James L. Roark ● Michael P. Johnson Patricia Cline Cohen ● Sarah Stage Susan M. Hartmann CHAPTER 1 Ancient America, Before 1492 The American Promise A History of the United States Fifth Edition Copyright © 2012 by Bedford/St. Martin's

I. Archaeology and History 1. Differences between archaeologists and historians archaeologists focus on physical objects such as bones and pots, while historians focus on writing. 2. Writing and language as evidence 3. Artifacts and environmental clues as evidence look at environmental factors: scrutinize soil, geological strata, pollen, and climate to find out about ancient and pre-contact Americans;

II. The First Americans A. African and Asian Origins 1. Pangaea and continental drift. About 240 million years ago, continental drift pushed the landmass apart, allowing oceans to surround land much like our current geography. 2. Homo sapiens 3. Migration across Beringia Two factors made migration possible; first, people adapted to the frigid climate; second, the Wisconsin glaciation (25,000 BP to 14,000 BP) caused the sea level to drop so that people could cross the land bridge of Beringia between Siberia and Alaska. 4. Paleo-Indians they traveled to North America in small bands looking for wildlife to hunt; probably arrived after 15,000 BP. B. Paleo-Indian Hunters 1. Abundance of game Paleo-Indians traveled along the eastern side of Canada’s Rocky Mountains or traveled by boat along the Pacific Coast; they migrated to the tip of South America within one thousand years. 2. Clovis point used a spearhead called a Clovis point, named for the place in New Mexico where it was excavated; they hunted mammoths, bison, and smaller animals; shared common ancestry and way of life. 3. Big-game extinction and changes in Paleo-Indian way of life 11,000 BP, large mammals became extinct, probably due to warming climates and perhaps overhunting; to compensate, Paleo-Indian hunters preyed on smaller animals and dedicated more energy to foraging—collecting bugs, berries, and fruits

III. Archaic Hunters and Gatherers A. Great Plains Bison Hunters 1. Folsom point hunters began to focus on the Rocky Mountains in the Great Plains after the extinction of mammoths. Archaic Indians hunted with Folsom points, discovered by archaeologists in New Mexico between two ribs of a giant bison; hunters moved frequently with their prey and developed trapping techniques to kill large numbers of animals with spears. 2. Advantage of bows and arrows reached hunters from the north around AD 500; largely replaced spears; hunters could shoot animals from farther away; weapons were easier to make and less costly to lose; Paleo-Indians did not have access to horses. B. Great Basin Cultures 1. Varying zones of habitation Basin Indians lived between the Rocky Mountains and Sierra Nevada, an area of environmental diversity that featured hot deserts, rainy marshes, and cold, treeless mountains. 2. Plants as primary food source allowed Great Basin peoples to maintain their hunter-gatherer lifestyle for centuries after Europeans arrived in AD 1492.

III. Archaic Hunters and Gatherers C. Pacific Coast Cultures 1. Diversity of California’s environment very diverse peoples, with five hundred tribes speaking some ninety languages. 2. California peoples: Chumash about 5000 BP near Santa Barbara; had many violent clashes over acorns, their primary food source. 3. Northwest peoples permanent villages; caught whales and fish for food; developed sophisticated woodworking skills and made carvings and canoes; warfare occurred over fishing sites. D. Eastern Woodland Cultures 1. Forest environment archaic peoples settled east of the Mississippi River in a forest environment; Woodland peoples hunted deer as their most important source of food, clothing (skins), and weapons (bones); settlements usually had 25 to 150 people; burial sites suggest Woodland people lived about eighteen years. 2. Agriculture and pottery 4000 BP, Woodland cultures added agriculture and pottery grew gourds, pumpkins, sunflowers, and tobacco; corn became a significant food crop pottery originated in Mexico; heavy pots were not good for nomads, but for settled Woodland people, pots worked better than fragile, leaky baskets.

IV. Agricultural Settlements and Chiefdoms A. Southwestern Cultures 1. Agricultural settlements hunters and gatherers lived in present-day Arizona, New Mexico, and southern Utah and Colorado; characterized by agricultural settlements and multi-unit dwellings called pueblos adapted agriculture because dry climate and fluctuations in rainfall made the supply of wild plant food unreliable; began cultivating corn around 3500 BP; planting corn required Southwestern Indians to restrict migrations to tend to the crop and to develop irrigation to grow it. 2. Mogollon culture around AD 200; small farming settlements, each included a dozen pit houses; Mogollon culture began to decline around AD 900 for reasons that remain obscure. 3. Hohokam culture southern Arizona around AD 500 used sophisticated grids of irrigation canals to plant and harvest crops twice a year; built ball courts reminiscent of Mexican cultures; declined about AD 1400, perhaps because rising soil salinity hurt crop yields. 4. Anasazi culture flourish around AD 100 to the north in southern Utah and Colorado and northern Arizona and New Mexico. Beginning around AD 1000, some began to move to large, multi-story cliff dwellings; others built huge, stone-walled pueblos; a drought that began in AD 1130 caused the disappearance of the Anasazi culture.

