formal law codes

45. Iroquois League • Five groups • Onondaga, Seneca, Mohawk, Oneida, and the Cayuga • At war with each other regularly • Great Peace • An alliance that was formed to create the Iroquois League • Created a constitution • Grand council of the leaders met to settle disputes

46. People of the Southeast • The Creek, Chikasaw, and Cherokee • Farmers • Grew corn, tobacco, and squash