A Continent of Villages

To 1500

Over 2000 separate cultures, hundreds of

different languages, specific diverse physical characteristics

Early theories suggested that the Indians were an inferior offshoot of the “Old World” cultures and that the transoceanic migrations were due to migration of Old World animals into the New World via the Land Bridge (Beringia)

Who were the first Americans (the

Indians)

Migration from Asia

Migration fromAsia began about30,000 years ago.

The Clovis tradition was a new and powerful technology that

consisted of fluted blades and lance points Named for its discovery site in New Mexico Clovis bands were mobile, foragers and migrated seasonally to

the same hunting camps As climate shifted and began clearing out the big game

animals, Great Plains hunters needed to rely on faster, more accurate weapons

Pleistocene Overkill: theory that humans overhunted as climate shifted, wiping out the big game animals

Folsom blades replaced Clovis (smaller, more intricate, deadlier); spear throwers

Hunting techniques such as stampeding bison over cliffs hint towards a more sophisticated division of labor and food preservation

Clovis and Folsom

Clovis Points

In desert climates, life was based on small game

hunting and intensified foraging (seasonal); along with stone tools, the development of nets and traps, baskets for cooking and collecting also came about; culture spread to the Great Plains and Southwest, where the West Coast developed the first permanent settlements in North America

Forest Efficiency: Eastern North America was vast forest where small game hunting, fishing, gathering of plants (berries, nuts and fruit), and slash-and-burn techniques to create grazing land developed

Foraging

People living in Central Mexico (Mesoamerica)

developed the farming of maize about 5000 years ago; other crops included potatoes, peppers, chocolate, vanilla, squash, tomatoes, avocados…

Agriculture stimulated sedentary life and led to the rise of large, urban complexes (Teotihuacan population was over 200,000)

Mesoamerican civilizations (Olmec, Maya, Aztec) were characterized by elite ruling class (rulers and priests), monumental architecture, system of mathematics, and hieroglyphic writing

Mexico

The transition to agriculture was gradual Climate, abundant food sources (fishing) and

sometimes cultural values led to the rejection of farming, some saw it as simply an unnecessary way to increase food production—foraging required less labor (people and energy), and offered a more varied diet

Farmers were more subject to famine and disease than foragers

The “Resisted” Revolution

Stimulated by the development of farming,

society became more complex as families were grouped into clans that bound people into tribal groups

Tribes were led by clan leaders, chiefs, and councils of elders

Division of labor was based on gender Growing populations needed larger food

surpluses, more land, which led to more complex trade routes, and organized warfare

Increased Social Complexity

Farming in the Southwest began during the first millennium The Mogollon lived in pit houses in permanent villages near

streams along the present Arizona-New Mexico border; they were the first to practice settled farming growing maize, beans, and squash

The Hohokam lived in villages in the flood plains of the Salt and Gila rivers (Arizona / Mexico border) around 300-1500; grew maize, beans, tobacco, and cotton; first irrigation system in America; shared many traits with Mesoamerican culture

The Anasazi arose around the Colorado River in the “4 Corners” area; lived in densely populated multistoried cliff dwellings (pueblos); culture consisted of 25,000 communities and grew high yields of maize in irrigated terraced fields

Drought forced the abandonment of the civilization

Farmers in the Southwest

Remains of the Anasazi at Mesa Verde, Colorado

Farming culture in eastern North America (the

Ohio River Valley) takes it dates from pottery remains from around 3000 years ago

Woodland culture combined hunting and gathering with farming: sunflowers, small grains, tobacco

The Adena culture occupied the Ohio River Valley and established the custom of building large burial mounds for leaders

The Eastern Woodlands

Centered around permanent villages on the Mississippi River

flood plain, with Cahokia as the urban center (near present-day St. Louis)

The culture was able to spread due to the invaluable transportation network supplied by the river

New tools led to the growing of new crops, the bow and arrow, all staples of Mississippian culture

Large earth mounds are hallmarks of this society Cahokia had a population of 30,000 around 1200 and

operated as a city-state with complex hierarchal social structure, monumental architecture, tribute and taxation, and consisted of farmers, artisans, craftsmen, and merchants

Mississippian Culture

The Great Serpent Mound in Ohio

Warfare predates the colonial era as hunting

communities organized small raids on farming communities

Farming communities fought to gain land for cultivation

Highly centralized tribal armies developed with the bow and arrow, the tradition of scalping came about

Eventually many cities collapsed and people scattered forming smaller, decentralized communities

The Politics of Warfare and Violence

The population of the Western Hemisphere in

the 1400s has been estimated at over 50 million

Largest populations were centered in Southwest, South, and Northeast—areas that saw the first Europeans

Population of Pre-Columbian America

Areas of First Contact

Most practiced dry farming (or irrigation

agriculture) and lived in villages Dispersed settlements separated by a mile or

so Pueblos had a commitment to communal

village life The Yumans, Pimas, Pueblos, Athapascans,

Navajo, and Apache

The Southwest

Mild climate with short winters and long summers proved

ideal for farming Large populations lived in villages and towns, often ruled by

chiefs Home to what will be known as the “Five Civilized Tribes”

(Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creeks, Cherokee, and Seminoles) Groups were decimated by disease and their early histories

are poorly documented Class society ruled by a small group of nobles Persistent territorial conflict elevated warriors to an honored

status Public torture and human sacrifice of enemies is documented Chiefdoms were unstable, resulting in scattering of people in

smaller decentralized communities

The South

The eastern woodlands with coastal plains, mountains,

rivers, lakes, and valleys were colder with persistent, harsh winters

The Iroquois lived in present-day Ontario and upstate New York, growing beans, squash, and sunflowers; matrilineal family ties (linked to mother), and centered around longhouses; the Iroquois formed a confederacy to eliminate warfare

The Algonquians comprised of at least 50 distinct patrilineal cultures (linked to father) that extended from New England to Virginia; organized into bands with loose ethnic affiliations

Farmed and lived in villages

The Northeast