Lesson 1: Early Cultures

Chapter 1:Peopling the Western Hemisphere

Indian Groups in Chapter 1

Olmec

Lesson 1 Lesson 2

Aztec

Maya

Mound Builders

Anasazi

Inca

Click on an Indian tribe name to learn more about that tribe.

Once on the page, click on the Indian tribe page again to return to this page,

or click anywhere on the page to continue the slideshow.

Vocabulary

Ice Age A period of extreme cold during which

much of Earth’s water was frozen into glaciers.

Term Definition

A huge sheet of ice.

To spend most of one’s time doing one kind of job.

A culture that has complex systems of government, education, religion, and often many people living in cities.

A method of supplying dry land with water through a series of ditches or pipes.

glacier

specialize

civilization

irrigation

Click on the vocabulary term to reveal the definition.

THE FIRST AMERICANS

Click on the picture to learn more about the Ice Age, glaciers, Beringia, and the first Americans.

Hunter-Gatherers & The Earliest Farmers

Asians traveled

across a land bridge called Beringia to America.

Europeans traveled

across a North Atlantic land

bridge to America.

The people spread out around North and South America Some were Hunter-Gathers Others became Farmers

The first settlers came over on land bridges. Land bridges were formed when glaciers took so much water that

ocean levels dropped and land appeared. When the glaciers melted the land bridges were covered with water

the people and animals could not return to Asia and Europe.

Hunter-Gatherers

Hunted animals Example: Mammoth

Gathered Dug up roots Wild fruits Nuts Mushrooms

Planted Corn Beans Squash Tomatoes Sunflowers

The Earliest Farmers

THE OLMEC AND THE MAYA

Farmers Specialized: Focused on one

kind of job Made complex communities

One of the earliest places this

development occurred was in

what today is Mexico.

Olmec

Maya

The Olmec

One of the earliest civilizations in the Americas.

Farmers in southern Mexico

Built a trading city call La Venta

Created a calendar Played ceremonial

ball gamesThe Olmec were among the first to use

stone in sculpture and architecture.

The Maya

Farmers in southern Mexico and Guatemala Corn (maize) was the main source of food

Large populations in big cities Artists Scientists Historians Traders

First to understand concept of zero Mysteriously disappeared around 909 A.D.

THE MOUND BUILDERS AND THE ANASAZI

Mound Builder lands

Anasazi lands

The Mound Builders

Some Mound Builders: Adena Hopewell Cahokia

Mounds used for: Religious ceremonies Bury dead Sundials and tracking

stars

The Great Serpent Mound in Cincinnati, Ohio was made by the

Hopewell.

Anasazi

Lived in Four Corners Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona all

meet Made villages

Beneath rock cliffs On sides of canyons Tops of mesas – tall, flat hills

Used irrigation to farm in desert

Time Lines: The Maya and the Anasazi

A.D. 1 A.D. 300 A.D. 600 A.D. 900 A.D. 1200 A.D. 1500

200 – Anasazi culture begins

250 – Maya culture flourishes

600 – Anasazi begin to build large village buildings

900 – Anasazi culture flourishes

1300 – Anasazi culture ends

900 – Maya culture ends

Time Lines: The Maya and the Mound Builders

1000 B.C 500 B.C. A.D. 1 A.D. 500 A.D. 1000 A.D. 1500 A.D. 2000

700 – Adena people build burial mounds

800 – Maya settle in Mexico

500 – Hopewell people build many mounds

1000 – Cahokia people build flat-topped temple mounds

900 – Maya culture ends250 – Maya

culture flourishes

1700 – Mound Builder culture ends

Lesson 2: Aztec and Inca

Chapter 1:Peopling the Western Hemisphere

Vocabulary and People

empire A large area where different

people are controlled by one ruler or government.

Term Definition

The practice of people owning other people and focing them to work..

1400s Emperor who enlarged the Inca Empire.

slavery

Pachakuti Inca

Click on the vocabulary term to reveal the definition.

THE AZTEC

1st Location: Valley of Mexico (A.D. 1100) 2nd Location: Tenochtitlan (A.D. 1325)

“Land of prickly pear cactus”

Language: Nahuatl

Tenochtitlan

Built “chinampas” (“floating gardens”) for food

Large Empire

War was important Forced enemies

into slavery

THE INCA

Capital: Cuzco Rich mountain valley in southern Peru

Built empire through war

Strong Leaders

Pachakuti Inca Emperor of Inca Greatly expanded

Incan Empire Organized empire

Cleared land for settlement

Appointed governors Made citizens help

expand empire and spread religion

Statue of Pachakuti Inca

Skilled Builders

The Inca built: more than 19,000

miles of roads within their empire.

straw bridges between high mountain peeks.

terraces up mountainsides for farming.

irrigation systems.