Chap 02

Prehistory 1000s 1100s

36 UNIT 1 America’s Beginnings: Prehistory–1700

1095 Pope Urban II callsfor Crusades to the HolyLand

The First Americans Prehistory to 1492

CHAPTER 2★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

FocusThe story of the Americas began thousands of years ago on a land

bridge swept by icy winds. On one side of the bridge was northeastAsia, where bands of hunters lived. On the other side was NorthAmerica—a land with no people at all. Over a long period of time, some of the Asians wandered across the land bridge and entered North America.

Concepts to Understand★ How geography and environment influenced

the lives of early Americans and their descendants★ How different ways of life among Native

American societies led to cultural diversity

Read to Discover . . .★ how the earliest Native Americans lived.★ what three large civilizations

developed in Central and South Americabefore the arrival ofEuropeans.

SETTING THE SCENE

Journal NotesImagine you are writ-

ing a television script

for a show about the

first Americans. As you

read the chapter, jot

down ideas in your jour-

nal about what you

think would make an

interesting scene.

�

BACK OF

PERUVIAN

MIRROR

Americas

World

At least 27,000 yearsago Asian huntersenter North America

About 2,500 yearsago Rome founded

Chapter OverviewVisit the American History: The Early Years to1877 Web site at ey.glencoe.com and click onChapter 2—Chapter Overviews to previewchapter information.

HISTORY

1085 Anasazi build pueblos in North America

http://www.glencoe.com/sec/socialstudies/ushistory/ahey2001/chapter2/overview.html

1200s 1300s 1400s

37CHAPTER 2 The First Americans: Prehistory to 1492

1210 Genghis Khan estab-lishes control in Chinaand Southwest Asia

1300s Europeans beginmanufacturing gun-powder

1300s Aztec buildTenochtitlán in present-day Mexico

1400s Incan empire at itsheight in South America

1492 Columbus lands inthe Americas

1422 Joan of Arc defeatsEnglish at French townof Orleans

Pawnee Villageunknown artist

The Pawnee were one of many Native American nationsliving in North America before the arrival of Europeans.

History

A R TAND

� ARROWHEAD, NORTHEAST

WOODLANDS

and shouting with excitement. First 1,then 2, then 10 spears hit their target. Thebeast sank slowly into the snow. The huntwas over. The hunters would have foodfor many days.

Such a story could possibly have takenplace in North America many thousandsof years ago. Americans today can onlyimagine what life might have been like forthe earliest Americans. Scientists, howev-er, can tell us much about the earth andclimate of the time and about the traces ofearly people they have found.

The First Americans★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★


SECTION 1

GUIDE TO READING

� SUBARCTIC WOVEN BASKET

The wind blew in icy sheets, cuttingthrough the hunters’ fur robes. In bettertimes, the people would have stayed in theshelter of their caves, waiting for the weath-er to clear. They had not made a kill formany days, however, and the people need-ed food. The hunters’ only choice was tofollow the herds of bison and caribou intothe storm.

Luck was with the hunters. In the dis-tance they saw a giant mammoth stuck ina snow bank, trying to free itself. Thehunters ran forward, shaking their spears

Reading StrategyClassifying Information As you read aboutthe first Americans, list the earliest NorthAmerican groups as well as a notable characteristic of each in a chart similar to the one shown here.

Read to Learn . . .★ why people crossed a land bridge

to come to the Americas.

★ how the first Americans spread out to inhabit North and South America.

★ what early Native American cultures developed in the present-day United States.

Terms to Know★ archaeologist★ maize★ culture★ Mound Builders★ artifact★ cliff dwellers★ pueblo★ adobe

Main IdeaThe earliest Americans roamed ashunters and eventually settled downafter developing a system of farming.

Groups Characteristics


★ People Arrive in the Americas

From about 2 million to 10,000 yearsago, the earth was in the grip of the IceAge. The northern half of the world wascovered with glaciers. In some places theglaciers were 1 to 2 miles thick.

The 56-mile (90-km) strip of water thatnow separates Alaska from northeasternAsia was the site of a land bridge calledBeringia. Because so much of the earth’swater froze into ice, the ocean leveldropped. This exposed the strip of landbetween the two continents. Today thatland is covered by the waters of theBering Strait.

Large herds of mammoth, bison, andcaribou wandered across the land bridgein search of grazing land. Gradually,small groups of Asian hunters whodepended on these animals for food fol-lowed them into the Americas. Over theyears, both the animals and the peoplemade their way into the grasslands at thesouthern edges of the glaciers.

Exactly when the first Americansarrived remains a mystery. For yearsmany scientists believed that spearheadsdating back 11,500 years in Clovis, NewMexico, represented the earliest evidenceof people in the Americas.

Recent discoveries, however, suggestthat the first Americans may have arrivedearlier. In Monte Verde, Chile, for exam-ple, researchers have found evidence ofhuman life dating back 12,500 years. Toreach southern Chile at such an early date,scientist believe humans would have hadto cross the land bridge at least 20,000years ago.

They also may have come a differentway. Most experts believe the first Ameri-cans traveled by land from Asia. Howev-er, some scientists think they also mayhave traveled down the Pacific Coast insmall boats.

Living in the AmericasThe first Americans stayed on the move

in search of food. They killed mammoths,musk oxen, saber-tooth cats, bison, andother large animals. They also trackedsmaller animals such as deer, fox, bear,and turkeys. To add to their diets, theygathered seeds, berries, nuts, and theroots and bulbs of plants. Thus they arecalled hunter-gatherers.

NORTHAMERICA

SOUTHAMERICA

ATLANTICOCEAN

PACIFICOCEAN

Equator

Tropic of Cancer

Tropic of Capricorn

Folsom

T

Caribbean Sea

ARCTIC OCEAN

ROCKYM

OUNTAINS

0°

20° N

40° N

60° N

20° S

40° S

80° W 60° W 40° W100° W120° W140° W160° W

0 1,000 2,000 miles

0 1,000 2,000 kilometers

GlaciersLand route

Known sites ofprehistoric hunters

Possible sea route

Prehistoric MigrationsThrough the Americas

Movement Over thousands of years,prehistoric people migrated southwardthrough the Americas. Eventually theysettled the southern tip of SouthAmerica. Along what major mountainranges did the migration routes flow?

epexpa

Monte Verde

ANDESM

OUNTAINS

CENTRALAMERICA


The hunter-gatherers made their owntools and weapons. They shaped pieces ofstone and bone to make tools for chop-ping and scraping. They used woodenpoles as spears and hardened the tips byplacing them in fire. They made animalhides into clothing and tents.

