Pre+Columbian+Era

__The First Americans__
It was once believed that the first inhabitants of the [|Americas] were people from [|Asia] who crossed the [|Bering Strait] (at that time spanned by an isthmus of land) into what is now known as [|Alaska], and then migrated down to the environs of [|Clovis],[|New Mexico], from whence they migrated south (a hypothesis known as the [|Clovis Theory]). This hypothesis is now disputed because of [|archaeological] evidence found in [|Brazil], [|Mexico], [|Peru], [|Canada], and the [|United States], as well as studies performed of [|mitochondrial DNA] samples taken from the present inhabitants. According to studies conducted by [|French] archaeologists from the [|Sorbonne] in [|2007], the earliest known migration of peoples to the Americas may have occurred some forty to fifty thousand years ago, originating in [|Australia] and settling in what is now Brazil. The Brazilian settlement may have been later followed by a settlement in southern [|Chile], evidence of which was discovered in [|1997] by [|Tom Dillehay] of the [|University of Kentucky], at the [|Monte Verde] archaeological site. The findings to date indicate that the Chilean people of Monte Verde were there as early as 12,500 years ago. According to DNA studies, these people were later followed by people apparently from Africa who landed in Mexico and created the [|Olmec] civilization. In addition to the DNA evidence, we can observe definite [|Negroid] anthropological features in the sculptures that they left.

Furthermore, archaeological digs conducted by the [|University of Alaska] have found evidence in [|Ketchikan] that early man was able to cross oceans by the use of boats, and this is also backed up by evidence discovered from anthropological studies of the [|Australian] and [|Polynesian] peoples, including the work of the late [|Thor Heyerdahl]. In addition, recent discoveries have revealed signs of settlement in [|North America] at least 20,000 years ago, as determined from evidence found in archaeological digs in [|South Carolina] conducted by the [|University of South Carolina] Archeology Department. The dates for these events and migrations are not precisely known, although [|carbon dating] and other archaeological dating methods have led to the approximate dates stated herein. In this regard, it has been hypothesized that persons may have inhabited the Americas as early as 50,000 years ago (whereas, under the older [|Clovis Theory], it was originally suggested that the first Americans lived on the continents no earlier than 11,500 years ago).

**Aboriginal inhabitants emigrated from many different continents** Archaeological evidence supports the hypothesis that early man migrated to the Americas in gradual waves. These arrivals came primarily from [|Eurasia], [|Africa], [|Australia], and [|Malaysia], as well as [|Northern Europe] and [|Polynesia]. The mitochondrial DNA lineages present in the Americas include a small percentage of DNA from two distinct old European sources (a lineage common throughout the [|Pacific] but not found on mainland [|Asia]), as well as two distinct lineages with associations to [|East Asia] and [|Siberia]. Further north in the Alaskan area, people began to arrive in North America some thirty thousand years ago, and apparently they were of north Asian origin, as determined by mitochondrial DNA studies of North American aborigines. From those studies, it has been determined that all migrants who came down from the Alaskan area are descended from only five men and two women.  ====The Asiatic Lineages = = In addition to the genetic evidence is archaeological evidence of a type of stone spearhead known in Siberia and found in later cultures of the American west: the [|Folsom-derived points] that archaeological evidence shows were diffused back into Siberia as early as [|2000 BCE]. According to all of this evidence, it has been determined that there are two recognizable Asiatic strains in the Americas: (1) the [|Dene] or [|Athabascan] groups, and (2) the [|Inuit]. Furthermore, it has been determined that the Asiatic groups represent two later migrations at two post-glacial points in time: the Dene group being recognizable in [|Aleut] graves as of the time of [|Christ's] birth, and the Inuits appearing in several later waves. In addition to the archaeological and DNA evidence, historical records in [|China] support the hypothesis that Chinese migrants were sent to the [|North American continent] by a Chinese emperor who built a huge fleet of ships for that purpose. However, to date, no archaeological evidence has been found to prove the large-scale migration of Chinese peoples to the North American continent prior to the time of the [|California Gold Rush], beginning with the discovery of gold in [|Coloma], on the [|American River], in [|1848].  ====The European Lineages ==== In addition to the immigrations of Asiatic peoples, there is also archaeological and genetic evidence to suggest that peoples emigrated from Northern Europe much earlier than previously thought. Archaeological evidence for this is found in the old European [|Solutrean Culture], who used spearheads like the Clovis points, and different from the Folsom-type points of probable Asiatic origin, thereby calling into question the idea of tool diffusion from Siberia as the sole source of migration to the Americas. Archaeological finds near the present town of Clovis, New Mexico, reveal that 12,000 years ago a culture existed with the ability to shape flint into arrowheads and spear tips nearly identical to those created by the Solutrean Culture of [|France] at about this same time. Also, according to genetic evidence, a European migration originated from France involving the same peoples as the [|Neanderthals] of [|Lascaux] whose points were the same as Clovis points, a technology no other peoples seem to have had or as yet discovered. Genetic evidence indicates that the Salutreans, after arriving in the Americas, intermarried with the American aborigines already living there. Given this evidence, it has been suggested that the Salutreans probably arrived via [|Greenland] and the frozen north on the eastern coast of North America, probably much like present day Inuit who travel in skin boats from Alaska to Greenland and Northern Europe.  ====Conclusion ==== Regardless of how they arrived on the continent or what route they took, it is clear that the Northwestern American groups traveled south towards Mexico and [|South America]. It is also clear that, by the time of [|Christopher Columbus'] first arrival in the "New World" in the [|fifteenth century], several advanced civilizations existed, or had previously existed, across the Americas, the most notable of which were the [|Mayans], the [|Aztecs], the [|Pueblo peoples] (including the [|Chaco Canyon group]), the [|Apache] (who appear to have been the progenitors of the Aztec Nation), the [|Nazcas] of Peru, the [|Olmecs], the [|Inca], and the [|Polynesians] who built great religious centers throughout the Pacific as far south and west as [|Tahiti] and [|Easter Island]. There are even similarities in the archeological evidence (such as the [|pyramid-type] [|megalithic] architecture of the Aztec and Mayan [|ziggurats]) that suggest that [|Pharonic Egyptians] or persons of [|Mesopotamian] origin, and perhaps the [|Greeks] (if we accept [|Heroditus'] accounts), may have also visited the Americas. However, the possibility that the Americas were visited by ancient Egyptians or Greeks is highly speculative and, except where a definite [|anthropological] relationship between peoples is proved by virtue of DNA or anatomical studies, the possibility of an accidental, parallel development of cultural styles and technology cannot be ruled out.  ==Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica == ===The Mayans === In about 2000 BC, Aboriginal Americans settled in the Yucatán Peninsula of present-day Mexico. The agricultural //Maya// society began to develop a complex culture. Tribal chiefs and elders instituted a system of government. Several other political and religious institutions also developed. 300 AD, the date of the so-called //Classic Period//, is often considered a turning point in the Mayan civilization. Government and society became more complex, with each city having its own king and nobility. A polytheistic (//many-god//) religion also developed, as did the custom of human sacrifices. These sacrifices were conducted by decapitation, by shooting with arrows, or by the cutting open of the body and removal of the heart. In addition to politics and religion, the subject of science was also developed. For example, a 365-day calendar was created. Until the creation of the Julian calendar (which contained 365.25 days, rather than the older Roman calendar that contained 360 days), it was far more accurate than the older Western calenders. Furthermore, the [|Mayan calendar]predicts the end of the earth at the Winter Soltice on 21 December 2012, which is similar to [|Sir Issac Newton's]prediction of the end of time in 2060 AD. This prediction was probally arrived at by Mayan Astronomers who observed the near misses of asteroids in their time. Furthermore, the Mayans developed a system of writing known as //hieroglyphics// (distinct from Egyptian writing of the same name). Their writings have only recently been deciphered and most have disappeared. The Maya civilization remained prosperous until the ninth century AD. The civilization slowly began to disintegrate and finally collapsed at about that time. The exact cause is still unknown, but internal strife, rebellion, foreign warfare, and natural disasters could have all aided the downfall. The latest information indicates that the Mayans exhausted what little fertility the forests supplied for their agricultural plantings, in addition to the fact that slash and burn agricultural development most likely damaged their water supplies. Their religious practices may have also contributed to the loss of their civilization but the Mayan peoples still exist in the Yucatan area of Mexico today. After the Classic Period, which is considered to have ended in 900 AD, the Mayans continued to live in some parts of the Yucatán Peninsula. However, the civilization was never again to be as dominant in Mexico as it once was in its glory era.  ===The Aztecs === The Aztecs had a highly developed calendar system based on the sun and represented in these circular tablets The Aztec calendar was based on the Mayan system and, until the Julian reform of the European calendar, the Aztec Calendar was more accurate. Like the Mayans, the Aztec calendar also predicted the end of the Earth in 2010, probably based on Mayan astronomical observations of the asteroids. The citizens of the Aztec Empire called themselves the "Mexica" and are the people after whom //Mexico// is named. In [|1325], the Mexica created a city called Tenochtitlán near Lake Texcoco, in the Valley of Mexico (the site of present-day Mexico City). Tenochtitlán grew in influence over the next century and, in [|1428], Tenochtitlán led an alliance that conquered much of Mexico. Just as with the Maya, religion was extremely important in the Aztec Empire. A polytheistic religion was important in several aspects of life, and human sacrifices were very common. Priests were required to cut their penises daily to keep the sun and earth in balance. It is reputed that in [|1487], over 80,000 imprisoned enemy warriors were sacrificed. This occured when Cortez arrived amidst ceremonies in progress. While the Aztecs were highly intelligent and literate people, they seemed to have little understanding of the workings of the Human circulatory system. To them a headless body spouting blood from a dying heart had religious significance. Sacrifical victims were given anything they wanted prior to death and enjoyed the delights that nobles usually enjoyed. They were then painted black and went to their deaths to the sounds of flutes. Requiring the victim to climb the high steps of the pyramids assured that their hearts would beat rapidly and would thus create a great fountain of blood when the victim was beheaded. After many scarifices, the pyramid area must have stunk with the odor of death. So it is possible that Cortez smelled the center of Mexico City before he even arrived. To express their religion, Aztec artists created idols and temples, which often included large amounts of gold and silver. The Aztec Empire was destroyed by the Spanish invaders. However, thousands of descendants of the Mexica live in present-day Mexico, carrying on some of the traditions of the Aztec culture.  ===The Incas === While the Aztec Empire dominated Central Mexico, the Inca Empire dominated South America. Originally, during the thirteenth century AD, the Inca inhabited land near Lake Titicaca in present-day Peru. At its peak, situated along the Andes Mountains and the Pacific Coast of South America, it included parts of Peru, Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, and Ecuador, with the capital at Cuzco, in Peru. It is important that one understand the difference between the Inca and the Aztec. The Aztec Empire was a collection of different cities under the control of one powerful city. The Inca Empire, however, was actually one whole nation. Religion was significant in Inca life. The royal family were believed to be descendants of the Inca Sun God. Thus, the emperor had absolute authority, checked only by tradition. Under the emperors, a complex political structure was apparent. The Inca Emperor, regional and village leaders, and others were part of an enormous bureaucracy. For every ten people, there was on average one official. The organization of the Empire also included a complex transportation infrastructure. To communicate across the entire empire, runners ran from village to village, relaying royal messages. In 1438, Pachacuti, ambitious and likely the greatest of the Incan emperors, came to the throne. Pachacuti rebuilt much of the capital city, Cuzco, and the Temple of the Sun. Along with his son, Topa Inca, Pachacuti extended the Incan empire from northern Ecuador to Chile, a vast kingdom spanning in excess of three hundred and fifty thousand square miles. The Spanish under Pizzaro conquered the Inca just as they had conquered the Aztec with a tiny army of less than 100 men. The Aztec Emperor knew that Pizzaro was marching towards him but gave orders that he was not to be molested because of the Inca religious beliefs. However, millions of descendants of the Inca live in Peru and other parts of the former Inca Empire. There is a lesson in this which is called Rowland's Social Theory of Religion which states that religion can be a strong factor in helping to create a great civilization but its abuse can easily lead to the quick demise of it since it weakens those who otherwise would act defensively against outside and inside attacks. This kind of event has been seen throughout human history. Russia fell to the communists because of religion and Pharonic Egypt rose to its great power because of religion.  ===The U.S. Polynesians === Polynesian tribes differ widely in number of members and in degree of segmentation: from a hundred or so members to many thousands, from a single community to scores of them. In many [|Polynesian societies], their communities are composed of members of branches of two or more tribes under the authority of one chief or a combination of chiefs, whose respective landholdings remained separate. But even in communities containing branches of different clans the local members of all of them would combine on occasions to do something together – such as participate in large scale fishing drives, dance fest or sporting events. The ancient Polynesians of Tahiti and Hawaii have been engaging in the art of [|surfing] for centuries. The chief of the Polynesian tribe would have been the best surfer and would have ridden the best board. Over time, the surfing culture has spread from Hawaii and Tahiti to Australia and eventually to every continent in the world.

