First Native Americans

1. First Native Americans

2. Paleo-Indian Period • Thousands of years ago, people migrated to the Americas. • Many scientists believe that the first Homo sapiens made their way to North America about 40,000 years ago. • Even though people migrated, civilizations did not develop until later. • These early migrants are called Paleo-Indians. • Archaeologists call this time the Paleo-Indian period.

3. Paleo-Indian Period • An archaeologist is a scientist who learns about ancient cultures by studying what ancient peoples left behind. • These remains are called artifacts. Carbon-14 dating is a key tool used by archaeologists. • By testing the amount of carbon remaining in artifacts, scientists can tell how old they are.

4. Paleo-Indian Period • Paleo-Indians are the ancestors of North and South America’s native people. • Paleo-Indians came to the Americas from Asia in search of food. • They followed big game animals, such as the woolly mammoths, mastodons, caribou, and moose.

5. Paleo-Indian Period • The animals they hunted traveled far in search of grasslands. • These animals grazed across northern China and into Siberia. • Eventually the animals made their way to the shores of the Bering Strait.

6. Crossing the Land Bridge • Twenty thousand years ago, the earth experienced an ice age. • During this time, frozen water formed huge glaciers that covered the northern portion of the Americas, Europe, and Asia. • So much water was frozen that ocean levels lowered. • Shallow bodies of water like the Bering Strait drained.

7. Crossing the Land Bridge • This left the seafloor exposed. • The Bering Strait became a huge land bridge known as Beringia. • It connected Asia to North America. • People moved back and forth across Beringia for many generations. • In time, the ice age ended and water covered the land bridge again.

8. Crossing the Land Bridge • The new inhabitants of North and South America migrated back and forth across the land. • Each group adapted to its surroundings. • Their clothing, shelter, and hunting and gathering tools depended on the climate and resources available to them.

9. Archaic Period • By the end of the ice age, big game animals like the wooly mammoth were becoming extinct. • Their extinction might have been due to climate change or over-hunting. • The Archaic period began at this time. It lasted from about 8,000 to 1,000 BCE.

10. Archaic Period • The term BCE stands for Before the Common Era. • The Common Era, or CE, marks the beginning of the first century. • In the older Christian dating system, BCE is marked as B.C. and CE IS written as A.D.

11. Archaic Period • Anthropologists are scientists who study human life and culture. • Culture is the pattern of behavior and thinking shared by people in social groups. • Many cultural and technological advances took place during the Archaic period. • Anthropologists divide this main period into three sub-periods. • Each sub-period contains its own unique cultural characteristics.

12. Archaic Period • The Early Archaic period in the Americas lasted from 8,000 to 6,000 BCE. • During this time, people often traveled in small groups, or clans. • A clan is a group of people with the same family origins. • Clans worked together to gather nuts, fruits, seeds, and roots.

13. Archaic Period • They fished, hunted, and migrated frequently to find new sources of food. • Tools used in the Early Archaic period include stone spear points that have notches at the base, serrated spears which were probably used as knives, and stone scrapers possibly used for preparing deer hides.

14. Archaic Period • The Middle Archaic period in the Americas lasted from 6,000 to 3,000 BCE. • The climate changed during this time. It became warmer and drier. • Hunting and gathering continued with little change.

15. Archaic Period • However, clans migrated less and less. Most basic needs were met locally. • There was little trade between clan groups in different areas. • Although clans migrated less, there is no evidence of long term or permanent shelters.

16. Archaic Period • The Late Archaic period in the Americas lasted from 3,000 to 1,000 BCE. • Some native societies began to build permanent structures. • Societies grew, people moved less, and territories shrank further.

17. Archaic Period • Many groups settled near rivers or other natural resources. • However, people began to travel long distances to trade. • Cooking technology in the form of pottery and soapstone bowls distinguish this period from the earlier Archaic periods.

18. Woodland Period • The Eastern Woodlands is a region that stretches from the American Southeast to New England. • The Native Americans that lived here survived by fishing, gathering plants, and hunting. • They developed technologies, such as tools and pottery. • The Woodland period began when populations began growing in this area around 1,000 BCE.

19. Woodland Period • The Native American people that lived in the Eastern Woodlands were nomadic hunter-gatherers. • These tribes would move from place to place on an annual cycle. • A tribe is a group of people who share language, customs, and territory.

20. Woodland Period • As the seasons changed, tribal groups moved to the best location for food and shelter. • In good locations, small villages would start. Most were not permanent. • People would leave them when the time was right and then return the following year.

21. Woodland Period • In these villages, people began to practice agriculture. • Agriculture is the practice of growing specific plants for food. • The most common crop grown was maize, or corn, beans and squash. • These three crops are known as the Three Sisters of Native American agriculture because they were the most important food crops at that time.

22. Woodland Period • The Eastern Woodlands Native Americans lived in homes made of wattle and daub. • This method involved building a wooden frame and covering it with reed mats and plaster. • They wore clothing made of deerskin, although in warmer areas, people wore very little clothing. • The Woodland peoples were tattooed and used body paint, as well.

23. Woodland Period • Women held a lot of power in the Woodland culture. • The basic social unit was an extended family in which all the women were related. • Children were seen as belonging to the mother, not the father.

24. Mississippian Period • The Mississippian culture existed after the Woodland period, beginning about 900 CE. • The Mississippians were farmers living in the Southeast. • This period lasted until Europeans made contact with Native Americans in the late 15th century.

25. Mississippian Period • Mississippians lived in villages called chiefdoms. • A chiefdom is a small society in which one person, a chief, makes most decisions. • Mississippian chiefs controlled the distribution of all goods.

26. Mississippian Period • Mississippians traded among themselves over a large area. • This trade gave their villages access to many goods. • Shell, copper, and ceramic objects were made and traded widely along the East Coast.

27. Mississippian Period • Native Americans began to build large mounds of earth in many parts of the Eastern Woodlands region. • These mounds had different purposes. • Scientists and historians are not sure how all of them were used. • Some were burial mounds where special offerings were placed.

28. Mississippian Period • Temple mounds were places of worship. They were also the center of village life. • The Etowah Mounds site is located in Georgia. • It contains at least six mounds. • Many artifacts of the Woodlands civilizations were found there.

29. Mississippian Period • One mound that is over sixty feet tall and 300 feet wide is called the temple mound, although no one can be sure how it was used. • The Kolomoki mounds are also found in Georgia. • They were probably built by the Swift Creek and Weeden Island Indians between 350 to 600 CE.

30. Summary • Explain the evolution of the four Native American cultures prior to European contact.