America Before Columbus
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Early Americans
American history does not begin with Columbus's 1492 arrival in America. In actuality, America was settled long before the first European set shore on the continent. The beginning of civilization in America occurred during the last ice age, some 10 to 20 thousand years ago. At that time, huge ice sheets occuppied northern lands and consequently sea levels was much lower creating a land bridge between Asia and North America called the Bering land bridge. A gap in two large ice sheets would create a connection from lands near present day Alaska, though Alberta and into the continental United States.
Nomadic Asians following herds of wild game traveled into the continental United States. A characteristic arrow point was found and first described near the present day town of Clovis, NM. Specialized tools and common burial practices have also been described in many sites found throughout North America and into South America.
Clovis man could be considered one of Americans earliest civilizations. It is not clear whether the Clovis people were one unified tribe or whether there were many tribes related by common technology and belief. Their nomadic trek across 2000 rugged miles in one of the great feats of pre-historical man. The Clovis culture disappears dramatically from the archaeological record 12,900 years ago. There is widespread speculation about what caused their disappearance. Theories range from the extinction of the mammoth to sudden environmental changes caused by a comet impacting or earth or the break of a massive freshwater lake, Lake Agassiz.
There is considerable controversy about Pre-Clovis settlement of North and South America. Comparative culture and linguistics offer evidence of influences of early America by several different contemporary cultures. Some genetic and time-dating studies point to the possibility that ancient Americans came from other places and arrived earlier than Clovis sites in North America. Perhaps some ancient settlers to the hemisphere traveled by boat along the seashore, or arrived by boats from the Polynesian islands
As time went on, many of these first settlers settled down and began to farm and domesticate animals. Groups of people formed stable tribes and formed a common language until more distant relatives could no longer understand them. Comparative linguistics, or the study of languages of different tribes show fascinating diversity with tribes showing similarities between tribes hundreds of miles apart, yet startling differences with neighboring groups.
At time, tribes would gain regional importance and dominate large areas of America. Empires rose across the Americas that rivaled the greatest ones in Europe. For their time, some of these empires were highly advanced.
When referring to these empires, historians have difficulty, as the native people did not have a unified name for themselves. At first, Europeans called natives "Indians". This term came from the belief by Christopher Columbus that he had discovered India. Despite Amerigo Vespucci ascertaining that the Americas were not actually India, Indian continued to be used as the de facto name for native inhabitants until around 1960. Starting in the 1960s, the term "Native American" was used. One concern critics have with this term is that anyone who is born in America can be considered a Native American, making it too vague to use as a descriptor for a particular group of people. In addition to Native American, there is also "American Indian". In Canada, the term "First People" is used. All these terms for the native people of America show just how diverse Pre-Columbian America was and the disagreement that continues between scholars today about this period.
Early Empires of Mesoamerica
Early Empires of the Southwest
In the southwestern continental United States, distinct civilizations began that had adapted to the harsh arid conditions. One prominent group were the Anasazi whom lived in the present day Northeastern Arizona and surrounding areas. The topography of this area is that of a flat arid, desert plain, surronded by small areas of high plateau, called mesas. Softer rock layers within the mesas eroded to form steep canyons and overhangs along their slopes.
The Anasazi culture used these cave-like overhangs in the side of steep mesas as shelter from the brief, fierce southwestern storms. They also found natural seeps and diverted small streams of snowmelt into small plots of maize, squash and beans. Small seasonal rivers formed beds of natural clays and dried muds. The Anasazi used hardened dry mud, called adobe, along with sandstone to form intricate buildings and were sometimes found high in the natural overhangs of the mesas. The Anasazi culture were also skilled at forming the natural clays into pottery.
Between 900 - 1130 AD a period of relatively wet conditions allowed the Anasazi people to flourish. Traditional architecture was perfected, pottery became intricate and artistic, turkeys were demosticated, and trade over long distances influenced the entire region. Following this golden period was the 300 year drought called Great Drought. The Anasazi culture was stressed and erupted into warfare. Scientists once believed the entire people vanished, possibly moving great distances to avoid the arid desert. New research suggests that the anazasi dispersed; abandoning the intricate buildings and moving towards smaller settlements to utilize the limited water that existed.
Borderng the Anasazi culture in the north, a separate civilization emerged in southern Arizona, called the Hohokam. While many native americans in the southwest used water irrigation on a limited scale. It was the hohokam culture that perfected the technology (all without the benefit of modern powered excavating tools). The ability to divert water into small argricultural plots meant that the Hohokam could live in large agricultural communities of relatively high population density. This was particularly true in the Gila River vally, where the Gila River was diverted in many places to irrigate large fertile plains and numerous compact towns. The bigger towns had a great house at its center, which was a large Adobe/stone structure. Some of these structures were four stories in size and probably were used by the managerial or religous elites. Smaller excavation or pits were enclosed by adobe walls and used as primary residences. Smaller pitrooms and pits were used for many different functions.
