1. Prehistoric Cultures of the North American Continent

2. 100,000 Years Ago
Prehistoric people crossed to North America from Siberia along the Beringia land bridge during the last of the Ice Ages (10,000-40,000 years ago)

3. Paleo-Indians
relied on hunting and gathering for subsistence and traveled in small, mobile, kin-based groups of people who lived and foraged together

5. Agricultural Revolution
As the Ice Age ended the climate grew warmer, many of the Ice Age animals had been hunted to extinction. Forcing inhabitants to find new food sources
7,000 – 10,000 years ago the Native Americans began to grow crops (corn, beans, and squash), and domesticate animals (sheep, goats, pigs)

6. Moundbuilders
agriculturalists who built great cities and impressive earthen mounds
ex. Cahokia Mounds State Park in Illinois

7. Moundbuilders

8. Moundbuilders
lived from the Atlantic, the Midwest and the Ohio Valley to the Mississippi Valley.
Most advanced farming society north of Mexico

9. Southwestern Indians
major farming complexes which relied to some extent on irrigation

10. Southwestern Indians
Hohokam- Desert Canals and Mesa Grande Ruins

11. Key Question:
How were the Paleo-Indians, the Moundbuilders, and Southwestern Indians different? similar? Explain.

12. European Colonization