The-Americas

							The Americas

   originally populated from Asia
    –   mostly….
   the Wisconsin Ice Age
   Beringa
Beringa

   sea levels 300 feet lower
   the land bridge
   tundra
Direction of movement

   from Asia?
   How do we know?
   Physical anthropology
    –   dental patterns
    –   blood types
Physical Anthropology

   paleo-indians
   30,000 years ago ?
   Asian type
   Caucasoid and Australoid types
Evolution to present physical
types
   25,000 years ??
   Inuit closest to Asian
    –   most recent immigrants
Linguistic studies

   2000+ languages and dialects
   spread of related dialects
    –   Utes and Aztecs
    –   Apache and Athabascans
   25,000 years ??
Physical evidence

   archaeological
   human remains
   harder to find
Original culture

   Paleolithic
   hunters and gatherers
Archaeologists

   disagree with early dates
   10,000 B.C.
   some earlier finds
    –   Crow River Basin
    –   Blue Fish Caves
Other Contacts

   across the Pacific
   gaps in knowledge of Pre-Columbian
    time
   no clearly evidence
   isolation from the Old World
Consequences of Isolation

   lack of metal technology
   no use of the wheel
   no immunity to many diseases
    –   will destroy 95% of the population
Warming of Climate

   15,000 years ago
   created climate zones
   decline of large mammals
    –   30+ species extinct
   “Pleistocene Overkill”
    –   made extinct by human beings
Change in Life-Style

   forced adaptation to local changes
   many different food-producing methods
   Clovis technology: 12,000 B.C.
   Folsom technology: 10,000 B.C.
    –   Grinding tools
   Populate hemisphere by 9,000 B.C.
Move toward Agriculture

   domestication of plants
   Peru
    –   7,000 B.C.
   Entire hemisphere
    –   5,000 B.C.
   100 different crops
    –   different areas, different crops
Crops

   grains: amaranth, quinoa, maize
   potatoes, manioc
   other things
Urbanization

   development of class structures
   development of political offices
   development of priestly offices
   no private ownership of property
    –   all things held in common
Complexity

   determined by organized agriculture
   or the lack of it
   also determines size of the culture
Contact between groups

   network of trade
   contact between groups was common
   borrowing of ideas and crops
   “civilized” vs. “barbarians”
“Civilized” cultures

   Primary Phase characteristics
    –   urbanization
    –   social classes
    –   surplus agriculture
    –   monumental architecture
    –   writing
Mesoamerica

   populated by 20,000 B.C.?
   Domesticated plants by 5,000 B.C.
   first pottery 2,000 B.C.
The Olmecs

   1300-1200 B.C.
   “mother civilization of Central America
   the “Olmec mystery”
   diffusion of culture of 900 B.C.
Other cultures, 500 B.C.

   Zapotec
   Mayans
   both borrow from Olmecs
the Classical Period

   Teotihuacan
   200,000+ inhabitants
   religious center
   lack of warfare ??
Classical Mayan Cutlure

   50+ city states
   written language, calendar,
    mathematics, astronomy
    –   Dec. 22, 2016
   monumental architecture
   neolithic technology
Cities as Religious Centers

   Tikal, Copan, Palenque, Chichen Itza
   30,-80,000 people
   intensive agriculture
   dense population
Mayan collapse

   700-900 A.D.
   invasion from the north?
   Warfare between cities
   environmental collapse?
Mayan Collapse

   most cities vanished
   “Mexicanized”groups took over some
    cities
   rise of the Toltecs
    –   area of Teotihuacan
Toltecs

   imperial power
   control of much of Mexico
   linked to North and South America by
    trade
   collapsed about 1200
   replaced by the Aztecs
Aztecs

   empire in central Mexico
   more on this later…
North America

   many different groups
   early, mound-building cultures
    –   Adena
    –   Hopwell
    –   Mississippian
Adena

   750 B.C. to 700 B.C.
   Ohio-Mississippi area
   organized agriculture
   large, earth mounds
   trade networks
Hopwell

    200-500 B.C.
   same area
   more complex, mound building culture
   Great Serpent ??
   Extensive trade networks
Mississippian

   800-1300 B.C.
   very large cities
    –   Cahokia (600,000 people?)
    –   Moundville
   influenced by central American culture
    ??
    –   Political, social, and economic organization
The Desert Cultures

   southwest not densely populated
   later urban development
   the Anasazi
    –   Mesa Verde, Chaco Canyon, Pueblo
        Bonita
    –   highly developed society
Chaco Canyon

   125 towns and villages, linked by roads
   significance of roads ?
    –   Astronomical ?
    –   Topographical ?
    –   the way it happened ?
   Pueblo Bonita
    –   religious center: kivas
Collapse

   prolonged drought
   1200 A.D.
   “invasions” of the Navajo and Apache
   Anasazi become the Hopi
South America

   mountainous terrain
   micro climates
   intensive agriculture
    –   many crops
    –   adapted to various altitudes
Sedentary agriculture

   3000 to 2000 B.C.
   2700: introduction of pottery
Chavin Culture

   1800-1200 B.C.
   temples and cities
   domestication of the llama
   technology in ceramics, textiles, metals
   replaced by the Moche and Nazca
Nazca

   100 - 800 A.D.
   height of textile technology
   the Nazca Drawings
    –   astronomical ?
    –   Mythological ?
    –   Religious ?
Moche

   200 - 700 A.D.
   coastal area of Peru
   imperial state
   wealthy
   gruesome human sacrifices
Other centers of culture

   Tihuanaco
   Huari
Tihuanaco

   Lake Titicaca
   urban ceremonial center
   imperial conquest
Chimu

   800 - 1465 A.D.
   imperial conquest
   fell to Incas in 1465 A.D.