Pre-Columbian Societies
By: Patrick Chang
Period 6
APUSH
What is Pre-Columbian era?
• Period before Christopher Columbus arrived in
New World
• Population full of Native American Indians
• Most lived in Mesoamerica=Present day
Mexico and Guatemala
(Christopher
PRE- Columbus)
Where did Natives Come From?
• Believed to be of Asian descent
• Crossed Siberia to Alaska across Bering Strait
• 20,000- 40,000 years ago
Hunting and Gathering and
Such
• First Americans= Hunter Gatherers
• Hunter Gatherers= food from animals/plants
• Hunted too many big animals=Hunted smaller
animals= transition to farming society
So “Corn”y
• Indians plant beans,
squash, potatoes, and
maize (corn)
• Corn = main plant
• Higher Yield and more
nutritious
• Economic Foundation
for Mexico, Peru &
Mississippi River Valley
Mayas
• Mayas= Yucatán Peninsula of
Mexico
• City of irrigation systems
• City of Tikal= society of
farmers(laborers), elites “from
gods”, and priests/soldiers at
top
• Developed a calendarwriting
system/
• Drought=leads to decline of
Mayas
Mayan Calendar
Aztecs
• Invaders of city
of Teotihuacán
• Established city
of Tenochtitlán
(present day
Mexico City)
• Hierarchical
society with
priests/warriors
at top
Tenochtitlán
Aztecs Continued
• Sacrifice people for rituals=daily return of Sun
• Made trade routes: gold, textile, fur, food, and
obsidian
• By 1500, Aztecs empire= over 200,000 people
Indians in the North
• Unlike South, Northern
Natives much simpler
• No hierarchical society,
self governed tribes
• Chiefs made social and
Northern Native Americans
war policies, had limits
of their own
• Society of sharing
Hopewell Culture
• Flourished 100 AD-400 AD present day Ohio
• Vast network of trading Louisiana-Wisconsin
• Renowned for rectangular, octagonal, and
circular burial grounds
Burial grounds
Southwestern People and
Environmental Decline
• “pueblo peoples” =
Anasazis, Mogollons,
Hohokams
• Around 1000 AD,
began to live in
pueblos
• Renowned for their
architectural skills
• Crop failure leads to
their downfall
Stone homes or “pueblos”
Mississippian Culture
• Technology from Mayans= help Mississippians
give surplus of crops/ create urban society
• Culture similar to Mesoamericans
• Declining by 1350 because of diseases and
shortage of resources
Mississippian Homes
Mississippian Indians
Eastern Woodland People
• Eastern North America
diverse with the Creeks,
Choctaws, Chickasaws
and Natchez
• Matrilineal
system=women farm/care
for children, men hunt
• When Europeans arrived,
most of prosperous
natives vanished
Women usually farmed while the men hunted
Native cultures in general
• Cultures flourished due to environments
• Fertile areas/complex society= prosperous
• Rugged area= energy spent on survival
Natives’ success depended on environment
Natives=Indians
• Tribes
independent and
slow to unify
against Europeans
• Native Americans
called Indians
• Columbus
thought he was at
West Indies
Columbus in the “West Indies”
Decline of Pre Columbian
Civilization
• Arrival of Europeans marks turning point in
Natives’ lives
• Population decreased drastically and their
lives are shaped by European influences
THE END!