Archaeologists, scientists who searchfor traces of peoples from the past, believethat these bands of hunter-gatherers grad-ually spread south to inhabit much of theAmericas.

Responding to Warmer ClimatesAbout 10,000 years ago, the Ice Age

ended. The earth’s temperatures gradual-ly warmed, the ice melted, and the glaci-ers shrank. Surface levels of the oceansrose, and the waters of the Bering Straitcovered Beringia. No more people wouldcome to the Americas on foot.

The large animals of the Ice Age beganto become extinct, or die out. Some scien-tists think the change in climate may have

been responsible. As the climate grewwarmer and drier, grasslands where theanimals once grazed became desert.Lakes and streams dried up. As theirsource of food and water disappeared, sodid the animal herds.

The hunter-gatherers adjusted to thechanges around them in a number ofways. As always, their first concern wasfood. They fished and hunted smaller ani-mals instead of the large animals of earli-er times. The areas over which theyhunted and gathered grew smaller. Overtime, they settled down to live in oneplace for long periods of time. They builtsturdy, permanent shelters and storedfood to make it last longer.

★ The First FarmersSometime after about 9,000 years ago,

some settled groups began experimentingwith the plants in their environment.They probably planted seeds from thebest plants and tended them in simplegardens. These garden keepers becamethe first American farmers.

Later, people in present-day Mexicodeveloped an important grain plant fromcertain wild grasses growing in the high-lands. The grain was maize, the first corn.The practice of growing maize soonspread from Mexico to Central Americaand South America. By about 2,000 yearsago, some groups in North America weregrowing maize, too. Early American farm-ers also learned to grow beans, squash,and many other crops.

★ Examining the EvidenceArchaeologists search for remains of

tools, weapons, jewelry, artwork, buildingmaterials, or any other items used byearly Americans. Studying such tracesgives scientists clues about how the peo-ple lived.

180° 160° W160° E 140° W140° E

60° N

Arctic Circle

ARCTIC OCEAN

ASIA

PACIFICOCEAN

NORTHAMERICABe

ring

Stra

it

40° N

Prehistoric Migrations From Asia

Movement During the Ice Age,prehistoric people from Asia huntedanimals on dry land over the present-day Bering Strait. In what direction didhunters migrate from Asia toAmerica?

1,000 2,000 miles

0 1,000 2,000 kilometers

Land exposed during Ice AgeGlaciersLand routePossible sea route0

Carved Bone at Old Crow RiverIn the summer of 1966, scientist C.R.

Harrington visited a village of NativeAmericans called the Loucheau in north-western Canada. Harrington believed thiswould be a good location for finding evi-dence of early settlers in the Americas.Peter Lord, a Loucheau who lived in thevillage, agreed to help Harrington.

Walking along the valley of the OldCrow River, Lord discovered a large ani-mal bone that had been carved andshaped. Lord thought it might be a toolthat people had made and used thou-sands of years earlier. Later scientific testsrevealed that the carved bone was about27,000 years old. The age of the bone thustold scientists that people have been liv-ing in the Americas for at least 27,000years. Other archaeological finds suggestthat people might have been living on thecontinent even earlier.

The Native AmericansThere are many mysteries still to be

solved about the earliest Americans. Sci-entists believe the evidence does show,however, that the Native Americans aredescendants of the hunters who came tothe Americas from Asia thousands ofyears ago. As the Native Americansspread out over the two continents of theAmericas, they developed a variety of richcultures. A culture is a total way of life apeople follow to satisfy their needs andwants.

By at least 2,000 years ago, there weretwo major Native American cultures liv-ing in the present-day United States—the

Mound Builders andthe Anasazi. Anasai isa Navajo word for“Ancient Ones.” Wedo not know what thepeople called them-selves. Their tradi-tions provided thefoundation for manylater Native American cultures.

★ The Mound BuildersThe Mound Builders began settling in

the Midwest and Southeast about 2,700years ago. They take their name from themonuments of earth and dirt that theybuilt. The mounds took many differentshapes. Some were circular and somewere rectangular. They ranged from just afew feet to 100 feet (30 m) high. One of thelarger mounds covered a base of 16 acres(6 ha). Sometimes long, winding earth-works surrounded the mounds like pro-tective fences.

Mystery of the MoundsThe mounds were a mystery for people

who saw them many years later. Archae-ologists have uncovered many artifacts,or items that people had created, insidethe mounds. They believe the MoundBuilders buried these artifacts for thedead to use in an afterworld. The artifactsinclude such items as stone pipes, coppertools, and mirrors made of the mineralmica. Archaeologists also know now thatsome mounds were built for religious cer-emonies, not as burial sites.


Footnotes to HistoryDog Companions Dogs were part of Native American life from the very begin-ning. They came along with the peoples migrating from Asia and may have beentrained to help in tracking and hunting game animals. The site of a bison kill inColorado included the remains of a dog that date back 10,000 years.

� PUEBLO FOOD BOWL


The AdenaThe Adena were a mound-building peo-

ple who settled in the southern part of pre-sent-day Ohio and western West Virginia.Their culture flourished from about 2,700to 1,800 years ago. They grew some cropssuch as sunflowers, pumpkins, and tobac-co. They were mainly hunter-gatherers,however, rather than farmers. Plentifulgame and wild plants supplied most oftheir food needs. Because food was alwaysnearby, they could build permanent hous-es and stay in one location.

The HopewellThe Hopewell Mound Builders were

spread over a wide area that includedpresent-day West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana,Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Wisconsin, and

Michigan. Their culture was at its heightbetween 2,100 and 1,500 years ago.

In contrast to the neighboring Adena,the Hopewell relied heavily on farmingfor food. Their earthworks were larger,their art more advanced, and their reli-gious ceremonies more organized.

Items found at Hopewell sites revealthat the people participated in a large trad-ing network. Archaeologists have foundshells from the Atlantic Ocean, silver fromCanada, alligator skulls from Florida, andvolcanic glass from Wyoming.

Around A.D. 500, both the Hopewelland the Adena declined and disappeared.No one knows what happened to them,but scientists have suggested that illness,war, or a change in climate may haveplayed a role in their decline.

