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Early Americans

HOW DID EARLY AMERICANS LIVE?

The first Americans were hunters,

gatherers, and fishermen, and this way of

life continued in tropical rainforests and cold

northern woods. Other peoples became

farmers. In the Andes of South America they

grew potatoes and herded llama. In fertile river

valleys,. MOUND BUILDERS grew corn

(maize), beans, and squash. In semi-deserts, the

. PUEBLO people farmed irrigated fields.

WHERE WERE NORTH AMERICA’S FIRST CITIES?

Around 800 CE, mound builders by the River

Mississippi also began to build cities. The largest was

Cahokia, near St Louis. It covered almost 16 sq km

(6 sq miles) and had over 120 earth mounds. About

30,000 people lived there by 1200.

HOW MANY PEOPLE LIVED IN A PUEBLO?

Some pueblos, like that at Pueblo Bonito, in New

Mexico, may have had as many as 650 rooms, and

more than 30 ceremonial chambers (kivas). Each room

could house a whole family, so the population of a

pueblo could have been well over 3,000.

MOUND BUILDERS

Between 700 BCE and 550 CE, Adena and Hopewell peoples in the

Ohio Valley built huge earth mounds. Some were meeting places

for long-distance traders. Others were holy monuments or tombs.

PUEBLOS

From around 800 CE, in parts of southwest North America, rooms

were stacked on top of each other to make villages called pueblos.

People living in these apartments also became known as Pueblos.

CAHOKIA MOUNDS 3

A king was buried under this

mound at Cahokia, together

with 250 men and women killed

to serve him in the afterlife.

Royal palace and

temple stood on

top of the mound

Dead king and

servants

were buried

deep inside

4 CLIFF DWELLING

The Mesa Verde pueblo, Colorado,

was built in the alcove of a cliff.

Pueblos were made of adobe

(sun-dried mud bricks) and stone.

They were abandoned, probably

because of drought, by 1400 CE.

4 CALUSA DEER HEAD

This wooden carving of a

deer was made by the

Calusa Indians who lived

in southwest Florida,

perhaps as early

as 1450 BCE.

WHICH METALS DID EARLY AMERICANS TREASURE?

Around 1500 BCE, craftworkers in South America

discovered how to shape nuggets of gold, silver, and

copper by hammering them, stretching them into wire,

or melting them and casting them in moulds. They

crafted jewellery, ritual objects, and images of gods.

The first Americans crossed the land bridge that linked

Siberia with Alaska during the last Ice Age. Gradually,

they spread through the continent. By around 8000 BCE

there were people in almost every part of the Americas.

HOW DID EARLY AMERICANS HONOUR THEIR GODS?

The rituals of early Americans were closely connected with

persuading the gods, or spirits, to continue to provide sunshine and

rain. With gifts of blood and food, and sacrifices of animals and

young people, they honoured the gods on whom life depended.

Gold

headdress

shaped

like the

Sun’s rays

4 BURIAL

OFFERING

This clay bowl

from the Mimbres

Valley, Arizona, was

made around 1000 CE. It has

been pierced to ward off spirits.

Large

earrings

of gold and

turquoise

Fine details made

by pouring melted

gold into a mould

4 GOLDEN RITUAL KNIFE

The knife was made by the

Sican people of northern

Peru between 800 and

1375 CE. A powerful male

figure, who was probably

a Sun god, forms the handle.

Curved blade

shaped like a

Sun disc

380 History

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early

Americans