The Americas prior to European influences The Pre-Columbian era incorporates all in the before the appearance of significant European influences on the American continent, spanning the time of the in the period to during the. While the phrase 'pre-Columbian era' literally refers only to the time preceding 's voyages of 1492, in practice the phrase is usually used to denote the entire history of until those cultures were exterminated, diminished, or extensively altered by Europeans, even if this happened decades or centuries after Columbus's first landing. For this reason the alternative terms of Precontact Americas, Pre-Colonial Americas or Prehistoric Americas are also in use. In areas of the term usually used is Pre-Hispanic. Many pre-Columbian established hallmarks which included permanent settlements, cities, civic and, major,.
Advanced Civilizations of Prehistoric America and millions of other books are. The Lost History of Ancient America: How Our Continent was Shaped. Return to Prehistoric Era and Early History: Individual Items. Timeline: Prehistoric Era and Early History. Prehistoric Era: 1500s: 1600s. Seminoles, and other Native American tribes. 1526 Lucas Vazquez de Ayllon sailed with 600 other Spanish settlers from Hispaniola, intending to colonize the land called La Florida. They eventually.
Some of these civilizations had long faded by the time of the first permanent European colonies and the arrival of enslaved Africans (c. Late 16th–early 17th centuries), and are known only through. Other civilizations were contemporary with the colonial period and were described in European historical accounts of the time. A few, such as the, had their own written records. Because many Christian Europeans of the time viewed such texts as, men like destroyed many texts in pyres, even while seeking to preserve native histories. Only a few hidden documents have survived in their original languages, while others were transcribed or dictated into Spanish, giving modern historians glimpses of ancient culture and knowledge.
Indigenous American cultures continue to evolve after the pre-Columbian era. Many of these peoples and their descendants continue traditional practices while evolving and new cultural practices and technologies into their lives. Before the development of archaeology in the 19th century, historians of the pre-Columbian period mainly interpreted the records of the European conquerors and the accounts of early European travelers and antiquaries.
It was not until the nineteenth century that the work of men such as, and, and of institutions such as the of, led to the reconsideration and criticism of the European sources. Now, the scholarly study of pre-Columbian cultures is most often based on scientific and multidisciplinary methodologies. Settlement of the Americas. Further information: Asian nomads are thought to have entered the via the (Beringia), now the and possibly along the coast. Genetic evidence found in ' maternally inherited (mtDNA) supports the theory of multiple genetic populations migrating from Asia. Over the course of millennia, spread throughout North and South America. Exactly when the first group of people migrated into the Americas is the subject of much debate.
One of the earliest identifiable cultures was the, with sites dating from some 13,000 years ago. However, older sites dating back to 20,000 years ago have been claimed. Some studies estimate the colonization of the Americas dates from between 40,000 and 13,000 years ago.
The chronology of migration models is currently divided into two general approaches. The first is the short chronology theory with the first movement beyond into the occurring no earlier than 14,000–17,000 years ago, followed by successive waves of immigrants. The second belief is the long chronology theory, which proposes that the first group of people entered the hemisphere at a much earlier date, possibly 50,000–40,000 years ago or earlier. Artifacts have been found in both North and South America which have been to 14,000 years ago, and accordingly humans have been proposed to have reached at the southern tip of South America by this time.
In that case, the would have arrived separately and at a much later date, probably no more than 2,000 years ago, moving across the ice from into Alaska. North America. Complex farming societies (tribal or ) The North American climate was unstable as the ice age receded. It finally stabilized by about 10,000 years ago; climatic conditions were then very similar to today's. Within this time frame, roughly pertaining to the, numerous have been identified.
The unstable climate led to widespread migration, with early soon spreading throughout the Americas, diversifying into many hundreds of culturally distinct tribes. The Paleo-Indians were, likely characterized by small, mobile bands consisting of approximately 20 to 50 members of an extended family. These groups moved from place to place as preferred resources were depleted and new supplies were sought. During much of the Paleo-Indian period, bands are thought to have subsisted primarily through hunting now-extinct such as. Paleo-Indian groups carried a variety of tools. These included distinctive projectile points and knives, as well as less distinctive implements used for butchering and hide processing.