The Mississippian CultureThe Mississippian mound-building cul-

ture developed around the year 700, soonafter the disappearance of the Hopewelland the Adena. The most advanced of allthe Mound Builders, the Mississippiansare also known as Temple MoundBuilders. Many of their mounds had high,level tops, on which they built templesand homes for their important leaders.

The Mississippians settled near rivers,where they practiced advanced farmingmethods. They grew large crops of corn,beans, squash, pumpkin, and tobacco.They also kept livestock. Most archaeolo-gists think the Mississippians traded forother goods with Native Americans inpresent-day Mexico and Central America.

Mississippian villages had large popu-lations. The largest was Cahokia, alongthe Illinois River in present-day Illinois.Estimates place Cahokia’s population atabout 40,000. Its temple and burialmounds numbered more than 100.

Mississippian villages began to disap-pear by about 1500. European explorersfound only one group after they reachedNorth America.

� MOUND BUILDERS The Mound Builders con-structed thousands of mounds, such as TheGreat Serpent Mound of Ohio, as burial andreligious sites for their people. What are twoartifacts archaeologists have found in themounds?

istoryPicturingH


★ The Cliff Dwellers Many groups of Native Americans,

called cliff dwellers, built houses on thewalls of canyons and under the overhangsof caves. The Anasazi were one suchgroup. They lived in the rugged land ofpresent-day Arizona, New Mexico, Col-orado, and Utah from about 100 to 1300.

Anasazi PueblosThe Anasazi built homes that the Span-

ish explorers of the 1500s called pueblos,meaning “villages” in Spanish. The pueb-los were built of stone, timber, and adobebricks. Adobe is a building material madeof earth and straw. The pueblos weremade up of small apartment-like homesstacked on top of one another. Many werefour or five stories high and connected byladders.

At first the Anasazi built their puebloson the canyon floor. Later, they began tobuild them on the sides of cliffs. Archaeol-ogists think it may have been for protec-tion from invaders.

Whatever the reason, it definitely madelife more difficult. Farmers with fields atthe base of the cliff or on the mesa above ithad to spend much of their time climbing.

At the height of their development, theAnasazi grew corn, squash, beans, tobac-

co, and cotton. They also raised turkeys.Anasazi artists crafted pottery and jewel-ry from stone, shell, and metal. Somematerials found at Anasazi sites revealthat they traded with other Native Amer-icans who lived as far away as Mexico.

No one knows why the Anasazi beganto leave their cliff dwellings in about 1300.There may have been a drought, or anenemy may have invaded. Whatever thereason, much of the Anasazi culture waspassed to generations of Native Ameri-cans who later inhabited the area.

Checking for Understanding1. Define archaeologist, maize, culture, Mound

Builders, artifact, cliff dwellers, pueblo,adobe.

2. How did the first Americans get to NorthAmerica?

Critical Thinking3. Organizing Information Create a flow-

chart similar to the one shown here, and

trace the evolution of the first Americansfrom hunters to farmers.

� CLIFF PALACE The remains of the CliffPalace in Colorado’s Mesa Verde NationalPark is an example of an Anasazi cliffdwelling. Why do archaeologists believethe Anasazi built their homes in cliffwalls?

istoryPicturingH

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★Section 1 ★ Assessment★ SECTION 1 ASSESSMENT ★

INTERDISCIPLINARY ACTIVITY

4. The Arts Imagine that you are an earlycliff dweller. Draw a plan for a large pueblo.

Large AnimalHunters

Understanding Cause and Effect

To understand events in the past, it isuseful to know why and how things hap-pened. When you look for why or how anevent or a chain of events took place, youare using the skill of understanding causesand effects.

Learning the SkillThe early bands of Asian hunters were

looking for food. That is why they followedherds of Ice Age animals across the Beringialand bridge into North America. Huntingfor food was the cause that led Asian bandsto follow the animals. Crossing the landbridge into North America was the effect, orresult. The chart shows how one event—thecause, led to another—the effect.

As you read, you sometimes can identifycause-and-effect relationships from cluewords or terms in sentences. Such writtenclues include:

because resulted in in order todue to thus for this reasonso that led to as a resulttherefore produced brought about

In a chain of historical events, an eventoften becomes the cause of other events.This chart shows such a chain of events. Firstthe climate warmed, causing grasslands andlakes to disappear. Then the disappearanceof the grasslands and lakes caused large IceAge animals to become extinct.

44

Critical Thinking SkillsBUILDING SKILLSBUILDING SKILLS

Cause Effect

Asian bands hunt for

food

Asian huntersenter the Americas

Practicing the SkillMake a chart showing which events arecauses and which are effects in thesesentences.

1. Because so much of the earth’s waterfroze during the Ice Age, a landbridge between Asia and NorthAmerica was uncovered.

2. The threat of invasion may have beenone reason some Native Americangroups built houses on the sides ofcliffs.

3. Climate, illness, war, or invasion mayhave led to the disappearance ofNative American culture groups thatonce lived in the Middle West.

APPLYING THE SKILL4. Read an account of a recent event in

your community reported in a localnewspaper. Determine at least onecause and one effect of that event.Show the chain of events in a chart.

CAUSE

• The climate warmed.

EFFECT

• Large animals became extinct.

➦➦

• Grasslands and lakes disappeared.

Glencoe’s Skillbuilder InteractiveWorkbook, Level 1 provides in-struction and practice in key socialstudies skills.

Native American Culture Groups★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★


SECTION 2

GUIDE TO READING

When Europeans first arrived inAmerica in 1492, the Native American pop-ulation north of Mexico was about 15 to 20million. Among these millions, there wereat least 2,000 different groups, or nations.

Over time these different groups ofNative Americans had formed many richand diverse ways of life. Some of the cul-ture groups developed into large andelaborate empires, while others remainedsimple in their organization.

To study the many different NativeAmerican groups, it is helpful to divideNorth America into larger culture areas.People who lived in the same culture areaoften shared many similar cultural traits.The map on page 46 shows 10 majorNorth American culture areas that haddeveloped by the 1400s.

★ A Variety of LifestylesDuring the thousands of years that

Native Americans lived in North Ameri-ca, they developed many different waysto get food, build homes, practice religion,and enforce their laws. They spoke morethan 1,000 different languages.

Similarities Among CulturesThere were no typical Native Ameri-

cans, but there were some similaritiesamong their cultures. A nation of NativeAmericans was usually made up of peoplewho spoke the same language and sharedother cultural traits. The most importantdivision in a nation was the clan. The peo-

� PRECOLUMBIAN

STONE TOOLS

Citizenship

Reading StrategyClassifying Information As you read aboutthe different groups of early Native Ameri-cans, list their similarities and differences in a diagram such as the one below.