Polynesians who today are part of Hawaii and [|American Samoa]along By 1000 they were navigating and migrating throughout the Pacific colonizing Islands from New Zealand and Tahiti to Hawaii. Each of their history needs to be considered separately which will be done as this article is developed. Dr. Peter Buck liks to claim that they came from an area around Malaysia. In 1300, the Tatians arrived in Hawaii. In 1784, the most powerful chief began taking over all of the islands. King Kamehameha was a great and powerful warrior who conquered the exisiting populatin and began forming territories ruled by local chiefs. In 1778, western infiltration was marked by the arrival of Captain James Cook. He discovered the Hawaiian Islands and plot and publish their co-ordinates. With the arrival of the foreigners to this "new" land it brought about a lot of changes to their tradition and culture. The economic system would never again be the same. However, Tongans claim that they came from Samoa since in their Polynesian dialect---"samoa" means South. Their civilization is and was a great one and still is in that they have navigation skills that made them able to get to tiny points in a huge ocean way before Europeans began to use the compass and even today they can out do GPS navigation in accuracy usng nothing more than the wave patterns and stars. These people had no writing system as we know it but communicated by petroglyps and oral histories. The Polynesians founded the Kingdoms of Hawaii, Tahiti, New Zealand, Easter Island, and Tonga of which Tonga is the only group never conquered by Europeans along with the Maoris of New Zealand who agreed to become a protectorate of Queen Victoria.  ===The U.S. Micronesians === These people include the US teritories of Guam, The Federated States of Micronesia(a self governing Republic protectorate of the United States and former territory), The Marshall Islands (a self governing Republic protectorate of the United States and former territory),and the Northern Mariana Islands. These people called [|Chamoro] originated probally in the Phillipine Islands and arrived in Micronesia sometime around 1000 AD. No genetic studies have been done so that it can be said this positively is positively true but it is based on similarities between Phillipinos and Chomoros. Europeans first came in contact with the people in Guam sometime around Magellans World Voyage. Magellan sailed into Umatac Bay in Guam and was greeted in a most friendly manner. He was well treated as a guest of honor. All went well until a class of cultures occured of the same kind that US Continental aboriginees encountered---Chamoros did not feel that they owned anything. If there was a boat and someone needed ---it was taken which in their minds was not theft. However, when Magellan's boat was stolen (in his view); the thief was shot dead. This started a war which nearly brought about Magellan's on death and would in the Phillipines. While the Mayan, Aztec, and Inca cultures can be classified as great civilizations, the cultures that lived in the present day United States and Canada also were also civilized people in their own right as they cultivated the land, had an oral history, and also engaged in petroglyphic or writing systems many of which have never been deciphered. However, the meainings of some petroglyps are so straight fowared that we understand them today such as the recording of the Crab Nebula explosion on 1 May 1054 in Chaco Canyon and elsewhere among North American aboriginees.  ==Pre-Columbian America North of the Rio Grande == The earliest Native Americans that developed cultures in North America were the Mound Builders of the east. Evidence of their existence has been found as far north as the Great Lakes and as far south as Florida. The mound building first began around 1000 BC. These people were not one tribe, but they were many different cultures that had the custom of building pyramid shaped, grass covered hills. The Adena are among the earliest Mound Builders, being hunters and gatherers that prospered in the Ohio River Valley at around 800 BC. They were followed by the Hopewell, who thrived from 200 BC to 500 AD. The Hopewell were traders and farmers, and they also built the famed Great Serpent Mound, which resembles a giant snake. The Mississippians built the largest Mound Builder settlement, Cahokia. Cahokia was home to around 30,000 residents and had many dwellings and pyramids, so it strongly resembled many Mayan cities. The actual origin of the Mound Builders is unknown, but according to Natchez (descendants of the Mound Builders) legend, their people once lived from the mouth of the Mississippi and west, along the shore of what is thought to be the Gulf of Mexico. Other early Native Americans settled in the desert southwest. The [|Hohokam] came from Mexico at around 300 BC and prospered from about 300 AD to about 1200 AD in present-day Arizona. The Hohokam were excellent water regulators, and built hundreds of miles of irrigation channels. They also left behind carved stone, pottery, and shells. Not much else is known about the Hohokam. The Anasazi also settled the Southwest at about the same time as the Hohokam. These people built pueblos, villages made out of baked earth and clay. In addition, they built cliff dwellings and complex road systems. The modern descendants of the [|Pueblo dwellers] reject the term "Anasazi." The term means "ancient enemy" and denotes people migrating into the large area that was occupied by the original Pueblo dwellers. Evidence today suggest that pressure from severe weather conditions and dwindling natural resources caused hostilities among the occupants of the Southwest. Eventually these conflicts led to extreme responses including the building of the cliff dwellings in the present-day [|Mesa Verde National Park]and possible [|cannabalism] among the Puebloans.  ====Later Native American Cultures ==== The [|Mound Builders], [|Hohokam], and [|Anasazi] eventually fell and gave way to new cultures. These cultures still lived in North America at the time that European explorers were first beginning to arrive on the continent. The cultures of North America can be placed into six distinct cultural regions: the Southeast, the Northeast Woodlands, the Plains, the Northwest Coast, the Southwest, and the Arctic North. In the Southeast, the [|Creek], [|Chickasaw], [|Cherokee], (and later) the [|Miccosukee], and the [|Seminoles] were the major cultures. These Native Americans were primarily farmers, harvesting corn, and tobacco, among other things. They lived in loose communities. In the Northeast, there were the [|Iroquois], [|Algonquians], and others. Interestingly, the Iroquois were five Indian groups which joined together in a loose confederation with leaders elected by the women. The peoples of the Northeast usually lived in long, wooden houses, simply called longhouses, and were mostly hunters and gatherers. They did, however, raise corn (maize), squash, and beans (the three 'sisters of Indian agriculture') which were an important part of their diet. The Plains were home to many tribes, including the [|Sioux], [|Cheyenne], [|Blackfoot], [|Crow], and Shoshone tribes. The Plains tribes had a very different way of life from those in the east, due to the abundance of animals such as buffalo, deer, elk and bear. The tribes lived in collapsible tepees, which they slept in while following the herds of buffalo, which they hunted for food, clothing, and many other needs. Each Plains tribe had distinct divisions which were further divided into bands based on their geographic homelands and primary food sources. One of the most memorialized Plains woman in the United States with statues and monuments, Sacagawea lived a short but legendarily eventful life. Born in 1788, a member of the Lemhi band of the Native American Shoshone tribe, Sacagawea accompanied the Lewis and Clark Corps of Discovery expedition in 1805-06 from the northern plains through the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean and back.  The Northwest Coastal Indians were fishers. They hunted whale for food and blubber (which they used as oil), and fished in the rivers for the abundant salmon. The [|Tinglit], [|Nootka], [|Kwakiutl], [|Flat Head], [|Nez Perce], [|Chinook], [|Yakama], [|Klamath], [|Maidu], [|Miwok], [|Pomo], and [|Costanoan] peoples, among others, lived there. The Northwest Coastal Indians were generally nomadic in custom and culture. They would hollow out tree trunks to use as boats. The were also known for their elaborate totem poles. The structure they lived in was called a long house. In the middle of this long house was an opening in the roof which would allow them to cook within the structure, let allow for smoke to escape. The desert Southwest was home to the [|Pueblo], [|Navajo] and [|Apache] tribes. The Pueblo and Navajo tribes built apartment-type dwellings called pueblos in canyons. The pueblos were made of sun-dried earth called adobe. They farmed corn and other crops suitable to the area. The Apache were very different from the Pueblo, Zuni, or Navajo tribes; they never settled down, living a nomadic raiding life. They hunted and stole from neighboring tribes. For this reason, they became known as the "Apache Raiders." In the northern Arctic, there were a handful of scattered nomadic tribes, including the [|Inuit] (eskimo) and [|Inupiat] groups. These tribes followed many of the same customs as the tribes of the Northwest Coast, but with adjustments for the cold temperatures. For example, these tribes built igloos and followed wolves to find caribou to eat. Most of these tribes lost very large parts of their populations following the "discovery" of the New World by the Old. Nearly all of this loss was caused by the incidental importation of Old World diseases to the New and their spread throughout the Americas. Tribal culture was so damaged by these losses that territory was rather easily taken from the survivors by the Europeans. As the remaining populations interacted with Europeans, customs and items were exchanged in what came to be known as the [|Columbian Exchange]. There were clashes between European settlers and the various tribes when these encounters went badly. Many of these clashes were in the form of "uprisings" or outright war. There was an uprising of the Peublo Indians in centered in New Mexico in the early 1600s, and an organized attack on New england settlements in the mid 1700's. Both were finally defeated. Retrieved from "http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/US_History/Contents/Pre-Columbian"

media type="custom" key="626445"Evidence suggests that Sir Francis Bacon, scientific philosopher, Lord Chancellor of England, and Lord Keeper of the Great Seal during King James I's reign, as well as author of //The New Atlantis//, among other works, spearheaded the establishment of the Virginia Company of London in 1606. It's primary goal was to establish an English colony on the southern portion of the Atlantic Coast.