The vastness of the North American continent, and the variety of its climates, and landforms, led ancient peoples to coalesce into many distinct and cultural groups. This is reflected in the oral histories of the indigenous peoples, described by a wide range of traditional which often say that a given people have been living in a certain territory since the creation of the world. Over the course of thousands of years, paleo-Indian people domesticated, bred and cultivated a number of plant species. These species were very nutritious, and they now constitute 50–60% of all crops in cultivation worldwide. In general, Arctic, Subarctic, and coastal peoples continued to live as hunters and gatherers, while agriculture was adopted in more temperate and sheltered regions. But wherever it was adopted, permitted a dramatic rise in population.
Middle Archaic period. Major cultural areas of the pre-Columbian Americas: Arctic Northwest Aridoamerica Mesoamerica Isthmo-Colombian Caribbean Amazon Andes After the migration or migrations, it was several thousand years before the first complex societies arose, the earliest emerging about seven to eight thousand years ago.
As early as 6500 BCE, people in the Lower Mississippi Valley at the site were building complex, probably for religious purposes. This is the earliest dated of numerous mound complexes found in present-day,. Since the late twentieth century, archeologists have explored and dated these sites. They have found that they were built by societies, whose people occupied the sites on a seasonal basis, and who had not yet developed ceramics., a large complex of eleven platform mounds, was constructed beginning in 3400 BCE and added to over 500 years. This has changed earlier assumptions that complex construction arose only after societies had adopted agriculture, become sedentary, often developed stratified hierarchy, and generally also developed ceramics.
These ancient people had organized to build complex mound projects from a different basis. Late Archaic period. Artist's reconstruction of, 1500 BCE Until the accurate dating of and similar sites, the oldest mound complex was thought to be, also located in the. Built about 1500 BCE, it is the centerpiece of a culture extending over 100 sites on both sides of the. The Poverty Point site has earthworks in the form of six concentric half-circles, divided by radial aisles, together with some mounds.
The entire complex is nearly a mile across. Mound building was continued by succeeding cultures, who built numerous sites in the middle Mississippi and valleys as well, adding, conical and ridge mounds and other shapes. Woodland period. Hopewell mounds from the in Ohio The of North American pre-Columbian cultures refers to the time period from roughly 1000 to 1000 CE. The term 'Woodland' was coined in the 1930s and refers to prehistoric sites between the and the. The and the ensuing during this period built monumental earthwork architecture and established continent-spanning trade and exchange networks. In the, this period is called the.
This period is considered a developmental stage without any massive changes in a short period, but instead having a continuous development in stone and bone tools, leather working, textile manufacture, tool production, cultivation, and shelter construction. Some Woodland peoples continued to use spears and until the end of the period, when they were replaced. Mississippian culture. The largest Mississippian culture site The Mississippian culture was spread across the Southeast and Midwest from the Atlantic coast to the edge of the plains, from the Gulf of Mexico to the Upper Midwest, although most intensively in the area along the. One of the distinguishing features of this culture was the construction of complexes of large earthen and grand plazas, continuing the traditions of earlier cultures.
They grew and other crops intensively, participated in an extensive trade network and had a complex stratified society. The Mississippians first appeared around 1000 CE, following and developing out of the less agriculturally intensive and less centralized Woodland period. The largest urban site of this people, —located near modern —may have reached a population of over 20,000. Other chiefdoms were constructed throughout the Southeast, and its trade networks reached to the Great Lakes and the Gulf of Mexico. At its peak, between the 12th and 13th centuries, Cahokia was the most populous city in North America. (Larger cities did exist in Mesoamerica and South America.), the major ceremonial center of Cahokia, remains the largest earthen construction of the prehistoric. The culture reached its peak in about 1200–1400 CE, and in most places, it seems to have been in decline before the arrival of Europeans.
Many were encountered by the expedition of in the 1540s, mostly with disastrous results for both sides. Unlike the Spanish expeditions in Mesoamerica, who conquered vast empires with relatively few men, the de Soto expedition wandered the American Southeast for four years, becoming more bedraggled, losing more men and equipment, and eventually arriving in as a fraction of its original size. The local people fared much worse though, as the fatalities of diseases introduced by the expedition devastated the populations and produced much social disruption. By the time Europeans returned a hundred years later, nearly all of the Mississippian groups had vanished, and vast swaths of their territory were virtually uninhabited.
Cultural areas of pre-Columbian North America When the Europeans arrived, had a wide range of lifeways from sedentary, agrarian societies to semi-nomadic societies. Many formed new or confederations in response to European colonization. These are often classified by, loosely based on geography. These can include the following:., including, and. Numerous pre-Columbian societies were sedentary, such as the, and others, and some established large settlements, even cities, such as, in what is now.