Read to Learn . . .★ about similarities among Native

American cultures.★ how people in different physical environ-

ments developed different cultures.★ where the most densely populated

area was.

Terms to Know★ shaman★ totem pole★ potlatch★ tepee★ Iroquois

League

Main IdeaThe earliest inhabitants of NorthAmerica developed unique andthriving cultures.

Similarities Differences


ple who belonged to the clan were relatedto one another by a common ancestor.

Each nation usually had several leaderswho made decisions for the entire group.Among some groups, the leaders inherit-ed their positions. Among other groups,

the leaders were elected on the basis oftheir achievements. In some Native Amer-ican nations, all of the people—not justthe leaders—participated in group deci-sion making.

BeliefsMost Native Americans believed in the

power of spirits found in nature. Reli-gious leaders, called shamans, werethought to have close contact with thespirit world.

Yakima

Nez PercéWalla Walla

Palus

Palute

PaiuteZuñi

NavajoHopi

PuebloComancheApache

Pomo

TillamookChinook

NootkaKwakiutl

Haida

Tlingit

Cree

Inuit

Yupik

Inupiat Tanaina

Osage

Pawnee OmahaCheyenne

Sioux

Crow Mandan

Ojibwa(Chippewa)

Ottawa

WinnebagoSaukFox

MiamiShawnee

Mound BuildersPowhatan

DelawareMohegan, Pequot

Narraganset

OnondagaCayugaSeneca

CherokeeYuchiWichita

Chickasaw

ChoctawCreekNatchez

Seminole

HuronIroquois

Blackfoot

PapagoChumash

MohawkOneida

60°N

40°N

160°W 140°W 120°W 100°W 80°W 60°W

Tropic of Cancer

Algonquian

PACIFICOCEAN

ATLANTICOCEAN

ARCTICOCEAN

HudsonBay

Gulf ofMexico

ArcticSubarcticNorthwest CoastPlateauGreat BasinCaliforniaSouthwestPlainsNortheast WoodlandsSoutheast

0

0 500 1,000 kilometers

500 1,000 miles

Native American Cultures Before 1500

Region By the 1400s, Native Americans lived throughout all parts of the Americas. Withineach of the 10 major culture groups, different nations shared similar ways of life. To whichculture group did the Apache and Hopi belong?

� IROQUOIS NOTCHED STAFF

Student Web ActivityVisit the American History: The Early Years to 1877 Website at ey.glencoe.com and click on Chapter 2—StudentWeb Activities for an activity about Native Americans.

HISTORY

http://www.glencoe.com/sec/socialstudies/ushistory/ahey2001/chapter2/webact.html


Native Americans tried to live in harmo-ny with nature and the land. They believedno one person could own land. Land wasshared by all members of a nation—notbought, sold, or passed down throughinheritance. Many Native American beliefsand related traditions are still observed byNative American groups today and areshared by other Americans as well.

★ The ArcticThe people of the Arctic and Subarctic

areas settled farther north than any otherculture. People in these two regions had toadapt to cold winters and short summers.

The land of the Arctic extends along thenorthern borders of Alaska and Canada.The two main Native American culturesin this area were the Aleuts and the Inuit.

The AleutsMost Aleuts settled on the Aleutian

Islands of the Alaska Peninsula. TheAleuts were mainly hunters but they alsogathered clams and berries. They huntedin boats made of whale skin stretchedover a frame of whale ribs. They used har-poons and nets to snare their prey.

Aleut villages usually had from 50 to150 residents. Many of the homes weremade from driftwood, whalebone, sod,and animal skins.

Men and women usually wore longparkas made from otter or bird skins, furs,or animal intestines. Women sewed theclothing together with needles made fromtiny bird bones and thread made of fishparts.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Word HistoryEnglish settlers arriving in

America needed names forthings they had never seenbefore. What did they do?They borrowed words fromthe Native Americans.

ThenMisi Sipi and Apasaum

English settlers took theNative American word moos forthat large animal with antlers

they had learned to hunt. Theytrapped animals the NativeAmericans called squnck,apasaum, and chitmunk. Thesettlers also ate paccans andaskwash and wore mohkussins.Some sailed along the Misi SipiRiver.

Settlers also borrowed NativeAmerican words to name terri-tories and states. For example,Mississippi is a Choctaw wordmeaning “Great Water” or“Father of Waters.” Alaska,Connecticut, Idaho, Illinois,Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Massa-chusetts, Michigan, Minnesota,Missouri, Nebraska, North andSouth Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma,Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Wis-

consin and Wyoming all taketheir names from Native Ameri-can languages.

NowMississippi and Opossum

Words in today’s AmericanEnglish differ from the originalNative American words. It iseasy to recognize them, howev-er, in the words moose, skunk,opossum, and chipmunk. Todaywe eat pecans and squash andwear moccasins. On maps wefind the Mississippi River.

Linking Past and Present� MANUFACTURED MOCCASINS

� NATIVE AMERICAN MOCCASINS


The InuitThe Inuit moved farther inland and

populated northern Canada. Like theAleuts, many lived near the sea and hunt-ed seal, walruses, and whales. In summer,they moved inland to hunt caribou andfish in the lakes and rivers.

Nothing was wasted in the Inuit cul-ture. Anything not used for food wasmade into clothing, shelter, sleds,weapons, or fuel for heating. Wood wasextremely rare on these ice covered, tree-less plains. For homes, they built skintents or sod houses.

★ The SubarcticThe climate of the Subarctic was also

harsh, but much of the land was coveredwith forests and lakes. Like the people ofthe Arctic, Subarctic people traveled fromplace to place hunting, fishing, and gath-ering food.

The caribou was their most importantsource of meat. They also hunted moose,deer, beaver, and rabbit. Because woodwas plentiful, it was used with sod andother material to build homes.

★ The NorthwestCoast

The misty, forested coast ofthe Pacific Northwest support-ed many Native Americannations. The environmentteemed with animal, sea, andplant life. Food was so abun-dant that the people who livedhere had no need to farm.Salmon made up a large part ofthe diet along with sea otters,seals, bear, and moose.

Most villages in the North-west were near the ocean or rivers. Wood was plentiful,and most groups used it to

make large houses, tools, and weapons.The soft inner bark of trees was used forweaving baskets and for making clothing.

