The Earliest Civilizations in America

The Earliest Civilizations in America

by Caitlin Irwin

Prehistory​--- Time before writing was invented

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​to learn about people living during prehistory archaeologists study artifacts.

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​Artifacts are tools, clothing, and decorations that prehistoric people used.

​Archaeologists

​Archaeologists are scientists who study the history of humans by looking at what man-made objects were left behind

Multiple Choice

What do we call the time before writing?

• Modern History

• Prehistory

• Ancient History

​Life during Prehistory

​Life focused on finding food and shelter.

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​People were hunter-gatherers -- hunted food and gathered plants.

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​People had no permanent home -- they were nomads.

Multiple Choice

We learn about prehistory by studying:

• People's writing

• Artifacts

• Old computer drives

Open Ended

How did hunter-gatherers get food?

Multiple Choice

What is a nomad?

• A person with no permanent home.

• A person who farms for a living

• A person who lives in a hut.

​Farming

Learning to farm helped people settle, or stay in one place, by creating a lot more food for people to eat. This meant that more people could live in one place rather than travel in search of food.

​Farming

​Farming created more food for people to eat. This meant that people could live in one place.

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​Many people settled and stayed in places where they could raise food crops and hunt on lands near their farms.

Open Ended

How did farming change the way people lived?

​Vegetables

​Corn, Tomatoes, pumpkins, and beans were other early crops grown in the Americas

​Discovering Seeds

​Some early people must have seen seeds like these growing plants and then made the connection that a plant grows from a seed. Explain that this was one of the most important scientific discoveries ever made.

​End of Prehistory -- beginning of Ancient times

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​When humans did not have to hunt and gather all day, they had more time. They started forming groups that worked together -- this was the beginning of ancient civilizations.

​Growing Population

​Because farming required staying in one place, settlements of a few families grew in size as the population grew. With a steady diet and better food, people were living longer and having more children.

​Specialization

​Because people spent less time producing food, they had time to develop crafts, such as creating pottery, making blankets, and weaving baskets. There was also more reason to acquire goods like pots and extra blankets because people no longer had to carry them around.

Multiple Select

What two things happened as a result of farming?

• People could specialize in building and crafting

• People lived longer and had more children

• People tracked animals throughout the continent for food

• People were nomads and lived in temprary sh

​Invention of Writing

​After people started to record events, first by drawing symbols (called pictographs) and then by writing, it became much easier to tell what happened, and history started. These records can tell us the names of leaders (such as Kings and Queens), important events like floods and wars, and the things people did in their daily lives.

Multiple Choice

The first people wrote in English.

• true

• false

Open Ended

How did the invention of writing change the world?