The League of Nations or 'People of the Long House' was a politically advanced, democratic society, which is thought by some historians to have influenced the, with the passing a resolution to this effect in 1988. Other historians have contested this interpretation and believe the impact was minimal, or did not exist, pointing to numerous differences between the two systems and the ample precedents for the constitution in European political thought. Mesoamerica.
One of the pyramids in the upper level of is the region extending from central Mexico south to the northwestern border of that gave rise to a group of stratified, culturally related agrarian civilizations spanning an approximately 3,000-year period before the visits to the Caribbean by Christopher Columbus. Mesoamerican is the adjective generally used to refer to that group of pre-Columbian cultures. This refers to an environmental area occupied by an assortment of ancient cultures that shared religious beliefs, art, architecture, and technology in the Americas for more than three thousand years. Between 2000 and 300 BCE, complex cultures began to form in Mesoamerica. Some matured into advanced pre-Columbian Mesoamerican civilizations such as the, and /. The Mexica civilization is also known as the, since they were three smaller kingdoms loosely united together. Atlantes at, These indigenous civilizations are credited with many inventions: building -temples, medicine, writing, highly accurate, intensive agriculture, an calculator, and complex.
They also invented the wheel, but it was used solely as a toy. In addition, they used native, and for metalworking. Archaic inscriptions on rocks and rock walls all over northern Mexico (especially in the state of ) demonstrate an early propensity for counting. Their number system was and included. These early count-markings were associated with astronomical events and underscore the influence that astronomical activities had upon Mesoamerican people before the arrival of Europeans. Many of the later Mesoamerican civilizations carefully built their cities and ceremonial centers according to specific astronomical events.
The biggest Mesoamerican cities, such as, and, were among the largest in the world. These cities grew as centers of commerce, ideas, ceremonies, and theology, and they radiated influence outwards onto neighboring cultures in central Mexico. While many city-states, kingdoms, and empires competed with one another for power and prestige, Mesoamerica can be said to have had five major civilizations: the Olmec, Teotihuacan, the Toltec, the Mexica and the Maya. These civilizations (with the exception of the politically fragmented Maya) extended their reach across Mesoamerica—and beyond—like no others. They consolidated power and distributed influence in matters of trade, art, politics, technology, and theology. Other regional power players made economic and political alliances with these civilizations over the span of 4,000 years. Many made war with them, but almost all peoples found themselves within one of their spheres of influence.
Have been the subject of considerable research. There is evidence of trade routes starting as far north as the, and going down to the Pacific coast. These trade routes and cultural contacts then went on as far as. These networks operated with various interruptions from pre-Olmec times and up to the Late Classical Period (600–900 CE). Olmec civilization. Main article: The earliest known civilization is the Olmec.
This civilization established the cultural blueprint by which all succeeding indigenous civilizations would follow in Mexico. Pre-Olmec civilization began with the production of pottery in abundance, around 2300 BCE in the delta. Between 1600 and 1500 BCE, the Olmec civilization had begun, with the consolidation of power at their capital, a site today known as near the coast in southeast. The Olmec influence extended across Mexico, into, and along the.
They transformed many peoples' thinking toward a new way of government, pyramid-temples, writing, astronomy, art, mathematics, economics, and religion. Their achievements paved the way for the Maya civilization and the civilizations in central Mexico. Teotihuacan civilization. Main article: The decline of the Olmec resulted in a power vacuum in Mexico. Emerging from that vacuum was Teotihuacan, first settled in 300 BCE. By 150 CE, Teotihuacan had risen to become the first true of what is now called North America. Teotihuacan established a new economic and political order never before seen in Mexico.
Its influence stretched across Mexico into Central America, founding new dynasties in the Maya cities of,. Teotihuacan's influence over the Maya civilization cannot be overstated: it transformed political power, artistic depictions, and the nature of economics. Within the city of Teotihuacan was a diverse and cosmopolitan population.
Most of the regional ethnicities of Mexico were represented in the city, such as from the Oaxaca region. They lived in apartment communities where they worked their trades and contributed to the city's economic and cultural prowess.