Large canoes that could hold more than50 people were built by digging out orburning out the inside of giant redwoodtrees. Like their early ancestors, these peo-ple also made large totem poles—tall,wooden posts with carvings of faces.

Among most groups of the Northwest,the wealthiest families made the deci-sions. To show their wealth, leaders oftenhosted potlatches. A potlatch was a feastat which the host family gave valuablegifts to members of the community.

★ CaliforniaThe mild climate and plentiful

resources of the California area supporteda large population of at least 100 groups ofNative Americans. On the coast fish,shellfish, and wild plants were plentiful.Away from the coast, people such as thePomo hunted small forest game and gath-ered acorns to pound into meal. Theymade a kind of mush from the acorn meal.

The Chumash lived on the southerncoast and were master ocean fishers. Theybuilt long, wooden canoes and traveledmany miles out to sea. Simple harpoonsand nets made from grass and weightedwith stones were used to catch fish.

★ The PlateauThe Plateau culture area was just east of

the Northwest Coast. It was bordered bythe Cascade Mountains on the west andthe Rocky Mountains on the east.

The Plateau is a land of many rivers.Salmon was the main source of food forthe people who lived here along withbulbs, roots, and berries. The rivers alsoserved as routes for travel and trade.

To protect themselves from winter’scold, many people built homes that were

NORTHWEST

NATIVE

AMERICAN

GRAVE

TOTEM

�

partly underground. In summer, they livedunder wooden frames covered with mats.

Although this area was not as populat-ed as the Northwest Coast, it supportedmore than 20 Native American groups,including the Nez Perce and the Yakima.

★ The Great BasinThe Great Basin was home to the

Shoshone, Paiute, and Utes. In this drydesert area, temperatures can soar to morethan 100 degrees. Sagebrush and grassesare the only plants, except for the ever-greens in the surrounding mountains.

People who lived here were called“diggers” because they had to dig in theground for most of their food. Seeds,berries, roots, snakes, lizards, insects, androdents were the main diet for these peo-ple who spent most of their time in searchof food and water.

★ The SouthwestThe people of the Southwest had two

basic lifestyles. They were either farmersor hunter-gatherers. Like their cliff-dwelling ancestors, most lived in pueblos.

One of the largest nations, called thePueblos, included the Hopi and Zuni. ThePueblos were skilled farmers. The landwas dry, so they built irrigation canals togrow corn, squash, beans, and tobacco.Corn was ground into meal and madeinto flat cakes and bread. Surplus or extrafood was traded to other nations.

The Pueblos’ settled way of life was notalways shared by all groups in the South-west. The Apache and Navajo came to thearea around 1500. They roamed themountains and deserts hunting. Whenhunting was poor, they raided villagesand farms for food. Later the Navajobecame farmers like the Pueblos, but theApache continued their hunting and wan-dering way of life.

★ The PlainsThe area of the Plains culture stretched

west from the Mississippi River to theRocky Mountains. Large herds of buffalo,antelope, and elk grazed on the treelessgrasslands of the Great Plains.

Some of the Native Americans wholived in the Plains area were the Sioux,Pawnee, Crow, Cheyenne, and Coman-che. They lived in villages along streamsand rivers, where they built homes of sodand farmed the riverbanks. Their cropsincluded corn, beans, squash, tobacco,and sunflowers. During the summer, theyleft the villages to hunt buffalo herds thatroamed the plains. Native Americansused all parts of the buffalo. The peopleate the buffalo meat and used the hidesfor clothing and cone-shaped tents, calledtepees. They also used the buffalo bonesfor tools, cooking utensils, and ceremoni-al purposes.

The lives of the Plains groups changeddramatically after the Europeans broughthorses to North America. The first horsesprobably reached the Plains in the 1600s.Hunters no longer had to hunt on foot.

CHAPTER 2 The First Americans: Prehistory to 1492 49

� PUEBLO FARMING The Pueb-los had to be skilled farmers inorder to grow crops in theirdry climate. What kinds ofcrops did the Pueblos grow?

istoryPicturingH


They could travel long distances at greaterspeeds on horseback.

After the people of the Plains acquiredhorses, they gave up most of their farmingand focused on hunting. Instead of set-tling in one area, they followed the herds.

★ The Northeast Woodlands

The Northeast Woodlands area haddense forests, fertile river valleys, andrushing streams. It supported at least 40groups of Native Americans. Somegroups were constantly on the move insearch of food. Others settled in villages,where they built more permanent homes.

The Iroquois and the AlgonquinThe Iroquois and Algonquin were the

two main cultures in the Northeast Wood-lands. There were many different bandswithin these groups, but most spoke aform of either the Iroquois or Algonquinlanguage.

The Iroquois LeagueOf the two cultures the Iroquois was the

more powerful. For many years, fivenations among the Iroquois were con-

stantly at war. These nations were theCayuga, the Mohawk, the Onondaga, theOneida, and the Seneca. To bring an endto the bloodshed, a Mohawk leadernamed Hiawatha suggested that thenations band together. They agreed andformed what was known as the IroquoisLeague. Later they added a sixth member,the Tuscarora. The Iroquois League hasbeen called the first true representativeform of government in North America.

★ The SoutheastOf all the Native American culture

areas, the Southeast was the most denselypopulated. The people living here devel-oped a variety of cultures and spokemany different languages. The Cherokee,Creek, Choctaw, Seminole, and Natchezwere just a few among the many NativeAmerican peoples.

For meat and skins, the men in theSoutheast hunted buffalo, deer, and bear;they also fished in streams. Most groupsin the Southeast, however, relied heavilyon farming. The women planted and har-vested corn, beans, squash, and sweetpotatoes. Women had a high standing inSoutheastern cultures. Some were mem-bers of war councils and a few becamewarriors as well.

Checking for Understanding1. Define shaman, totem pole, potlatch, tepee,

Iroquois League.2. What beliefs about land and nature did most

Native Americans share?

Critical Thinking3. Hypothesizing If the Inuit had been able to

farm in their environment, how do you thinkit might have changed their culture?

4. Organizing Information Create a diagramsimilar to the one shown here, and list some

of the Native American peoples of the coun-try’s Southeast region.



5. The Arts Choose 1 of the 10 Native American culture areas. Think about the area’s physical environment. Draw a scene that shows that environment.

SoutheastRegion

Artwork of Native Americans reflected theenvironments in which they lived. Fromlakes and streams in the eastern woodlands,people gathered thousands of freshwaterclam shells. They used the shells to makedisc-shaped white and purple beads. Thenthey strung the beads on threadlike strips ofanimal tendon. Called wampum, this highlyprized beadwork was used for gifts, goodluck charms, and in exchange for goods.

