The First Texans

1. The First Texans

2. First Americans • The period of time before recorded history is prehistory • Anthropologists study and compare peoples to learn how they lived • Archaeologists study human remains, they also look at artifacts or tools, weapons and other objects made by people.

3. First Americans • Scientists believe that the first people to come to North America came from Asia • Migration happened between 38,000 to 10,000 B.C. during the last ice age • Crossed on a land bridge called Beringia

4. Paleo-Indians • First Americans to cross the land bridge: entered Texas about 12,000 years ago • Hunter gatherers- hunt wild animals and gather wild plants for food • Successfully hunted mammoths

5. Mesoamerica • Region that includes Mexico and northern central America. • People farmed about 7,000 years ago • Maize or corn was the most important crop for farmers • Farming provided a steady source of food

7. Early Civilizations • Precontact periods- was the time before the Europeans arrived in the Americas • These civilizations had large cities and complex religions and cultural practices.

8. Maya • Thrived from A.D. 300 to 900 • Only complete written language in the Americas • Developed mathematical and astronomical systems

9. Toltec and Aztec • Arose after the Mayan civilization declined • Both had organized governments • Toltec built great stone pyramids • Aztec traded goods in their city, Tenochtitlan.

10. Anasazi • Lived in western Texas • Traded goods with other Native Americans • Built huge multi-story dwellings into cliff sides with hundreds of rooms

11. Mississippian • Lived in the Mississippi and Tennessee River valleys • They were farmers • Built huge flat-topped mounds of earth.