Teotihuacan's economic pull impacted areas in northern Mexico as well. It was a city whose monumental architecture reflected a monumental new era in Mexican civilization, declining in political power about 650 CE—but lasting in cultural influence for the better part of a millennium, to around 950 CE. Main article: Initially, the lands that would someday comprise the lands of the powerful Tarascan Empire were inhabited by several independent communities. Around 1300, however, the first Cazonci, Tariacuri, united these communities and built them into one of the most advanced civilizations in Mesoamerica. Their capital at Tzintzuntzan was just one of the many cities-there were ninety more under its control.
The Tarascan Empire was among the largest in Central America, so it is no surprise that they routinely came into conflict with the neighboring. Out of all the civilizations in its area, the Tarascan Empire was the most prominent in metallurgy, harnessing copper, silver, and gold to create items such as tools, decorations, and even weapons and armor. Bronze was also used. The great victories over the Aztecs by the Tarascans cannot be understated. Nearly every war they fought in resulted in a Tarascan victory. Because the Tarascan Empire had little links to the former, they were also quite independent in culture from their neighbors. The Aztecs, Olmec, Mixtec, Maya, and others were very similar to each other, however.
This is because they were all directly preceded by the Toltecs, and they therefore shared almost identical cultures. The Tarascans, however, possessed a unique religion, as well as other things. Maya civilization. Main article: Contemporary with Teotihuacan's greatness was that of the Maya civilization.
The period between 250 CE and 650 CE was a time of intense flourishing of Maya civilized accomplishments. While the many Maya city-states never achieved political unity on the order of the central Mexican civilizations, they exerted a tremendous intellectual influence upon Mexico and Central America. The Maya built some of the most elaborate cities on the continent, and made innovations in mathematics, astronomy, and calendrics. The Mayans also evolved the only true writing system native to the Americas using pictographs and syllabic elements in the form of and inscribed on stone, pottery, wood, or highly perishable books made from bark paper.
Aztec/Mexica/Triple Alliance civilization. Main article: With the decline of the civilization came political fragmentation in the. Into this new political game of contenders to the Toltec throne stepped outsiders: the. They were also a desert people, one of seven groups who formerly called themselves 'Azteca', in memory of, but they changed their name after years of migrating. Since they were not from the Valley of Mexico, they were initially seen as crude and unrefined in the ways of civilization.
Through political maneuvers and ferocious fighting skills, they managed to become the rulers of Mexico as the head of the 'Triple Alliance' (which included two other 'Aztec' cities, Texcoco and Tlacopan). Latecomers to Mexico's central, the Mexica thought of themselves, nevertheless, as heirs of the civilizations that had preceded them.
For them, arts, sculpture, architecture, engraving, feather-mosaic work, and the calendar, were bequest from the former inhabitants of Tula, the Toltecs. The Mexica-Aztecs were the rulers of much of central Mexico by about 1400 (while Yaquis, Coras and Apaches commanded sizable regions of northern desert), having subjugated most of the other regional states by the 1470s. At their peak, 300,000 Mexica presided over a wealthy tribute-empire variously estimated at 5–8 million people in total a population of 8–12 millions. The actual population is never more than an estimate.
The modern name 'Mexico' comes from their name. Their capital, is the site of modern-day capital of Mexico,.
At its peak, it was one of the largest cities in the world with population estimates of 200–300,000. The market established there was the largest ever seen by the on arrival. South America. Geoglyphs on deforested land in the Amazon rainforest By the first millennium, South America's vast rainforests, mountains, plains, and coasts were the home of millions of people.
Estimates vary, but 30–50 million are often given and 100 million by some estimates. Some groups formed permanent settlements. Among those groups were -speaking peoples (' or 'Muysca'), Valdivia, and the.
The of, postdating the, of, the and the of and were the four most important sedentary Amerindian groups in South America. From the 1970s, numerous have been discovered on deforested land in the, supporting Spanish accounts of a complex, possibly ancient Amazonian civilization. The theory of pre-Columbian contact across the South Pacific Ocean between South America and has received support from several lines of evidence, although solid confirmation remains elusive. A diffusion by human agents has been put forward to explain the pre-Columbian presence in of several species native to South America, such as the ( Lagenaria siceraria) or ( Ipomoea batatas). Direct archaeological evidence for such pre-Columbian contacts and transport have not emerged. Similarities noted in names of edible roots in Maori and Ecuadorian languages ('kumari') and Melanesian and Chilean ('gaddu') have been inconclusive.
A 2007 paper published in put forward and archaeological evidence that domesticated had been introduced into South America via Polynesia by late pre-Columbian times. These findings were challenged by a later study published in the same journal, that cast doubt on the dating calibration used and presented alternative analyses that disagreed with a Polynesian genetic origin. The origin and dating remains an open issue.
