1. 2.1 The First Americans pp. 38-44

2. Objectives:
Explain why people crossed a land bridge to come to the Americas.
Describe how the first Americans spread out to inhabit America.

3. A. The Land Bridge (p. 39)
From about 2 million to about 10,000 years ago, the earth was in the grip of the Ice Age, during which the ocean level dropped and revealed a strip of land between Asia and North America.
It was across this “land bridge” that the first humans entered North America from Asia in pursuit of large game animals.

4. B. The First Americans (p. 39)
These first Americans were hunter-gatherers, people who tracked and killed mammoths, bison, and other large animals for food.
They made their own tools and weapons out of pieces of stone and bone.
Many archaeologists, or scientists who search for traces of people from the past, believe that by about 8,000 years ago, these first Americans were living throughout both North and South America.

5. C. The Climate Warms (pp. 39-40)
When the Ice Age ended about 10,000 years ago, glaciers melted and the Bering Strait covered the land bridge.
No more people would come to the Americas on foot, and the large animals of the Ice Age began to die out.
The hunter-gatherers adjusted by fishing, hunting smaller animals, and eventually learning to farm crops like maize (corn), beans, and squash.

6. D. The Native Americans (p. 41)
Scientists believe that Native Americans are descendants of the hunter-gatherers who came to the Americas from Asia thousands of years ago.
Over time, many groups began to develop their own unique culture, a total way of life a people follow to satisfy their needs and wants.
By 2,000 years ago, two major Native American groups emerged in the U.S.—the Mound Builders and the Anasazi.

7. E. The Mound Builders (pp. 41-42)
The Mound Builders, who began settling in the Midwest and Southeast about 2,700 years ago, built earthen mounds of many shapes and sizes.
Their artifacts, or items people created, suggest that they used the mounds for burial, religious ceremonies, and as platforms for temples.
Mound building groups included the Adena, the Hopewell, and the Mississippian culture.

8. Cahokia Mounds, Illinois

9. F. The Cliff Dwellers (p. 43)
Many groups of Native Americans, called cliff dwellers, built houses on the walls of canyons and under the overhangs of caves, probably for protection.
One such group, the Anasazi, lived in the American Southwest.
Their pueblos (villages) were built of stone, timber, and adobe (earth and straw mix) and stood as tall as five stories.

10. Review
1. According to the most commonly accepted theory, how did the first humans reach the Americas?
2. Where was the land bridge (what two continents did it connect)?
3. What caused the land bridge to be exposed?
4. Who were the hunter-gatherers and what big-game animals did they hunt?
5. Define archaeologists—
6. Define culture—
7. What two Native American cultures had emerged in the U.S. region by about 2,000 years ago?
8. Define artifact—
9. For what purposes were mounds built?
10. List three mound building groups.
11. Where did the Anasazi often build their homes and why?