Chapter 2, Section 1

 Left no written record  Scientists have evidence that the first people reached the Americas during the last ice age.

 Glaciers: thick sheets of ice covered much of the earth between 100,000 and 10,000 years ago.  Water was locked up in ice so sea levels fell and land was uncovered.  Beringia: land bridge that connected Siberia in northeastern Asia to Alaska in North America. Today this land is under the Bering Strait.

 Followed herds of wooly mammoths, bison, and other game across Beringia.  Arrival of the first Americans is believed to be about 30,000 to 15,000 years ago.  Search for hunting grounds led newcomers across the Americas.

 12,000 years ago temperatures rose around the globe.  Glaciers melted : Beringia is again covered by water  Wooly mammoths and mastodons die  Americas people adapted by fishing, hunting small game, and gathering berries and grain

 5,000 years ago people learned to grow corn, beans, and squash.  Changed life because migration was no longer necessary for survival.  Built permanent villages.  Farming methods improved, more food was produce, and populations grew.

 To learn about early Americans,experts are studying ancient peoples of northeast Asia  Also studying languages of Native Americans to trace how people spread across the Americas.  Native Americans: descendants of the first people to reach the Americas.  Examining Artifacts like stone tool weapons, baskets, and carvings  Archeology: the study of evidence left by early peoples.

 Applying scientific methods to analyzing artifacts can lead to opening information such as approximate dates, climates, and skills.

 Culture: the entire way of life that people have developed. Including behavior, customs, beliefs, and skills. Also includes homes, clothes and government.

 Some laws have been passed to protect Native American burial grounds.  At times hinders archeologists ability to study ancient sites

 Mound Builders: built thousands of earthen mounds scattered between the Appalachian Mountains to the Mississippi Valley and from Wisconsin to Florida.  Mound Builders belonged to various group who lived from about 3,000 years ago until the 1700’s.

 Burial grounds probably for important leaders  Inside mounds things like sculptures, copper weapons, tools and ornaments have been found.  Found turquoise from the Southwest and shells from the Gulf of Mexico which suggests trade.

 Religious ceremonies  Pyramid shaped with a flat top.  Built temples and homes on top for the ruling class.

 Cahokia: Large city built between 700 and  30,000 people lived there.  Built Monk’s Mound, 16 acres or 14 ½ football fields long and hundreds of other small mounds.  Built a fence around Cahokia and circles of evenly places posts believed to be used as a calendar to help farmers know when planting and harvesting seasons began.

 Desert region with an annual rainfall only 5 to 10 inches and temperatures above 100 degrees  Hohokams: lived in present day Arizona.  Developed ways to turn desert into farmland by digging irrigation ditches from the Salt and Gila rivers. They grew corn, squash, and beans.

 Anasazi ( In Navajo means ancient ones): also framed the desert by irrigation.  Built large multistoried houses made of stone and sundried brick called adobe.  Pueblos: Villages: This is what Spanish explores called these house made of adobe.

 Adobe house along the faces of cliffs, built to protect their villages from warlike neighbors.  Climbed up and down cliff walls using toeholds.  Built roads connecting villages for trade of items such as sandals, blankets, and cotton.  Roads even led into present day Mexico for trade.  Drought: Long dry spells, forced Anasazis to abandon their villages.