The AMERICAS

American Civilizations Enormous land area, many different regions First Americans are believed to have crossed a land bridge in the Bering Strait between the Asian and North American continents during the last Ice Age when the sea level was low

North America The Inuit – lived in the Arctic regions and northwest – Built igloos = houses made of ice blocks – Became skilled hunters and fishers – Other types of peoples include the Aleut and the Ingalik The Mound Builders – eastern woodlands – Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico, lived in the Ohio and Mississippi river valleys – Built earth mounds as homes – Built some of the earliest cities in North America

– One early group of mound builders was called the Hopewell peoples – Another group was called the Mississippians The Iroquois – eastern woodlands (northeast) – Built longhouses – Women owned the dwellings and harvested the crops Three “sister” crops: corn, beans, and squash – Men hunted and protected the community – Made up of five different nations: Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Seneca, and Cayuga

– Formed a joint gov’t called the Iroquois League Created to end wars, was a council of representatives that met regularly to settle disputes First experiment with democracy in North America The Plains Indians – lived in the Great Plains – Consisted of different tribes Sioux, Omaha, Comanche, Crow, and Blackfoot – Didn’t all speak the same language, so developed a form of sign language to communicate – Built teepees – Hunted buffalo with the introduction of horses from the Europeans – Used the buffalo for food, clothing, shelter, and tools

The Desert West – Hohokam Lived in pithouses, in which people dug shallow holes in the ground and built walls and roofs with adobe – Adobe = a mixture of clay and straw – Anasazi Developed pueblos = aboveground structures withmany rooms Also had cliff dwellings – Other peoples = Apache and the Shoshone Used materials that were available – Great Plains Indians built teepees and the Iroquois built longhouses

Mesoamerica Name used for areas of Mexico and Central America – Site of the first farming settlements in the Americas – Maize, or corn, was the first domesticated crop Olmec – first, appeared around 1200 BC – Farmed along the Gulf of Mexico, disappeared around 300 AD Zapotec – lived in southern Mexico from 1500 BC to 750 AD – Their capital was the first true city in Mesoamerica

Toltec – lived in the highlands of Central Mexico from 900 – 1200 AD – Established military dominance over a large region The Maya – One of the most advanced civilizations in the Americas – Developed around 1000 BC, built most of its cities between 300 – 900 AD The Mayan civilization came to include much of Central America and consisted of 10 million people and 40 cities – Practiced slash-and-burn agriculture to farm the rain forest Burning vegetation to clear the land for crops

– Built splendid pyramids, temples, and palaces – Mayan cities functioned as city-states and were often at war with each other – The kings of the Mayan city-states claimed to be descended from gods – Had many rituals to satisfy the gods One ritual involved piercing the tongue or skin to offer blood to the gods Another was a game involving a rubber ball that you had to get through a stone hoop using only your elbows, knees, or hips – the losing team often were killed and their hearts sacrificed to the gods – Practiced human sacrifice to appease the gods

– Among the first people to come up with the concept of zero – Had a 365 day calendar – Declined due to either overuse of resources, too much warfare, or peasant rebellions The Aztec – Dominate from the 110s to the 1500s – At its height the Aztec controlled 5 million people and hundreds of cities – Forced conquered people to pay tribute, which was the basis of the Aztec economy – The capital city of Tenochtitlan was one of the largest in the world at the time, with 200,000 inhabitants

– A system of roads helped with trade – The king, although he was elected by a group of nobles, claimed to be descended from gods – Religion was based on a belief in the unending struggle between forces of good and evil – Aztec religious ceremonies were particularly bloody Believed that the gods needed human blood, hoped human sacrifice would postpone the day of reckoning Aztec sacrificed as many as 20,000 victims a year Mostly used slaves or prisoners of war as sacrifices Warriors were responsible fro capturing the victims

South America Chavin – 900 to 200 BC Moche – 400 BC to 600 AD Nazca – 200 BC to 600 AD – Best known for the huge designs they made on the desert floor – These Nazca lines show geometric shapes and outlines of animals The Inca – 1300s to 1500s – Starts out in Peru, eventually includes 12 million people Capital at Cuzco

– The Inca Empire was built on war Used a system of resettlement to limit the power of local leaders they conquered – The emperor had most of the power Believed to related to the sun god Mummies of dead kings kept at Cuzco and worshipped – Used the quipu to keep track of the movement of goods throughout the empire Quipu = set of colored and knotted cords The colors and knots represented numbers or dates – There were no slaves in the Inca Empire, but most people belonged to the lower classes

– Religion was a key element of the Inca society People worshipped many gods, although the sun god was the most important Priests performed ceremonies, which included sacrifices of llamas, cloth, or food Only practiced human sacrifices on rare occassions – Built 24,800 miles worth of roads Had rest houses a day apart – The arrival of the Spanish brought an end to the empire