The First Americans

Objective: To examine how the first humans migrated to America, the purpose of archaeology, and the culture of the Mound Builders.

The First Americans

• Glaciers – large, slow moving sheets of ice

• Approximately 30,000 years ago the earth experienced an Ice Age.

• Ice Age – a period of time in which temperatures on earth were very cold, and North America was covered in glaciers.

Barne Glacier, Antarctica

Land bridge (Berengia) – an area of land which humans crossed during the Ice Age on their way to North America from Asia.

- As the oceans froze, the ocean floor became uncovered and dry.

- The first humans in North America crossed the land bridge.

Archaeology - the study of evidence left by early peoples

Artifact – object made by humans and used by archaeologists to recreate a picture of the past.

Cahokia Point.Triple Notch.

L: 1.25" Cahokia Mounds Madison Co., IL.

Cahokia Point.Serrated Edge.

L: 1.75" Cahokia Mounds Madison Co., IL.

Cahokia Point.Double Notch.

L: 2" Cahokia Mounds Madison Co., IL.

Bone Point.L: 1.5"

Cahokia Mounds Madison Co., IL.

Flint Shark Tooth Point.L: 1"

Cahokia Mounds Madison Co., IL.

The Missouri Heron Pipe.H: 5.25" Made from red to brown banded slate. This well-known bird pipe was discovered in 1858 by a farmer named Amos Weiling while removing a tree stump on a farm in Mew Madrid County, Missouri. The heron is a common sight along the waterways in central and southern Missouri.

The Dr. Bunch Frog Pipe.L: 8.25". Made from fine green sandstone. This famous pipe was found in 1878 in a low mound on a river bluff near what is nows Bluffton, Yell County, Arkansas.

Mound Builders• The Mound Builders, including the Hopewell and Mississippian

peoples, lived from about 3,000 years ago to the 1700’s.

• Early mounds were burial grounds for important leaders.

Miamisburg,OH

Adena people

Great Serpent Mound, Ohio

• The Mississippian people built the city of Cahokia in present-day Illinois.

• The largest mound of Cahokia was Monk’s Mound, which covered around 16 acres.

* This system allowed farmers to know which crops should be planted.

• The fence build around the city served as a calendar.

• The posts of the fence were viewed from the top of Monk’s Mound.

- shorter shadows meant the coming of spring

- longer shadows meant the coming of autumn

"Community Life" By Michael Hampshire Courtesy of Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site Collinsville, Illinois