Summary
This lecture reviews the diverse cultures, civilizations, and achievements of Native Americans throughout the Americas before European contact, highlighting their social, political, and technological developments.
Early Settlement and Migration
- The first people arrived in the Americas via the Bering Land Bridge about 20,000 years ago.
- Multiple migratory waves resulted in ethnically diverse populations across the continent.
- The early settlers were skilled hunters using stone tools to hunt large Ice Age animals.
- Widespread evidence of habitability appears about 12,000 years ago (e.g., Swan Lake, Alaska).
Major Civilizations of Mesoamerica
- The Olmecs, considered the “mother culture,” built giant stone heads and practiced ritual sacrifices.
- The Aztec Empire (founded in 1428) was an alliance of three city-states, known for large-scale human sacrifices and monumental architecture.
- Aztec society was highly militaristic, with warriors seeking captives for sacrifices.
- The Maya developed complex urban societies, writing systems, calendars, and advanced astronomy.
- Maya city-states were politically interconnected; their rulers were considered semi-divine.
Cultures of South America
- The Inca Empire, centered in Cusco, was the largest in the Americas.
- Inca rulers integrated new territories through diplomacy or conquest.
- Notable achievements included sophisticated stone architecture (e.g., Machu Picchu), surgery (successful brain operations), and adaptation to high altitudes.
- Many Amazonian societies left little archaeological evidence but developed road networks and complex societies.
Native Societies of North America
- The Iroquois Confederacy formed a powerful democratic union of five nations in the northeast.
- Plains tribes like the Sioux were skilled hunters and warriors; horses transformed their society after European contact.
- The Muscogee (Creek) built mound societies in the southeast, later forming the Creek Confederacy.
- In the southwest, Apache and Navajo were nomadic hunter-gatherers, while pueblos built large agricultural villages and pottery.
- Great Basin peoples, such as Ute, Paiute, and Shoshone, relied on hunting, gathering, and shamanic traditions.
- The Nez Perce in the northwest depended on salmon fishing and obsidian trade.
Key Terms and Definitions
- Bering Land Bridge — Land connection between Asia and North America crossed by the first humans.
- Hunter-Gatherer — Societies that subsist by hunting animals and gathering plants.
- Mesoamerica — Region from central Mexico to Costa Rica known for early civilizations.
- Olmec — Early Mesoamerican civilization known for monumental stone heads.
- Aztec Empire — Powerful Mesoamerican state known for warfare, human sacrifices, and large cities.
- Maya — Civilization known for advanced writing, mathematics, astronomy, and city-states.
- Inca Empire — South American empire known for architecture, medicine, and military strength.
- Iroquois Confederacy — Alliance of five native nations in the northeast with a proto-democratic system.
Tasks / Next Steps
- Review the achievements and cultural practices of key civilizations for the upcoming exam.
- Compare and contrast the political systems of the Aztecs, Incas, and Iroquois.
- Read the assigned chapters from the textbook on pre-Columbian American societies.