J. Kelly Robison

America Before Columbus

 
I.         Colonization
            A.        Early European Thoughts
                        1.         Polygenesis
                        2.         Phoenicians
                        3.         Lost Tribe of Israel
                                    a.         Frederico Lumnius - De Extremo Dei Judico (1567)
                        4.         Colonized from Eastern Hemisphere
                                    a.         Jose de Acosta (1589)
                                                (1)       from Asia
                                    b.         Gregorio Garcia
                                                (1)       from many places given diversity of peoples
            B.        Bering Land Bridge Theory
                        1.         From Siberia to Americas over ice-free corridor during ice age
                        2.         Starting 15,000 bpe (Before Present Era)
                        3.         From Alaska to Chile in 1000 years
                        4.         Clovis Culture
            C.        Western Coastal (Polynesian Hypothesis)
                        1.         Came along the shore either by boat or foot
            D.        Trans-Atlantic
                        1.         From Europe to Americas
                        2.         Clovis- Solutrean Connection
                        3.         Kennewick Man
            E.        Multi-Origin Hypothesis
                        1.         Several migrations over a long period of time from various places
            F.        Tribal Beliefs
II.        Native American Culture Areas
            A.        Anthropologists group nations based on economy and similarities of life-style
            B.        Areas
                        1.         Arctic
                        2.         Sub-arctic
                        3.         Northeast Woodlands/Great Lakes
                        4.         Southeast
                        5.         Great Plains/Prairie
                        6.         Southwest
                        7.         Great Basin/Great Plateau
                        8.         California
                        9.         Northwest Coast
                        10.       MesoAmerica
            C.        Commonalities
                        1.         Little metal-working, no iron working
                        2.         Only the Maya had a written language
                        3.         Few domesticated animals
                        4.         American Triad as main crops - corn, squash, beans

Significant Terms:

Study Questions

It is sometimes said that the Europeans who came to the Americas settled a "virgin land" that was unused and unspoiled. Write an essay demonstrating that this is or is not an accurate description of what happened.

Examine the variety Native American societies in the period before European conquest.

quiz

Links

Archaeology Text Index at the New York Times
ArchNet: Regions / North America
Anthro.Org - Point of Reference

Meso-America
The Mayan Calendar
The Aztec Calendar - contains a program that converts the Julian or Gregorian calendar in the Aztec Calendar, complete with glyphs

Cahokia

Anasazi-Mogollon
Southwest Archeology Chaco Canyon
Sipapu - the Anasazi Emergence into the Cyberworld

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