Whether or not early Polynesian–American exchanges occurred, no compelling human-genetic, archaeological, cultural or linguistic legacy of such contact has turned up. Norte Chico civilization.
Main article: The Moche thrived on the north coast of Peru from about 100 to 800 CE. The heritage of the Moche is seen in their elaborate burials.
Some were recently excavated by 's in association with the. As skilled artisans, the Moche were a technologically advanced people. They traded with distant peoples such as the Maya. What has been learned about the Moche is based on study of their ceramic pottery; the carvings reveal details of their daily lives.
The of, has an extensive collection of such ceramics. They show that the people practiced, had blood-drinking rituals, and that their religion incorporated non-procreative sexual practices (such as ). Tiwanaku Empire. Main article: Holding their capital at the great -shaped city of, Peru, the Inca civilization dominated the Andes region from 1438 to 1533. Known as Tawantinsuyu, or 'the land of the four regions', in, the Inca civilization was highly distinct and developed. Inca rule extended to nearly a hundred linguistic or ethnic communities, some 9 to 14 million people connected by a 40,000 kilometer. Cities were built with precise stonework, constructed over many levels of mountain terrain.
Was a useful form of agriculture. There is evidence of excellent metalwork and even successful in Inca civilization. Main article: Also known as the Omagua, Umana and Kambeba, the Cambeba are an in Brazil's. The Cambeba were a populous, organized society in the late Pre-Columbian era whose population suffered steep decline in the early years of the. The Spanish explorer traversed the during the 16th century and reported densely populated regions running hundreds of kilometers along the river. These populations left no lasting monuments, possibly because they used local wood as their construction material as stone was not locally available.
While it is possible Orellana may have exaggerated the level of development among the Amazonians, their semi-nomadic descendants have the odd distinction among tribal indigenous societies of a hereditary, yet landless,. Archaeological evidence has revealed the continued presence of semi-domesticated orchards, as well as vast areas of land enriched with. Both of these discoveries, along with Cambeba ceramics discovered within the same archaeological levels suggest that a large and organized civilization existed in the area. Agricultural development.
See also: and Early inhabitants of the Americas developed agriculture, developing and breeding (corn) from ears 2–5 cm in length to the current size are familiar today., (a husked green tomato), the and, and were among other plants grown by natives. Over two-thirds of all types of food crops grown worldwide are native to the Americas. The natives began using fire in a widespread manner.
Intentional burning of vegetation was taken up to mimic the effects of natural fires that tended to clear forest understories, thereby making travel easier and facilitating the growth of herbs and berry-producing plants that were important for both food and medicines. This created the. While not as widespread as in other areas of the world (Asia, Africa, Europe), indigenous Americans did have. Were common in Mesoamerica and in some regions of North America; they were valued for their meat, feathers, and, possibly, eggs. There is documentation of Mesoamericans utilizing hairless dogs, especially the breed, for their meat.
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Andean societies had and for meat and wool, as well as for. Were raised for meat in the. And a range of wild animals, such as deer and, were another source of meat in Mexico, Central, and northern South America.
By the 15th century, maize had been transmitted from and was being farmed in the, as far as the, and as far north as southern Canada. Potatoes were utilized by the Inca, and was used by the Aztecs. Genetics. See also: The most commonly associated with is. Y-DNA, like, differs from other nuclear in that the majority of the Y chromosome is unique and does not recombine during. This has the effect that the historical pattern of mutations can easily be studied.
The pattern indicates experienced two very distinctive genetic episodes; first with the initial-peopling of the, and secondly with. The former is the determinant factor for the number of lineages and founding present in today's Indigenous Amerindian. Human settlement of the occurred in stages from the, with an initial 20,000-year layover on for the. The diversity and distributions of the Y lineage specific to South America indicates that certain Amerindian populations have been isolated since the initial colonization of the region. The, and populations exhibit mutations, however are distinct from other indigenous Amerindians with various mtDNA mutations. This suggests that the earliest migrants into the northern extremes of North America and derived from later populations.
Figure 1: Map depicting how prehistoric people probably traveled from Asia to North America. Shaded area between Siberia and Alaska was a land bridge.