People in the Southwest created colorfulsandpaintings in their kivas, or religiousrooms. They made the paintings by spread-ing sand and finely ground flower petals andleaves on the walls.

Southwest Native American people alsodesigned distinctive clay pottery and sculp-tures. Unique designs painted on the pots,dishes, and ceremonial pieces identified thecreators and the groups to which theybelonged.

Women of the Plains colored porcupinequills with dyes made from ground-up

vegetables and minerals. Theystitched or wove the quills intoanimal skins, which they usedfor decoration.

In the Northwest, artistsused cedar bark, mountaingoat wool, and dog hair toweave designs into capes.The designs showed therank of the wearer.

Walrus tusks, whalebone,antlers, and stone werepopular materials for Inuit artists of the Arctic.From these materials theycarved buttons, ceremo-nial knives, masks, andreligious charms. Muchof their art featuredpictures of animalsthat were importantto their survival.

51

Native American Arts

S C I E N C E M A T H G E O G R A P H Y E C O N O M I C S

HistoryAND

T H E A R T S

Making the Arts Connection1. How did the environment affect the

art of Native American cultures?

2. What purposes did wampum serve?

3. What do you think you might learnabout cultures of the Southwest andthe Arctic by studying their artwork?

ACTIVITY4. On a sheet of paper, design a piece of

“environmental” jewelry. Label yourdesign with the types of materials youwould use to make the jewelry. List onlynatural materials that are found in thestate where you live.

� WAMPUM� NAVAJO SAND PAINTING

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★


SECTION 3

GUIDE TO READING

�

INCAN KNIFE

There are in the city manylarge and beautiful houses[with] large . . . rooms and. . . very pleasant gardens offlowers both on the upperand lower floors. . . . Alongone of the causeways to thisgreat city run two aqueducts[through which] good freshwater . . . flows into theheart of the city and from this they all drink.

The person who wrote these words wasa Spanish explorer and soldier who came tothe Americas in the early 1500s. The scenehe described was the city Tenochtitlán(tay•NAWCH•teet•LAHN). In awe of such

”

“ a beautiful, well-built city, the Spaniardwanted to report what he had seen torulers in Spain.

Tenochtitlán was the capital of theAztec empire, a Native American civiliza-tion that developed in present-day Mexi-co. A civilization is a group of peoplewith an advanced culture. In addition tohunting and farming, it usually has someform of writing or method of keepingrecords, an organized government andreligion, cities, and social classes. It alsohas specialized workers, or those who doonly one kind of work such as teaching orjewelry making.

The Aztec were only one of at leastthree great civilizations that grew up in

Empires of the South

Reading StrategyTaking Notes As you read about the earlysocieties in Mexico and Central and South America, highlight the main characteristics of each group in an outline such as the one shown here.

I. Aztec III. IncaA. A.B. B.

II. MayaA.B.

Read to Learn . . .★ about the achievements of the

Maya in science and mathematics.★ how trade and conquest made the

Aztec a powerful empire.★ how Inca leaders unified the

people of their empire.

Terms to Know★ civilization★ specialized worker★ terrace★ hieroglyph★ causeway★ aqueduct★ tribute

Main IdeaThe Maya, Aztec, and Inca estab-lished flourishing civilizations.

CHAPTER 2 The First Americans: Prehistory to 1492

Mexico, Central America, and SouthAmerica. The Mayan civilization, forexample, existed long before the Aztec.

★ The Maya About 3,000 years ago, a small group of

farmers began clearing land in the south-ern part of present-day Mexico and thenorthern part of Central America. Withonly simple tools, they cleared thick jun-gles swarming with insects and snakes.

The villages the farmers created pros-pered. By the year A.D. 250, they hadexpanded into an empire that coverednearly 120,000 square miles (310,800 sq.km) and included 200 cities. The popula-tion had soared to more than 10 million.

Skilled FarmersMuch of the Maya’s growth resulted

from their skill in farming. Applyingknowledge passed down from theirancestors, they grew corn, beans, squash,sweet potatoes, and avocados. Theydrained marshes to create more farmland.They built terraces—leveled off strips ofland—so they could farm hillsides. Theyhauled rich soil from riverbanks and riverbottoms to make their fields more pro-ductive. They also raised turkeys andkept honeybees.

The Maya produced so much food thatthey had plenty to trade. They also tradedsalt, honey, and jaguar pelts for jade,brightly colored feathers, and cacaobeans. Cacao beans were used as a type ofmoney throughout the empire.

City BuildersThe Maya were master builders. At the

centers of most of their cities were tallpyramids built of limestone blocks. Atopthe pyramids were temples where Mayanpriests conducted religious ceremonies.

Rulers and priests lived in the cities’large stone palaces. Most Mayan people,however, lived in simple one-room hous-es near their fields in the countryside.They visited the cities only to attend reli-gious ceremonies or to exchange goods inthe large markets. Before returning homefrom such a visit, a family might attend aball game played on one of the large stonecourts in the city.

Religion and SciencePriests, many of whom were also

rulers, were the most important people inthe Mayan empire. The priests helped theMaya please the gods. Gods were thoughtto control the sun, rain, and other forces ofnature. The Maya believed that if the gods

NORTH AMERICA

SOUTH AMERICA

Mexico

CENTRALAMERICA

Peru

ATLANTICOCEANPACIFIC

OCEAN

Gulf ofMexico

CaribbeanSea

Equator

Tenochtitlán Chichén ItzáTikal

Quito

Cuzco

Machu Picchu

Purumacu

Yucatán Peninsula

ANDES

MOUNTAINS

0°

15° N

30° N

15° S

30° S

45° W60° W75° W90° W105° W120° W

Capital CityMajor city

Aztec

MayaInca

Empires of the Maya, Aztec, and Inca

Location The ancient Maya, the Aztec,and the Inca built empires in North andSouth America. What present-daycountry exists where the Incacivilization once flourished?

0 500 1,000 miles

0 500 1,000 kilometers

53


were pleased they would favor the peoplewith good weather and bountiful crops.

The priests were fascinated with thestars, the sky, and the passage of time.They studied the movement of the starsand made accurate maps of the stargroups. They developed two calendars.One was a 365-day calendar like the onewe use today.