B. Woodland Burial Mounds and Chiefdoms 1. Adena culture built hundreds of burial mounds in central Idaho between 2500 BP and 2100 BP; usually buried people with grave goods such as spear points and stone pipes. 2. Hopewell culture Evolved from Adena in 2100 BP; extended through drainage areas of Ohio and Mississippi Rivers built larger mounds; burial restricted to highest ranking members of society declined about AD 400; reasons are obscure, but archaeologists speculate bows and arrows and agriculture allowed for smaller settlements away from the central authority of the chiefdom. 3. Mississippian culture from AD 800 until about AD 1500 also built mounds, in the floodplains of southeastern river systems at Cahokia, huge mounds had platforms for ceremonies and housed great chiefs; created woodhenges, likely used for celestial observations.

Anasazi of North America Anasazi: Chaco Canyon in New Mexico – developed large settlements based on sophisticated irrigation technology and transportation systems. – May have died out because of environmental factors

Mound Builders of North America Mound builders: Ohio and Mississippi Valleys – Built ceremonial burial mounds – Cahokia, a large settlement rivaling in size and sophistication cities in medieval Europe – traded and interacted with numerous other Native cultures in North America Courtesy, National Museum of the American Native, Smithsonian Institution #P18523

V. Native Americans in the 1490s A. Eastern and Great Plains Peoples 1. Algonquian tribes Atlantic seaboard, Great Lakes region, and upper Midwest; Atlantic seaboard tribes grew corn and crops and hunted and fished Great Lakes and New England had a cool climate that made agriculture impractic 2. Iroquoian tribes Pennsylvania and upstate New York, as well as hilly upland regions of the Carolinas and Georgia three distinguishing features: success in cultivating corn and other crops allowed them to build permanent settlements; societies adhered to matrilineal rules of descent; and an Iroquoian confederation formed the League of Five Nations for war and diplomacy five tribes were Seneca, Onondaga, Mohawk, Oneida, and Cayuga 3. Muskogean peoples woodlands of the Southeast; included Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaw, and Natchez tribes bountiful environment allowed hunting, gathering, and agriculture to thrive old Mississippian culture lived on in practices like building temple mounds and worshipping the sun. B. Southwestern and Western Peoples 1. Large population about a quarter of all native North Americans; descended from Mogollan, Hohokam, and Anasazi; lived in settled agricultural communities, many of them pueblos. 2. Threatened by the Athapascans 3. Delayed development of agriculture Northwest people had access to abundant salmon; The Dalles on the Columbia River was the largest trading center in ancient North America.

V. Native Americans in the 1490s C. Cultural Similarities 1. Gathering techniques and agriculture 2. Bows, arrows, weapons for hunting and warfare 3. Absence of writing: other forms of human expression-baskets, pottery,beads, burial rites 4. Adaptation to natural and social environments did not live in complete peace, however; conflict occurred between and among tribes some Native Americans, such as those who lived at Cahokia, practiced human sacrifice 5. Manipulation of the environment to meet needs Dwellings altered landscape gathering techniques shifted the balance of local plants toward useful varieties used fire to clear land for planting corn. 6. Fire as hunting tool forced buffalo together and deer to race out from burning underbrush, which made them easier to slaughter Indians also used fire to clear entangling underbrush from forests, which encouraged the growth of tender young plants; attracting deer and other game.

Prehistoric Cahokia Mounds, ca. 1100–1150 A.D. Drawing by William R. Iseminger based on archaeological evidence. Monks Mound dominated the palisaded area, which had at its center a rectangular ball court with two poles. Depiction of Cahokia Mounds 1150 A.D. by William R. Iseminger. Courtesy of Cahokia Mounds Historic Site.

Central and South American Cultures Mayans – Lived in present-day Yucatan, southern Mexico, Guatemala from AD – Very advanced cities, governments, and trade – Knew math and astronomy perhaps better than Europeans. – Also known for bloody rituals. The Mayan Pyramid of Kukulkan

VI. The Mexica: A Mesoamerican Culture 1. Large, diverse population (Europeans called them Aztecs) Empire stretched from coast to coast across central Mexico; population between 8 million and 25 million people; built enormous monuments; we know more about them because of the notes of Spanish conquistadors; by the 1490s, the Mexica ruled an empire that covered more land than Spain and Portugal combined and contained almost three times as many people. 2. Culture based on war worshipped the war god Huitzilopochtli warriors held the highest positions in social hierarchy; young men hoped to rise in social class by fighting; capturing prisoners was considered the ultimate act of bravery Mexican priests sacrificed prisoners by cutting out their hearts, believing it fed the sun’s craving for blood.

3. Power and wealth in Mexican empire tribute paid in goods, not money; tribute collection reflected the fact that the relatively small nobility of Mexican warriors and the even smaller priesthood commanded the obedience of millions of people elite redistributed wealth from the poor to the rich; led to the incredible achievements of the Mexicans, such as huge cities and temples. 4. Conquered peoples not assimilated conquest caused resentment among people who did not feel Mexican rule was legitimate or equitable Spanish manipulated this resentment after AD 1492 to conquer the Mexica

Aztecs Defending Tenochtitlan This drawing depicts Aztecs defending the temple of Tenochtitlán, which was overthrown by the Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés in 1519– The city’s main temple was the site of ritual human sacrifices. © ARPL/ HIP/ The Image Works