Early Cultures Chapter 1: Lesson 1

The First Americans Thousands of years ago, Earth went through Ice Ages and much of the Earth’s surface was covered by glaciers As the water froze, it lowered the water level in the ocean and uncovered land that was once underwater Animals and hunters walked across ‘land bridges’ One of these bridges connected Asia to North America, this was called Beringia The first Americans followed animals over the land bridge and survived by hunting animals and gathering wild plants Early settlers hunted mammoths, large elephant- like creatures

The Earliest Farmers Glaciers began to melt around 10,000 B.C. The land bridges were once again covered by water as the oceans rose Hunter-gatherers could not return to Asia Many kept moving, while others settled People started to plant seeds as early as 7000 BC in South America and central Mexico The climate was warm and rich in natural resources but had few large animals to hunt For food, they grew corn, beans, squash, tomatoes, and sunflowers

The Olmecs The Olmec were one of the earliest civilizations in the Americas From BC, they lived along the Gulf Coast of southern Mexico They were farmers and built a trading city called, La Venta They were among the first Americans to use stone in sculpture and architecture They are known most for creating a calendar and for playing ceremonial ball games

The Maya Archeologists believe the Maya developed their civilization around 300 BC in Southern Mexico and Guatemala They grew abundant supplies of food for their large population Corn (maize) was their main food source They were also artists, scientists, and historians They formed large cities with stone temples, palaces, and buildings They divided the calendar into 260 days and wrote down important days, times, and events The Maya also invented the number zero Mayan temples and religious centers were the largest at the time Mayans were also great traders in their region (pg 43)

The End of Maya Civilization The Maya civilization disappeared around 909 A.D We do NOT know why they left their cities and built no more temples, palaces or monuments Possible causes: food shortages, war Descendants of the Maya live in the same area today, speak the Maya language and follow many of their customs and traditions

The Mound Builders Lived in the southeast U.S. around 3000 BC One of the first groups, the Adena people settled along the Ohio River (800 B.C. to 100 B.C.) The Hopewell Mound Builders settled in the same place from 100 B.C. to A.D The Cahokia lived along the Mississippi River around A.D Archeologists believe they built mounds to bury their dead and the mounds were later used for religious ceremonies Great Serpent Mound, the largest mound, was built near present day Cincinnati, Ohio was built around 100 BC by the Adena

The Anasazi The Anasazi began to flourish around A.D. 200 in the Southwest United States Lived in the present day Four Corners (Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona) They developed villages beneath rock cliffs, on canyon sides, and on top of mesas They used irrigation to bring water to their lands and farmed in the dry area