1. Ancient Americas

2. The Four Major Culture Periods of Pre-Contact Native Americans

3. What does “culture” mean?
Culture is the set of learned beliefs, values, styles, and behaviors generally shared by members of a society or group

4. What does “pre-contact” mean?
Pre-contact, also known as Pre-Columbian, refers to the time period before Christopher Columbus visited the Americas (pre-1492)
Before this!

5. Origins of the American Indians
Probably came from Eastern Siberia
Most likely crossed on the Bering Land Bridge, a natural bridge that crossed the Bering Strait (no longer exists)

8. Timeline Practice!!
Where is 1 CE on the timeline? How many years did the Paleoindian Period last? On which side of the line would you find 2016 CE?

9. Paleoindian Culture 10,000-8,000 B.C.E. (North Carolina)
Crossed Bering land bridge around 12,000 B.C.E.
Indians of this time period were nomadic (moved from one place to another)
Hunter-gatherers
Hunted large game, such as Wooly Mammoths
Used stone weapons and tools

10. Questions:
Which spear points were first used?
Which ones were later used?
3. What did they use them for?
4. How were they constructed differently over time?

11. Archaic Culture 8000 B.C.E. - 1000 B.C.E.
Semi-nomadic – used base camps
Hunter-gatherers
Hunted smaller game, such as deer
Developed atlatl (a short stick which uses leverage to achieve great velocity in spear throwing)
Developed crude stone pottery
Used and developed more stone tools
Buried dead with care – belief in afterlife?

12. Timeline Practice!!
How many years did the Archaic Period last? Which period was the longest? How do you know?

13. Atlatl

14. Woodland Culture 1000 B.C.E. - 1000 C.E.
Lived in semi-permanent villages
Practiced Horticulture (farming = secondary source)
Hunted deer
Gathered food
Grew crops – squash, maize, sunflowers
Developed clay pottery to cook and store food
Developed the bow and arrow
Buried dead with great care

15. Timeline Practice!!
How many years did the Woodland Period last?

17. Mississippian Culture
1000 C.E C.E.
Lived in permanent villages
Practiced agriculture (farming = primary source)
Squash, beans, maize (corn)
Built ceremonial mounds
e.g. Town Creek Indian Mound
Organized groups – chiefs, rule by consensus, priests, hereditary rule
Matrilineal Descent System – lineage and membership in groups are inherited from one's mother

18. Timeline Practice!!
How many years did the Mississippian Period last? What period follows this?

19. Town Creek Indian Mound

20. Indian Civilizations What is a civilization?
A society with complex social hierarchies and organized, institutional governments
Mississippians, Aztecs, Inca, Maya, and hundreds of others!

21. Machu Picchu- ruins of an Incan city in present day Peru

22. European Explorers
During the Age of Exploration, European explorers came into contact with the indigenous (native) population of the Americas

23. Columbian Exchange What was the Columbian Exchange?
Exchange of culture, peoples, plants, animals, and diseases between the “Old World” (Eastern Hemisphere) and the “New World” (Western Hemisphere)