2. American History Chapter 1, Section 1 Early Peoples

3. Vocabulary and Time Line Vocabulary: Archaeology, artifacts, Ice Ages, nomads, migration, maize, carbon dating, culture Time Line: 28,000 B.C. 10,000 B.C.7,000 B.C.3,000 B.C. Asian hunters enter Last Ice Age Farming developsEarly villages North America endsin Mexicoestablished in Mexico |---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

4. The Journey from Asia It is not certain why the first peoples to settle in North America crossed the land bridge connecting Asia and North America. Small groups of hunters may have pursued mammoths or other large animals across a land bridge. Other settlers may have later traveled by boat. Eventually, these first peoples, called “Native Americans”, inhabited North, Central and South America. Scientists are still working to figure out why the first people came to the Americas. Experts in archaeology, the study of ancient peoples, find evidence of Native American life from artifacts, things left behind by these early peoples (tools, baskets, carvings, weapons, etc.).

5. The Journey from Asia The work of these scientists led to the discovery of Beringia, a strip of land that once joined Asia and the Americas during the last Ice Age. The earth has gone through many Ice Ages. These are periods of very cold temperatures when part of the earth was covered with large ice sheets. During these periods, the sea levels were much lower than they are today. The last Ice Age began 100,000 years ago and ended about 12,000 years ago. The lower sea level exposed Beringia which ran from Siberia to Alaska. This land bridge now lies under the Bering Strait. Many scientists believe that the first Americans traveled across this land bridge during the last Ice Age.

6. The Journey to Asia Native Americans were nomads, people who move from place to place to hunt for food. Nomadic people hunted for animals and also gathered berries and grains. Scientists theorize that these early peoples were traveling in search of food and crossed over the land bridge. The crossing of the land bridge was a migration, a movement of a large number of people into a new homeland. This migration occurred over many hundreds of years. These early peoples traveled from Asia by foot and in boats.

7. The Journey from Asia The Native Americans hunted large mammals— the saber-toothed tiger, woolly mammoth and the mastodon. The hunters shaped pieces of stone and bone to make tools for hunting. A single woolly mammoth provided tons of meat which would feed a group of early peoples for several months. Every part of the animal was used. Skin and fur was made into clothing and blankets. Bones were used for tools and weapons and, possibly, for shelter. At the end of the last Ice Age, the earth’s temperature rose and the oceans rose as well. Therefore, the Beringia was submerged under the ocean. This cut off the Native Americans from Asia. Simultaneously, the mammoths and other large mammals began to die out either from over hunting or the changes in the environment. The early Americans needed to find other sources of food.

8. Settling Down The early Americans began to hunt smaller animals, such as, deer, birds and rodents. The peoples who lived near rivers or the ocean began to catch fish with nets and traps. All of the early peoples continued to gather berries and grains. Around 9,000 years ago, Native Americans in present day Mexico discovered how to plant and raise the early form of corn called maize. This crop provided a steady and reliable food source for the Native Americans. This was an important discovery because these early peoples no longer needed to move from place to place in order to find food. They moved from a nomadic life style to farming. Thus, they could form permanent settlements. The early Americans in Mexico also tried other types of seeds—pumpkins, beans and squashes. They produced more than enough food to feed themselves. Therefore, the population began to grow with the increase in their food supply.

9. Settling Down Scientists have found traces of early villages that date from about 5,000 years ago (see below). The process of carbon dating allows scientists to find out how old an artifact is by measuring the amount of radioactive carbon that remains in something that was once alive. After the early settlements in Mexico, people began farming in the Southwestern United States. However, not all the early peoples in the Americas farmed. Some of these peoples remained nomadic hunters and others relied on fishing or trading for their food supply. Carbon dating from the ancient city of Caral, in the Supe Valley of Peru shows that monumental architecture was under construction as early as 2627 B.C. and until about 2000 B.C., even before ceramics and maize were introduced to the region. (By comparison, the Great Pyramid of Khufu in Egypt was built between 2600 and 2480 B.C.)

10. Settling Down Farming allowed the Native Americans to focus on other things besides finding food. The people of ancient Mexico began improving their lives by building permanent shelters using clay, brick, stone or wood. They made and decorated pottery and cloth using dyes from roots and herbs. They also developed more complex forms of government. Farming changed the lives of the Native Americans and led to a new culture, or way of life. Now that they were not moving from place to place, they could develop communities with common beliefs, customs and methods of protection. The different groups of people living in the Americas developed various and diverse cultures.