Map courtesy of American Historical Images On File. For thousands of years before Columbus set sail for the New World in1492, people lived in the Americas. By crossing a land bridge (exposed because of low sea levels) that connected Siberia with Alaska at the end of the last Ice Age approximately 12,000 years ago, people from Asia followed an ice-free corridor into present day Canada. Termed Native Americans by historians because they were the original inhabitants of North and South America, these early people left evidence both of their existence and customs. Historians and other scholars in related disciplines such as archaeology and anthropology face many challenges when attempting to piece together the mysteries of prehistoric Native American life.
Because the first inhabitants of the Americas kept no written records, professionals analyzing this time period must search for clues in order to better understand the lifestyles of the earliest Americans. Prehistory Vs. History Historians often divide history into two segments: prehistory and history. Defining prehistory as the period of time in which no written documents existed (history therefore remains the period following prehistory where the written word first appeared), historians are forced to rely upon artifacts, objects made or modified by humans, when examining prehistoric people. Based on artifacts unearthed by archaeologists, historians have divided the history of Native Americans into different time periods. Although not all experts agree on the exact dates for each period, the classification of prehistoric life into distinct ages helps historians emphasize the features shared by cultures at one time and highlight the differences between people of other times.
Paleo During the first period of prehistory in the Americas, Paleo, estimated to have occurred between 10, 000 and 8,000 B.C., Native Americans were nomads. Living in small groups, the Paleo people moved from place to place following herds of big game such as mammoth and mastodon. The most famous artifact from this period, the Clovis point (named for the original type site near Clovis, New Mexico) was used by Paleoindians to hunt.
Found throughout North America, the stone projectile points proved effective in killing both large and small animals. Besides hunting, Native Americans supplemented their diet by gathering fruits, plants, and nuts from nearby forests. Stone points used by prehistoric people to hunt, fish, and fight. The points either were held by hand or mounted onto shafts. Image courtesy of American Historical Images On File.
The Archaic Period, 8,000-1,000 B.C., had some similarities with the preceding time period. People still relied heavily on hunting for food and until the latter parts of the period they continued to move from place to place on a frequent basis. However, the Archaic Period did have some important differences from the Paleo Period. Climatic changes (warm and dry conditions replaced the cold, wet weather of the Ice Age) allowed people to take advantage of their thriving surroundings. In addition to hunting big-game animals, Native Americans developed fish-hooks made of bone, stone tools, and weighted nets to catch fish. Moreover, Archaic people made even greater use of forest resources than before by gathering seeds, berries, and nuts and hunting forest animals like the white-tailed deer to help provide additional food sources. Woodland The Woodland Period, 1,000 B.C.
Through 800 A.D., followed the Archaic years. During this time frame Native Americans not only hunted and fished but they cleared away forestland to make room for fields of planted crops. The transition from forager to farmer marks one of the most striking achievements of the period.
By domesticating plants like sunflowers and several species of small grains (maygrass for instance), the people living during this period had less reason to constantly change locations because they had an additional supply of food to complement their hunting and fishing habits. Besides the emergence of agriculture, the Archaic Period also distinguished itself from earlier periods because it was during this time that pottery first appeared and trade networks between the various groups of native people first developed. Mississippian The final period of prehistoric life in the Americas, Mississippian, occurred between 800 and 1650 A.D. Throughout these years Native Americans continued to hunt and fish, but they came to mostly rely on agriculture for food.
During this era, Native Americans cleared land by girdling (cutting away a ring of bark from trees to stop growth) or setting fire to a group of trees and used stone tools to assist in the planting of crops in the fertilized ash. The widespread adoption of agriculture (prompted in great part by the domestication of corn) resulted in the extensive clearing of forests and also led to the establishment of permanent villages. Looking to build sturdy structures for their more sedentary lifestyles, many Native American tribes began to use tree products (bark, wood, branches, leaves) when constructing houses and other buildings. Figure 3: Chief Little White Cloud standing in front of a birch bark tepee in the Chippewa National Forest, Minnesota, 1940.Photo courtesy of U.S. Forest Service.
Archaeologists believe that the prehistoric people living in the Americas often used resources from surrounding forests to build shelter. In addition to the discovery of artifacts supporting this inference, historians also find evidence for this claim in the words of European explorers and early colonists who observed and subsequently kept written records describing the various Native American tribes.