In addition to being scientists, Mayanpriests were also skilled mathematicians.Using dots and dashes, they developed asystem of numbers before anyone else inthe Americas. They had a symbol to rep-resent zero, which some advanced civi-lizations in Europe did not.

Cultural AchievementsThe Maya developed a system of writ-

ing using symbols instead of letters. Thesesymbols or pictures are called hiero-glyphs. The Maya carved their hiero-glyphs on the columns of temples andtombs to tell the stories of Mayan rulersand priests.

Colorful paintings, created by highlyskilled artists, decorated the walls oftombs. Metalsmiths made jewelry fromjade, gold, and shells, and weavers creat-ed beautifully designed fabrics.

The Mayan DeclineThe Mayan empire was at its height

from about 250 to 900. By 900, however,the people began deserting their cities andmoving to other areas. Archaeologiststhink the people may have moved awaybecause of drastic climate changes orbecause the farmland was no longer fer-tile. There may have been an invasion ofoutsiders. By the mid-1500s, theSpaniards had taken over all the Mayanstrongholds.

The Mayan culture still survives, how-ever. Today, more than 2 million descen-dants of the Maya live in Mexico andCentral America.

★ The AztecThe Aztec built their empire between

1300 and 1520. Their center in present-dayMexico was west and north of where theMayan empire had been.

A Message From the GodsThe early Aztec were wandering

hunter-gatherers. According to Aztec leg-end, they were instructed by a god to finda permanent place to settle. The god saidan eagle perched on a cactus would markthe place where they should build theirhome.

The people found the eagle on a marshyisland in Lake Texcoco, at the site of pre-sent-day Mexico City. On this site theybuilt their capital city, which later becamehome to more than 100,000 people. Theynamed the city Tenochtitlán, meaning“Place of the Prickly Pear Cactus.”

� A MAYAN SEACOAST VILLAGE by unknownartist The Maya painted beautiful scenes onthe walls of their tombs and temples, such asthis mural found on the walls of a temple for

warriors. What cultural achievement helped the Maya to tellstories about their rulers and priests?

History

A R TAND


The Greatness of TenochtitlánThe Aztec constructed three large

causeways, or raised highways overwater, to connect their island capital withthe mainland around the lake. They alsobuilt a system of aqueducts, channels orbig pipes for flowing water, to bring fresh-water from the mountains. As you read atthe beginning of this section, these struc-tures greatly impressed the Spaniards inthe early 1500s.

Aztec workers built stone pyramids inTenochtitlán for the priests. The city alsohad large, well-stocked outdoor markets,parks, schools, barbershops, and a zoo.

To grow food on the wet, swampy land,farmers built floating gardens. They firstanchored mats to the bottom of theswamp and then piled soil on them. Thestrips of land thus created were more than100 feet (30 m) long and 15 to 30 feet (5 to9 m) wide. Farmers tending the gardensmoved around in boats. Corn, squash,beans, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, and chilipeppers were important crops.

Conquest and TradeThe Aztec built their wealth and power

on trade and conquest. Their warriorswere fierce and well trained. They tookthousands of prisoners in battle.

Conquered peoples became membersof Aztec society, but were forced to paytribute. Tribute was like a tax that couldbe paid in goods or in services. As morepeople were conquered, wealth flowedinto the empire and its capital.

Aztec society had a rigid class system.Nobles, at the top, inherited their posi-tions. Government officials, priests, andwarriors were all nobles. Below them onthe social scale were commoners, peasantfarmers, and enslaved persons. Many ofthe people who were conquered wereenslaved, but their children were bornfree. Of the three lowest classes, only com-moners could own land. All classes exceptthe nobles had to pay tribute.

The Aztec traveled greatdistances to trade. Brightlycolored feathers, gold,and other items wereexchanged for blueturquoise, chocolate,and other goods notavailable within theempire. Some Na-tive Americans inthe Southwest andSoutheast of thepresent-day Unit-ed States traded withthe Aztec.

� THE RELIGION OF THE AZTEC

Religion played an importantrole in Aztec society. The Aztecmade sacrifices to their gods,

such as the sun god Tonatiuh. What god wasthe most sacred to the Aztec?

istoryPicturingH

� CEREMONIAL AZTEC SHIELD


Priests and ReligionReligion was very important to the

Aztec. The most sacred god was the godof sun and war, but the Aztec worshipedat least 1,000 others.

In addition to religious duties, thepriests kept a history of the Aztec people.Information about the gods, importantevents, and other records were kept inbooks filled with bark pages. Priests werealso teachers. They taught children histo-ry, craft making, and religious traditions.

Biography ★★★★

Montezuma and the Aztec Decline

[He has] all the things to befound under the heavens . . .fashioned in gold and silverand jewels and feathers . . .jewels so fine that it isimpossible to imagine withwhat instruments theywere cut.

These words—from the same Spaniardwho reported on Tenochtitlán—describedthe Aztec emperor Montezuma II in theearly 1500s. (His name is also spelledMoctezuma.) Montezuma, a 35-year-oldpriest, came to the throne in 1502. Hereplaced his uncle, the ninth Aztec ruler.The Aztec were at the height of theirpower at this point.

From all accounts, Montezuma liked tobe surrounded with riches and honor.Before people could approach him, hemade them remove their shoes and theirjewelry and keep their eyes to the ground.He insisted on eating alone, separatinghimself from others with a woodenscreen.

Montezuma was not a popular emper-or. Many of his people resented him fordemanding tribute. Records reveal thatsome Aztec predicted the downfall of theempire under Montezuma. Montezuma

himself feared that a white god was com-ing to seize his throne.

In 1520 his fears became fact. The Aztecempire was under attack, and Montezu-ma was killed in his palace. The con-queror, however, was not a god. It wasinstead Hernán Cortés, a Spaniard whohad come to seize the riches of the Aztecempire.

Although Montezuma had welcomedCortés when he entered Tenochtitlán in1519, the Spaniards took him captive.They then looted the city of gold and sil-ver. Eight months later, Montezuma waskilled by a stone thrown by an Aztec dur-ing a revolt against the Spanish. ★★★

★ The IncaThe largest empire in the Americas was

the one created in South America by theInca. The Inca began to expand their ruleover others about 1200. By the 1400s theirempire stretched 2,500 miles (4,023 km)along the Andes Mountains—throughpresent-day Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, andparts of Argentina and Chile.

