Understanding Ancient America

Terms in this set (33)

Archaeologists believe that the first ancient Woodland mound builders were organized into chiefdoms because
the impressive organization used in building the mounds and the artifacts found within them suggest that one person was able to command the labor and obedience of others.
Modern archaeologists studying ancient peoples
use a variety of approaches, including the study of artifacts and attention to environmental factors.
In 1492, Native American cultures were
so varied that they defy easy and simple description.
The emergence of the Mogollon culture was characterized by
pit houses and small farming settlements.
The Athabascan tribes—mainly Apache and Navajo—were
skillful warriors who preyed on the sedentary pueblo Indians.
Multistory cliff dwellings and huge pueblos are residential structures associated with the
Anasazi communities.
Which of the following important changes occurred among Woodland cultures around 4000 BP?
They incorporated agriculture and pottery into their hunter-gatherer lifestyles.
Much of the warfare among Archaic Northwestern tribes seems to have arisen from
attempts to defend or gain access to good fishing sites.
Early Woodland Indians practiced survival strategies that included
hunting deer and gathering nuts and seeds.
Burial mounds and chiefdoms are associated with
Woodland cultures.
By the 1490s, the empire of the Mexica
encompassed as many as 25 million people and covered more land than Spain and Portugal combined.
Archaic Indians who hunted the bison herds of the Great Plains were
nomads who moved constantly to maintain contact with their prey.
Which of the following statements does not accurately describe the work of a historian?
Historians seek artifacts over written documents to determine the ideas and activities of people in the past.
The population of Native Americans in North America at the time of Columbus's arrival in the New World is prudently estimated to have been about
4 million.
The Archaic Indians of the Great Basin maintained their basic hunter-gatherer way of life until long after AD 1492 by
diversifying their food sources and migrating to favorable locations.
The apparent uniformity of the big-game-oriented Clovis culture was replaced by great cultural diversity after the Paleo-Indians began devoting more energy to
foraging, which pushed them into other natural environments and led to more profound environmental adaptations.
The term Archaic describes the
hunting and gathering cultures that descended from Paleo-Indians, as well as the period of time from 10,000 BP to approximately 4000-3000 BP.
About 11,000 years ago, the Paleo-Indians faced a major crisis because
the large animals they hunted had difficulty adapting to the warmer climate.
Archaeological evidence indicates that the California Chumash culture was characterized by
a notable amount of conflict among villages.
The greatest similarity among the many tribes that inhabited North America at the dawn of European colonization was that
their distinct cultures had developed as adaptations to their social and natural environments.
The most exalted positions in Mexican society were held by
warriors
The most important source of food for Archaic peoples inhabiting the Great Basin was
plants
Hohokam settlements utilized irrigation canals
to plant and harvest crops twice a year.
Cahokia, near present-day St. Louis, Missouri, was
the largest Mississippian site.
Anasazi culture disappeared
because of a drought that lasted more than fifty years.
Southwestern Indians became experts in
water conservation
Agriculture changed Archaic cultures because it
encouraged the gradual establishment of permanent settlements and discouraged mobility.
Most of the artifacts that have survived from the Paleo-Indian era suggest that the first Americans
specialized in hunting large mammals.
After arriving in the Western Hemisphere, Paleo-Indians had migrated to the southern tip of South America and virtually everywhere else in the Western Hemisphere within approximately
a thousand years
The Archaic Indians in the Great Basin inhabited a region of
great environmental diversity, including marshes, deserts, and mountains.
Native Americans related to the natural environment by
adapting to it while also changing it in a variety of ways that served their own interests
Native North Americans in the 1490s obtained the majority of their food
through hunting and gathering
Spanish conquerors exploited the weaknesses of the Mexican empire, which included
a belief among subject peoples that the Mexica were not legitimate or fair rulers.
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