For instance, during the late 17th century Roger Williams explained how Narragansett Indians constructed buildings: “They gather poles in the woods, and put the great end of them in the groundand bendinge the topps of them in the forme of an arche, they bind them together with the bark of walnut trees, which is wondrous tough.” Not all Native Americans assembled their buildings in a similar fashion. The climate of a region and type of wood available often dictated the sort of structures a tribe would choose to build. Nonetheless, the construction of all Native American house types -from wigwams to tepees- required specific training and technical knowledge. These skills (learning how to peel the bark off a tree, for example) often were passed down from one generation to the next representing a significant portion of a tribe’s unique culture. The First Forest Managers For many years it was believed that Native Americans used what they could find in their immediate environment to supplement their diet and lifestyle with little disruption to the surrounding landscape. Today, many scholars disagree that the original inhabitants of the Americas had little impact on the environment. Calling this the myth of the “ecologically invisible” American Indian, critics instead believe that Native Americans altered the land to better suit their needs.
Based on archaeological evidence (mainly charcoal deposits and pollen records), in addition to eyewitness accounts by European explorers, many experts now contend that prehistoric people deliberately set fires to accomplish a variety of tasks. Besides using fire to clear large tracts of wooded land for farming (by 1500, millions of acres had been cleared to plant corn, squash, and other domesticated plants), Native Americans also set fires to improve visibility, facilitate travel, and control the habitat of the forest by getting rid of unwanted plants and encouraging the growth of more desirable ones like blackberries and strawberries. Fire also was used to make hunting more productive in two essential ways. First, Native Americans would light fires near a grazing herd to either force them off a nearby cliff to escape the flames or compel them to run towards hunters waiting to kill the animals with their spears. Second, the fires set to keep the land open and grassy also increased the number of bison, elk, and deer in the area, thereby making hunting even easier for the Native Americans. European Contact.
Figure 4: Copy of an engraving by Theodore DeBry from the late 1580s of Indian farms in the village of Secoton, near Sir Walter Raleigh’s colony of Roanoke in present-day North Carolina.Image courtesy of Library of Congress. Isolated for thousands of years by oceans on both the east and west, the immune systems of most Native Americans could not fight the influx of new diseases brought by European explorers. Devastated by the huge decrease in their population in a short period of time (as a result of both disease and wars with the Europeans), the social structure, customs, and everyday practices of many Native American tribes collapsed.
Consequently, the fires frequently used by Native Americans to alter the environment decreased dramatically. Over time, the halt in the periodic burning triggered changes to several ecosystems: prairies became woodlands, savannas transformed into forests, and the previously open forests of the eastern coast developed dense undergrowth. When large numbers of settlers began arriving in America during the 1700s, the land they saw was the result of over two centuries of reforestation.
Romantic poets of the 19th century and other inhabitants of the United States described the landscape as difficult to traverse, dark, and dense. Just two hundred years before, European explorers portrayed the same forests as open and park-like. Such a discrepancy in accounts suggests that Native Americans did have an effect on their environment. Population Debate Although scholars agree that European diseases played a significant role in the decimation of the Native American population in the Americans, they have been unable to reach a consensus regarding the approximate number of people living on the continents before European contact. Some estimates place the population as low as several million inhabitants, while others make the claim that over 18 million Native Americans occupied the land.
Population levels therefore have moral and practical implications for U.S. For instance, if only a few million people lived in the Americas at the time of European exploration, this would support the practical claim that the land was “up for grabs.” Furthermore, a low population estimate also could be used to reinforce the negative stereotype of Native Americans as savages. If, for example, only a small number of people lived in the Americas and possessed little knowledge or desire to purposely improve the land, this could imply that the Europeans had a moral obligation to seize the land occupied by the Native Americans for the sake of progress and the common good. On the other hand, if many millions of people lived in the Americas before European contact this could be used to support the argument that Native Americans probably did have a great impact on their surroundings. Such a conclusion also could undermine the caricature of Native Americans as a primitive people and provide evidence that the Europeans stole land away from the rightful owners.
In the years to come, scholars surely will continue to debate these points. Conclusion Early explorers and colonists assumed the indigenous people of the Americas were too simple to modify the environment and therefore thought they had stumbled upon land “untouched” by humans. Today, many experts refute the position that Native Americans did not have an impact on their surroundings.
Even though the prehistoric inhabitants of the Americas left no written record of their existence, scholars can use artifacts, oral histories, and the words of European explorers and early settlers to demonstrate how Native Americans altered the environment. All in all, despite the lack of agreement among researchers regarding the relationship between the prehistoric people of North America and their physical surroundings, convincing evidence exists that suggests Native Americans do indeed deserve the title of “the first forest.