”

“ � MONTEZUMA AND CORTÉS

The Incan empire was extremely wellorganized. Unlike the Aztec, the Inca con-quered many of their subjects by peacefulmeans. Before sending soldiers, the Incanruler would send ambassadors to per-suade the people to surrender. Often,those who surrendered were allowed tokeep their own rulers.

Incan armies stationed throughout theempire maintained peace. To further unifythe empire, newly conquered people wererequired to learn the Incan language andpractice the Incan religion.

The Incan ruler governed from the cap-ital city of Cuzco, high in the Andes. Hispalace—with its hundreds of rooms andthousands of servants—was itself like atown. His bodyguards wore gold armor.

The ruler held great power over thepeople of his empire. He controlled all ofthe goods and services they produced andmade decisions for them.

Incan farmers terraced the steep hill-sides and built irrigation canals to growcrops. They grew corn, beans, cotton, andsquash in the valleys. In the mountainsthey grew potatoes and raised herds ofllama and alpaca for meat and wool.

The government owned all the foodthat was grown. Some of it was kept ingovernment storehouses for use duringwars or other emergencies.

Most people had to work on projects forthe government. One project was a 10,000-mile (16,090-km) road system to connectthe far reaches of the Incan empire. Work-ers cleared trees, moved huge boulders,dug tunnels, and built bridges to create astone-covered road.

In the early 1500s, the Incan ruler died,and there was a bitter fight for the throne.In the following years, unrest spreadthroughout the empire. Thus when Euro-pean invaders arrived in the 1500s, theyfound a weakened civilization.


Checking for Understanding1. Define civilization, specialized worker, ter-

race, hieroglyph, causeway, aqueduct, tribute.2. What were two important contributions of

the Maya?

Critical Thinking3. Determining Cause and Effect How did

efficient farming contribute to the culturesof the Maya, Aztec, and Inca?

4. Sequencing Information Create a time line to track the rise of early civilizations

throughout the Americas. Use the dates pro-vided as a guide.

� INCAN BRIDGES The Inca built straw ropebridges to connect their system of roads.Descendants of the Inca continue to usethe same construction for these bridges,

replacing them every year. How many miles long was theroad system used to connect the Incan empire?

istoryPicturingH



5. The Arts Use symbols and pictures to create your own hieroglyphs. Use the hieroglyphs to relate an interesting fact about the Maya, Aztec, or Inca.

A.D. 1200

A.D. 250 A.D. 1300

CHAPTER 2 ★ ASSESSMENT

58

Using Key VocabularyOn a separate sheet of paper, write the vocabu-

lary word that best completes each sentence.

maizeshamancivilizationtribute

1. A Native American _________ was believed tohave contact with the spirit world.

2. People conquered by the Aztec were requiredto pay _________.

3. Because the Maya had a method of keepingrecords, they were considered to be a_________.

4. Early farmers in Mexico developed a cornplant called _________.

Reviewing Facts1. Tell why the first Americans came to the

Americas.

2. Describe the two major Native American cul-tures that existed in the present-day UnitedStates 2,000 years ago.

3. Describe how horses brought by Europeanshelped to change the lives of the peoples in thePlains culture area.

4. Describe how the Inca enlarged their empire.

Understanding ConceptsGeography and Environment1. How did the end of the Ice Age change the

lives of the early Americans?

2. How did the environment of the NortheastWoodlands culture area differ from that of theSouthwest culture area?

Cultural Diversity3. Re-create the time line below, and use it to

organize the chronology of the Americas’ earli-est societies. Use the dates provided as a guide.

4. How were the cultures of the Adena, theHopewell, and the Mississippians related toone another?

Critical Thinking1. Comparing and Contrasting How did the

Incan empire and method of building com-pare with the Aztec empire and method ofbuilding?

2. Drawing Conclusions Why is trade impor-tant in the development of a culture?

History and GeographySites of Mound Builder Settlements

Study the map of the Mound Builder sites onpage 59. Then answer the following questions.

1. Location Along what two major rivers didmany of the Mound Builders settle?

2. Movement Of the Adena, Hopewell, andMississippian cultures, which settled the far-thest north? Which settled the farthest east?

UNIT 1 America’s Beginnings: Prehistory–1700

Self-Check QuizVisit the American History: The Early Years to1877 Web site at ey.glencoe.com and click onChapter 2—Self-Check Quizzes to prepare forthe chapter test.

HISTORY

700 B.C. A.D. 100

A.D. 700100 B.C.

http://www.glencoe.com/sec/socialstudies/ushistory/ahey2001/quiz.shtml?BOOK=002&CHAPTER=2&TITLE=The+First+Americans

CHAPTER 2 ★ ASSESSMENT

Interdisciplinary Activity:Science

As a group, do library research to learn moreabout the farming methods of the Aztec. Thenprepare an illustrated pamphlet to present yourfindings.

Divide the pamphlet into three small sections.In one section, include written descriptions anddrawings to show how the Aztec created farm-land in lakes, swamps, and highlands. In anoth-er section of the pamphlet, describe andillustrate the crops the farmers grew. In the finalsection, show how the Aztec used specific cropsand how people today may or may not use thesame crops.

Practicing SkillsUnderstanding Cause and Effect

Each sentence below contains a cause-and-effect relationship. On a separate sheet of paper,write the cause and the effect in each sentence. Asentence may have more than one cause or effect.

1. The cold climate of the Ice Age caused oceansto freeze, which made sea levels drop morethan 400 feet (122 m).

2. Due to the lower sea levels, new areas of landappeared, including a land bridge linkingAsia and North America.

3. Hunters followed these herds and so crossedthe land bridge into the Americas.

Technology ActivityUsing a Word Processor

Search the Internet oryour library to find outmore about one of the Native American culturesshown on the map on page 46. Write a brief reportabout the group. Share your report with the class.

Cooperative

Learning


Using Your JournalUse the notes fromyour journal to write aninteresting scene for atelevision show about theinformation in this chap-ter. Describe the locationof the scene, exactly whatthe scene would look like,and what the people inthe scene would be doing.

History

WritingABOUT

Ohio Rive

r

Mississippi River

Missouri River

ATLANTICOCEAN

Gulf ofMexico

LakeHuron

Cahokia

Moundville

SerpentMound

LakeMichigan

LakeErie

Lake Ontario

Adena sitesHopewell sitesMississippian sites

0

0 200 400 kilometers

200 400 miles

Selected Sites of the Mound Builders

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Chap 02

Documents

s europeans

s unit

s journal

south america

land bridge

north americaa land

earliest native americans

earliest north american