ANCIENT AMERICAN CIVILIZATIONS

WHAT DO ARCHEOLOGISTS KNOW ABOUT THE EARLY NORTH AMERICAN CIVILIZATIONS?

 WHAT IS AN ARCHEOLOGIST?

Scientist who study the early civilizations by analyzing the artifacts.

                           *Examples:                                 Egyptian Pyramids                                 Macchu Picchu-

Peru                                 Mesa Verde -

Colorado

 WHO WERE SOME EARLY NATIVE AMERICANS?

* Cliff  Dwellers -Southwest- (dessert)    Mound Builders -Midwest and Southeast (

Mississippi River into the Appalachian Mts.)   Flourished between 500-1500     Disappeared when European explorers first made

contact.

WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT THESE CIVILIZATIONS?       Neither group left written records    All information is based on

archeological evidence  

Cliff Dwellers=Farming cultures -(Mesa Verde) Colorado

                  a. Hokokam                   b.  Anasazi                   c.  Mogollon Built irrigation canals to carry water to their crops Lived in stone houses

MOUND BUILDERS-WEALTHY PEOPLE

       *Adena          Hopewell          Mississippian Built large villages Had many resources More than 10,000 people Burial chambers- give artifacts like pearls

that prove the people were wealthy Miamisburg Mound (Ohio)

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE CLIFF DWELLERS AND MOUND BUILDERS?

        * Both civilizations suddenly

disappeared           1.  disease- from Europeans                  2. shortage of food/water- could not support the

population                   3. political conflicts -weakened the civilizations

                  (or a combination of all of these)

ARE THESE CIVILIZATIONS RELATED TO LATER NATIVE AMERICAN TRIBES?

   * Some oral histories do connect them

    * Art and pottery show a connection    These civilizations left some of the

most impressive archeological sites in North America