The Early People of
North America:
Anasazi, Adena,
Hopewell, Pueblo
& Mississippian cultures
6-4.4: Explain the contributions, features, and rise and fall of the
North American ancestors of the numerous Native American tribes.
Emergence of Agriculture Spreads to North America
• The knowledge of farming
spreads from Mesoamerica
to Southwest America, along
the Gulf of Mexico, and into
the valleys of the Mississippi
River
• Modern Day area of Arizona,
New Mexico, Utah, and
Colorado
Anasazi Culture
• Lived in the cliffs of the Chaco
Canyon between 500-1200 AD
• Early group of farming Indians
• Anasazi is a Navajo word for
“old ones”
• Lived in the Four Corners area of
the southwest. Arizona, New
Mexico, Colorado, Utah
• Descendants of the Pueblo
people
Anasazi Culture
• Cultivated land though
dams, ditches, & canals
that captured rain from the
top of the mesas &
channeled it to the canyon
floor where the garden
were located.
Anasazi Culture• Multi-storied homes made
of adobe & stone
• Looked like apartment
buildings
• Built into or along the walls
of protective cliffs or
around large plazas
• Spanish later called these
structures, pueblos, or
“villages”
Pueblo Bonita in Chaco Canyon
• Heart of the civilization
• Massive complex with over
800 rooms that housed
more than 1,000 people
• Built extensive road
networks from there for
trade
Anasazi Craftsmanship
• Known for turquoise jewelry
• Intricate woven baskets
• Black-on-white pottery with
elaborate designs
Anasazi Decline • Eventually abandon Pueblo
Bonito & other sites in the region
• Believed that years of draught was the cause
• Their architecture & art influences later cultures- the Hopi & Zuni; two of the largest Pueblo groups today
• Foundation of civilization in the Southwest
Video: 8:53
Mississippian Culture (Adena)• Mississippian culture was influenced by
the Adena and the Hopewell people
• By 700 BC, the spread of agriculture reached the Adena in the Ohio River Valley region
• They were the first in the region to grow squash, sunflowers, gourds, and barley
• Produced exquisite copper jewelry & fine pottery
• Most known for their burial mounds made of log structures covered by massive piles or dirt (earth)
Mississippian Culture (Hopewell)
• by 300 BC, the Hopewell people
arrived in the Ohio River Valley
• They began building mounds 40
ft high & 100 feet wide
• Artifacts found suggest they
were extensive traders with
areas stretched west to
Wyoming, south to the Gulf of
Mexico, east to the Atlantic, &
north to the Great Lakes
Mississippian Agriculture
• Around 800 AD, a group people rose up along the Mississippi River
• They grew maize & beans in the fertile flood plains, along with native crops already grown there
• More food production resulted in population growth
• This led to the need for more land & to the expansion in the southeast
Mississippian Cities
• Large-scale farming gave
rise to the creation of
many cities that was home
to 10,000 people
• These cities were centered
around large, pyramid-
shaped mounds, often
topped by temples or
house for the elite
The City of Cahokia• The largest of the Mississippian
cities was Cahokia- near present day St. Louis
• The center was a massive mound, 100 ft high with a base of more than 14 acres- larger that the Great Pyramid in Egypt
• Surrounding this were 120 smaller mounds
• Believed that in 1250 AD, Cahokia had a greater population than both Paris & London
Mississippian Decline
• The Mississippian culture
collapsed by the early 1300s AD
• The reason is still a mystery
• This culture influenced later
Eastern Woodlands people
through spreading agricultural
practices of large-scale farming
of corn & beans, as well as the
practice of mound building
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