Chapter 1: Section 1The First Americans: Migration to the Americas

Where did the first Americans come from and how did they survive?

The first Americans came from Asia and they were hunters and gatherers

The First Americans: Migration to the Americas

The Journey from Asia

● The first Americans were hunters and gatherers who migrated from Asia

● By A.D. 1500, millions of Native Americans were living on North and South

America

● spotlight video

The First Americans: Migration to the Americas

The Journey from Asia

Crossing the Land Bridge

● The most recent Ice Age began 100,000 years ago and ended about

12,000 years ago

● A land bridge known as Beringia was exposed during the ice age due to

the lower sea level

○ Beringia joined Asia and the Americas and allowed early Americans to

come across those two lands

○ Beringia now lies under the Bering Strait

Beringia and the Bering Strait

The Land Bridge

Beringia and the Bering Strait

The Land Bridge

Searching for Hunting Grounds

Early Americans were nomads.

They ate grains and fruits but they were also hunters

It is believed that they were following mammals for food when they crossed Beringia into what is

now Alaska and Canada (see map on pg. 8)

These early Americans migrated as far east as the Atlantic Ocean and as far south as the tip of

South America

Hunting for Food

Huge mammals roamed the Earth in ancient times:

Hunting for Food

• Early Americans hunted these huge animals in groups

• Armed with spears, they stalked herds of bison, mastodons and mammoths.

• A single mammoth provided enough meat to feed a group of people for months

• Skin and bones were used to make clothing, weapons and shelter

Settling Down

• About 15,000 years ago, the Earth’s temperatures began to rise.

• The sea levels rose and Beringia was submerged into the ocean.

• The large animals disappeared and early Americans needed to find other food sources

Planting Seeds and Farming

Agriculture changed the way of life for early Americans

• About 9,00 years ago, people living in what is now known as Mexico learned to grow maize.

• They also grew pumpkins, beans, and squash

Settling Down

Agriculture changed the way of life for early Americans

• Farming allowed people to spend time on activities other than finding food, improving the lives of early Americans

• Scientists have discovered villages dating back 5,000 years ago supporting the theory that agriculture changed the lives of these early Americans

• Early Americans who settled down built permanent shelters from clay, stone, or wood and made pottery and cloth

• These early Americans developed their own cultures as they settled down into villages with permanent shelters

Chapter One- Section One Vocabulary

1. archaeology

2. artifact

3. nomad

4. migration

5. maize

6. carbon dating

7. culture

a)

b)

c)

d)

e)

f)

Chapter 1, Section 2: Cities and Empires

The Olmec, Maya, and Aztec civilizations of Mexico and Central America flourished long before the arrival of Europeans.

The Olmec, Maya and Aztec

The Olmec, Maya and Aztec were three of the largest and most advanced civilizations in what is now Mexico and Central America.

• Each of these civilizations spread out over hundreds of miles, included millions of people and thrived for several centuries

The Olmec

• 1500 B.C. – 300 B.C.

• Lived along the Gulf Coast of Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras

• Produced enough food to sustain cities

• Stone monuments, pavements and drainage systems

• Declined and collapsed for unknown reasons

The Olmec are well known for gigantic heads carved from huge boulders

The Maya• A.D. 300 – A.D. 1100

• Rainforests of present-day Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and Belize

• Built large cities and stone pyramids

• Theocracy- society ruled by religious leaders

• The Maya believed the gods controlled everything that happened on Earth

The Maya

• Developed 365-day calendar

• Used a number system of dots and bars

• Developed hieroglyphics, a form of writing that uses symbols or pictures to represent things, ideas, and sounds

• Maya hieroglyphic writing was the only true system of writing in the Americas before the 1400s

Maya Transport and Trade

• Carried goods on their backs

• Farmers traded maize and vegetables for cotton cloth, pottery, deer meat, and salt

• Maya traders also carried goods up and down Mexico’s coast to trade jade statues, turquoise jewelry, and cacao beans

Decline of the Maya

• By A.D. 1100, Maya civilization was mostly gone

• Cause of the civilization’s decline is unknown; possible theories:

Soil too exhausted by erosion and fire to produce enough food

• Maya Video

The Aztec

• 1325-1521

• Aztec legend: Eagle with snake in its beak sitting on cactus was a sign from their god that meant they had found their permanent home

The Aztec: Tenochtitlan

Tenochtitlan

Aztec War and Religion