Couple Things To Know:•The Americas were settled around 13,000 years ago• Agriculture began around 4,000 years ago• Powerful chiefdoms began around 3,500 years ago• Agrarian Civilizations began around 2,000 years ago

The Americas

• Agrarian - characteristics of a farmers way of life, which is organized or designed to promote agricultural interests.

Comparing the American and other places around the world

4 Major Differences:1. The Americas are

settled later2. The geographies

are different3. Agriculture

appears later in the Americas

4. Agrarian Civilizations appear later

Range ofRange ofEarly humansEarly humans

60,000 Ys agoSea-going technologies

13,000 Ys agoMany new technologies required

The 1st Difference: Later Settlement

40,000 Ys agoNew hunting techniques; adaptations to cold

Early Migrations

to the Americas

People arrived in the Americas around 13,000 years ago, traveling either by sea, along the W. Coast, or inland between the great ice sheets

Bering Land Bridge

How did Early people get to the Americas?• They crossed the Bering Land BridgeWhy it existed? • During the Ice Age the level of the oceans

droppedWhat body of water covers it now: • Bering StraitPlaces it linked: • Siberia (Asia) and Alaska

• As more of the world’s water froze, the level of the oceans dropped.

• Areas that were once covered by shallow water became dry land. One of these areas stretched between Siberia and Alaska.

Migrations

People Migrate Across the Earth

• Why did they move?– In search of food, hunted animals and

gathered wild plants

• How did they move?– On foot or in small boats

• Where did they move?– To most regions of the world

American History

Started Later• The Americas were a new land

– The first Americans had to learn new techniques

– They had to become familiar with new animals and plants

– American animals and plants had to adapt to the presence of humans

The 2nd Difference: The geographies are different

N-S axis

E-W axis

Traveling south through the Americas meant adapting to many different environments

• Migrating east through Europe and Asia was fairly easy– Climates and environments did not change too much

– So it was easier to adapt

• Migrating south through the Americas was tougher– Climates and environments changed as you moved towards

and away from the equator

– Humans still migrated all the way in about 2,000 years (shows human ability to adapt to their environment)

– But exchanging ideas was tougher

North America: Climates

E-W Travel

N-S Travel

Traveling N-S you pass through many different climate zones

Traveling E-W you encounter less climatic types

South America: Climates

E-W Travel

N-S Travel

The 3rd Difference: Agriculture appears later

S.W. Asia

Egypt

W. Africa

PakistanS.E. Asia

S. ChinaN. China

Papua New Guinea

Mississippi valley

Mesoamerica

Andes

Phase 1: 9,000-7,000 BCEPhase 2: 7,000-4,000 BCEPhase 3: after 4,000 BCE

The discovery of farming transformed life and they no longer had to wander to search for food.

Agrarian Lifestyles

Irrigation was necessary to water crops by channeling water from rivers and streams.

Native Americans were then able to produced surplus, or extra food that they traded with others

Major American Domesticates?

• How many could you have named?– Tomatoes

– Potatoes

– Chili

– Beans

– Squash

– Quinoa

– Alpaca/llamas

– Guinea pigs

Quinine comes from the bark of the Cinchona tree

Alpaca

Wild Cavy

The Potato, a native of Peru

Turkey, domesticated by the Aztecs

• Domesticates - to adapt (an animal or plant) to life that gives advantages to humans.

(They stick around, instead of run wild – people can grow hem year after year)

Why does agriculture appear later in the Americas?

Possible answers:• Species were different:-

– Many American plants were harder to domesticate

– Many potential animal domesticates were driven to extinction

• Humans arrived later:-– So they took longer to learn how to use American

plants and animals

– Problems of overpopulation emerged later

Maize was less able to be adapted for domestication than wheat

Teosinte, the ancestor of maize, is small, weedy and not too nutritious, but it can survive in the wild

Modern varieties of maize are larger and much more nutritious; but they took a long time to get that way

Extinct North American animals included possible domesticates

Horses were in the Americas, but were hunted to extinction there.

Many species of camelids evolved in the Americas,

such as this guanaco. Some survived.

Species of elephants, including mastodon and mammoth, were hunted to extinction.

4th Difference: Agrarian Civilizations arrived later in the Americas

= Zones of Agrarian Civilization

American ancient civilizations and civilizations around the world had a lot in common, even though there was no

contact between them• They were based on agriculture• There was an elaborate specialization of labor, with

farmers, artisans, traders and warriors.• They built monumental architecture for the the gods• There was warfare• They had powerful and wealthy leaders• They had large cities• They had taxes and writing

Civilization is an advanced culture in which people have developed cities, science and industries.

1st Major Civilizations of the Americas