Chapter 12 The Americas

 Paleoindian Americans  Amerindians first crossed Beringia land bridge about 30,000-10,000 BCE  Clovis Culture – earliest-known hunting culture  Folsom points – smaller points developed as game got smaller  The Archaic period  Conditions everywhere became warmer, drier, so people had to depend more on gathering as game disappeared  Little is known about social organization in this period

 Result of continued environmental change  First occurred in Mexico  Chili, pumpkins, beans, plus maize  Farming spread across Mexico, to Central America, coastal Peru by 1500 BCE  This high productivity made possible the great civilizations

 Ancestral Puebloan civilization (Anasazi)  Began agriculture about 400 CE  Chaco phenomenon – 14 “Great Houses” – multi-story stone and timber pueblos  Road system in nearly straight lines converged on Chaco Canyon  Regional trade center wielding great power  Puebloan clans migrated west, south, east about

 Mississippian and Cahokia civilizations  Mysterious mound-building cultures based on religion, burial, farming etc.  Cahokia – largest, most important settlement from this period  May have had social hierarchy  Some mounds were for religious rituals, others were tombs  Ended mysteriously about 1300

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 Olmecs BCE  Foundation of all other Amerindian cultures in Central America  Skill in stonework – basalt heads, ceremonial stone pyramids  Primitive form of writing and number system  Chavin BCE  Found in valleys inland from Peruvian coast  Neolithic agrarian lifestyle  Gold work

 Most advanced of all pre-Columbian Amerindians  Hierarchy of cities ruled by kings  Peasant villagers lived in satellite settlements  Chichen Itza  Public buildings, temples, palaces, ball courts  Wealthy hereditary elite, powerful priesthood  Religious belief was important in ordering the round of daily life  Extremely accurate astronomy based on refined mathematics  Only pre-Columbian people to be fully literate

 Teotihuacan 200 BCE  Found in northern part of Valley of Mexico  Center of religious rituals, offerings to the gods  Might have been first true city in Western Hemisphere, also largest, most impressive  Toltecs  Federation of nomads  Chief city was Tula

 Tenochtitlan – capital city, one of largest cities anywhere  War was reason for existence of Aztecs, shaped their religion, social structure  Aztec religion featured frequent human sacrifices, cannibalism  Aztec government and society  Emperor and his officials  Class of warriors  Ordinary free people  Serfs and slaves  Large, powerful group of priests  Upper class women had some rights and freedoms

 Empire in South America rested on dramatically increased food supply  Centered in Cuzco, Peru  By 1400s empire may have held as many as 8 million people  After conquering new area, Incas often deported inhabitants  Local chiefs took responsibility for obedience, good behavior  Efficient tax collection  Established colonies to help conquered people become loyal  Quechua replaced various languages, was never written

 Material culture  Great roads  Irrigation systems, dams, canals, agricultural terraces  Domesticated llamas as beasts of burden  Stone buildings of extremely high quality  Fine textiles of wool, cotton  Macchu Picchu – city in the clouds, purpose unknown  Government and society  Small elite of nobles with semi-divine king  Ayllu (clan) was basic unit of society  Unusual level of concern for social welfare