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Discover in a free daily email today's famous history and birthdays Enjoy the Famous Daily. Search the whole site. During the most recent of the Ice Ages , lasting from 30, to 10, years ago, an undersea ridge between Siberia and Alaska emerges from the sea. Known as the Bering Land Bridge, it lies partly south of the ice cap. It develops a steppe-like ecology of grasslands, grazed by large animals such as horses, reindeer and even mammoth.
Gradually, in many separate incursions, the hunter-gatherers of the Siberian steppes pursue their prey across the land bridge and into America.
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When the melting ice submerges the bridge, about 10, years ago, these northeast Asians become isolated as the aboriginal Americans. The Siberian hunter-gatherers probably make their way along the north coast of Alaska and down through the valley of the Mackenzie river. Archaeological evidence shows that by about 15, years ago the central plains of America are widely inhabited.
Traces of human activity at this time are preserved in the remarkable La Brea tar pit in Los Angeles.
The glacial conditions further north mean that the central plains are at this time cool and moist. During the next years, while the glacial period continues, humans penetrate far into South America. The retreat of the ice caps see Ice Ages makes northern regions increasingly habitable both for large animals and for the humans who prey on them.
By years ago hunter-gatherers have moved up the eastern side of the continent into Newfoundland and the prairie provinces of Canada. From about years ago human groups adapt to the conditions of the northern coast of Canada, living mainly as hunters of sea mammals. They spread gradually eastwards along the edge of the Arctic Circle, eventually reaching Greenland. These hardiest of all human settlers survive today as the Eskimo or, in their own name for themselves, inuit - meaning simply 'the people'.
The first American farmers: The cultivation of crops in America begins in the Tehuacan valley, southeast of the present-day Mexico City. Squash and chili are the earliest plants to be grown - soon followed by corn or maize and then by beans and gourds. These are all species which need to be individually planted, rather than their seeds being scattered or sown over broken ground.
This is a distinction of importance in American history, for there are no animals in America at this time strong enough to pull a plough. At first these crops merely supplement the food produced by hunting and gathering.
But by BC the people of this area are settled agriculturalists. In this development they are followed by the hunter-gatherers of south America and then, considerably later, by some in the northern part of the continent. The earliest known settled community in south America is at Huaca Prieta, at the mouth of the Chicama river in Peru. By about BC the people here have as yet no corn, but they cultivate squash, gourds and chili. They also grow cotton, from which they weave a coarse cloth. The first American civilizations: The earliest civilization in America develops in the coastal regions of the Gulf of Mexico.
Dating from around BC, it is the achievement of the Olmec people. Their culture is contemporary with Mycenae and the Trojan War, with the spread of the Aryans through northern India and with the Shang dynasty in China. At approximately the same time the Hebrews are moving from Egypt through Sinai towards the promised land of Canaan. A section on suspension bridges highlights the grass-rope bridges the Inka built in the Andes, some of which were feet long, at a time when the longest bridge in Spain was only 95 feet. Here kids can practice the Inka technique for braiding a strong cable out of a weak material, using plastic bags in lieu of mountain grasses.
Another section focuses on Native achievements in plant breeding and points out how many globally important foods—corn, potatoes, cassava, tomatoes, chocolate—were originally grown by Native American farmers.
Nearby, in a computer simulation game called the "Crop-etition Challenge," players try to survive by planting a nutritious combination of crops that can overcome threats from pests and bad weather. Sometimes that knowledge emerges at unexpected moments. When Tarkanian began his efforts to recreate the old indigenous rubber process with latex and morning glories, he found that none of the Spanish observers had written down the formulas in detail. He traveled to collect materials in Chiapas, an area of Mexico that had an abundant supply of the right kinds of rubber trees and vines.
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