The successful use of irrigation evident in the extensive Casa Grande village. Situated between two primary canals, the Casa Grande site has been the focus of nearly 9 decades of archaeological work. The original town was built around a great house and incorporated open courtyards and cirular plazas. By the 10th century neighboring settlements had been built to accomodate a large highly developed region. The scale of this community can be seen in the results of one excavation of part of it in 1997. The project had identified 247 pithouses, 27 pitrooms, 866 pits, 11 small canals, a ballcourt, and portions of four adobe walled compounds.
The hohokam culture disintegrated as they had difficulty maintaining the canals in the dry conditions of the drought. Small blockages or collapses of the canal would choke the intricate irrigation networks. Large towns and extensive irrigation canals were abandoned. The people gave up their cultural way of life and dispersed into neighboring tribes.
Native Americans adapted the arid desert southwest. A period of relatively wet conditions saw many cultures in the area flourish. Extensive irrigation was delvoped that were among the biggest of the ancient world. Elaborate adobe and sandstone buildings were constructed. Highly ornamental and artistic pottery was created. Dry conditions neccesitated more a more minimal way of life and the elaborate accomplishments of these cultures were abandoned.
Early Empires of the Mississippi
The mound-building people was one of the earliest civilization to emerge in north America. Beginning around 1000BC cultures developed that used burial mounds for religious and burial purposes. These moundbuilding people are categorized by a series of cultures that describe dinstinctive artwork and artifacts found in large areas throughout present-day eastern United States.
The burial mound was the principle characteristic of all of these societies. These large structures were carefully selected mounds of carefully selected earth. Sometimes built on top of small buildings, Some of these mounds were quite large. The Grave Creek Mound in the panhandle of present day West-Viginia is 69 feet tall and 295 feet in diameter. It is the largest conical-type burial mound in the United States. Some mounds have even been shown to be oriented in a way that allows for astronomical alignments such as winter and summer solstices, equinoxes, and lunar alignments.
Mound building cultures spread out in size and importance. The first culture, The adena lived in present-day Southern Ohio and surrounding areas. The succeeding cultures united into an impressive trade system that allowed each cultures to greatly influence each other. The Hopewell exchange (as it is known) included tribes of people throughout the continental Eastern United States. There is considerable social stratitication within this people. This organization predates the emergance of the tribe as a socio-political group of people that would dominate later eastern and western native american civilization.
The climax of this civilization was the missippian culture. Groups had become progressed to social complexity comparable to post-Roman, pre-consolidationa tribal England. Mounds became numerous and large settlements had large complexes of mounds. Mounds were truncated pyramid mounds. Structures were often built on top of the mounds. Institutional social inequalities existed such as slavery and human sacrifice . Cahokia, Near the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri River became an influential and highly developed community. Extensive trade networks extended from the Great lakes to the Gulf of Mexico and east to the Atlantic Ocean.
Cahokia was one of the great centers of Missippian culture and its largest settlement of missippian. The focal point of the settlement was the ceremonial mound called Monk's Mound. Monk's Mound was the largest mound ever constructing by mound-building people and was 92 feet high, 951 feet long, and 836 feet wide. Excavation on the top of Monk's Mound has revealed evidence of a large building - perhaps a temple - that could be seen throughout the city. This building was 105 X 48 feet and could have been as much as 50 feet high. The city was spread out in a large plain south of Monks mound.
The city proper contained 120 mounds at a varying distances from the city center. The mounds were divided into several different types each of which may have had its own meaning and fuction. A circle of posts immediate to the monks mound marked a great variety of astronomical alignments. The city was surrounded by a series of watchtowers and occupied a diamond shape pattern that was nearly 5 miles across. It its height, the city may have contained as many as 40,000 people making it the largest in North America.
It is likely the missippian culture was dispersed by the onslaught of viral diseases such as smallpox that was brought by the european explorers. Urban areas were particularly vulnerable to diseases and Cahokia was abandoned in the 1500's. The dispersal of tribes made it impractical to build or maintain mounds and many were found abadoned by European explorers.
Native Americans in the Eastern Continental United States developed and share mound-building cultures early in North American History. Groups of native americans would become more stratified as time went on and develop into tribes. These tribes participated in long networks of trade and cultural exchanges. The importance of trade routes developed urban cities of great importance.