Overview
This lecture reviews the diverse cultures, civilizations, and achievements of Native Americans across 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 around 20,000 years ago.
- Multiple migration waves resulted in ethnically diverse populations across the continent.
- Early settlers were expert hunters using stone tools to hunt large Ice Age animals.
- Widespread evidence of habitation appears around 12,000 years ago (e.g., Swan Lake, Alaska).
Major Civilizations of Mesoamerica
- The Olmec, considered the “mother culture,” built giant stone heads and practiced ritual sacrifices.
- The Aztec Empire (founded 1428) was an alliance of three city-states, known for large-scale human sacrifice and monumental architecture.
- Aztec society was highly militaristic, with warriors seeking captives for sacrifice.
- The Maya developed complex urban societies, writing systems, calendar systems, and advanced astronomy.
- Maya city-states were politically interconnected; their rulers were considered semi-divine.
South American Cultures
- 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.
North American Native Societies
- 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, like the Ute, Paiute, and Shoshone, relied on hunting and gathering and shamanistic traditions.
- The Nez Perce in the Northwest depended on salmon fishing and obsidian trade.
Key Terms & Definitions
- Bering Land Bridge — Land connection between Asia and North America crossed by early 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 noted for monumental stone heads.
- Aztec Empire — Powerful Mesoamerican state known for warfare, human sacrifice, 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 Northeast Native nations with a proto-democratic system.
Action Items / Next Steps
- Review key civilizations’ achievements and cultural practices for upcoming exam.
- Compare and contrast political systems of Aztec, Inca, and Iroquois.
- Read assigned textbook chapters on pre-Columbian American societies.