Archaeologists are scientists who study ancient peoples. They have used artifacts and other evidence that supports a theory about the origins of some of the first people to arrive in the Americas. The evidence indicates that some ancient people crossed a strip of land that once linked Asia and the Americas.

The Ice Age, which began about 100,000 years ago, caused a lot of the water from the oceans to freeze into glaciers. This made the oceans lower, exposing the land bridge, known as Beringia, running from Siberia to what is now Alaska.

A large number of people crossed this land bridge and spread out across the Americas in search of food. Around 15,000 years ago, the ice age began to end. Over several thousand years, the glaciers melted and oceans levels rose. The rising oceans covered the land bridge.

Early Americans were nomads who moved from place to place to find food. Around 10,000 years ago, people in what is now Mexico began farming crops such as maize, pumpkins, beans, and squash. Farming offered a stable source of food, which meant people did not have to move constantly.

Scientists use carbon dating, measuring how much carbon is in an artifact, to determine how old the artifact is. Dating these remains helps scientists learn about the different cultures or different groups of ancient peoples.

Section 2: Cities & Empires

• Civilizations, or highly developed societies, existed long before European explorers arrived in the New World. Some, like the Olmec, Maya, Aztec, and Inca, were very advanced. They built impressive cities and had complex systems of tracking time, counting, and writing.

• The Olmec lived along the Gulf Coast of what is now Mexico between 1200 b.c. and 300 b.c. The Maya thrived in the rain forests of present-day Mexico and Central America between a.d. 250 and 900. The Maya had a large population ruled by religious leaders, an advanced understanding of astronomy, and a form of writing called hieroglyphics.

• The Aztec Empire arose in a.d. 1325 in central Mexico. The Aztec built one of the largest cities in the world to serve as their capital: Tenochtitlán. The city was an important center of trade. Aztec society revolved around their religious beliefs, which included human sacrifice to please the gods.

• The Inca Empire was one of the largest of all early American civilizations. It was located in the western highlands of South America. The Inca Empire was built around war. Inca culture centered on religion, and the Inca emperor was believed to be a descendant of the sun god. The Inca cut terraces into the mountainous land to farm. They also built a vast network of roads to connect the empire.

Section 3: North American Peoples

• Advanced cultures also existed in North America before Europeans. The Adena, Hopewell, and Mississippian, also known as the Mound Builders, lived in central North America beginning around 800 b.c. Many different groups built thousands of mounds of earth that served as burial chambers or had other religious functions.

• The Hohokam culture lived in the dry, hot desert in what is now Arizona from about a.d. 200 to 1400. They created hundreds of miles of irrigation channels to water their crops. They also made pottery and carved stone.

• The Ancient Puebloans lived at the Four Corners, where Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico meet, around a.d. 1 to 1300. They built large stone dwellings called pueblos. They also built dwellings in the walls of steep cliffs, which were easy to defend and offered protection from the weather.

• After these early societies faded away, other cultures arose. Many unique societies existed in North America before Europeans arrived. These cultures were excellent at adapting to their environment.

• A Northern people called the Inuit settled near the frigid Arctic Ocean, building igloos for shelter and hunting both on land and at sea. Western peoples settled all along the western coastline, from what is now Canada down to California. Mild climate and dependable food sources were valuable to these groups.

• In the Southwest, the Hopi, Acoma, and Zuni farmed maize and built homes out of adobe, sun-dried bricks. Peoples of the Plains were nomads who lived in tepees and hunted antelope, deer, and buffalo.

• Eastern peoples such as the Iroquois and Cherokee had formal codes of law. Groups were often at war with each other. Five Iroquois groups established the Great Peace in the 1500s.

• Southeastern peoples such as the Creek and Chickasaw depended on farming in what is now Georgia, Alabama, and the Carolinas.

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