Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
CCSS
I. Vocabulary
A. Indian vs. Native American: Which is academically appropriate and why?
B. "Old" World: Asia, Africa, & Europe
C. "New" World: North & South America
D. Pre-Columbian: Prior to the 1492 arrival date of Columbus in the Americas.
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II. Theories Regarding Origins & Development
A. Migrations: Via the Berings Strait Land Bridge ~50000 BP. This may be the leading theory in
this eld today, but not the only one.
B. Pre-Columbian Contact with Old World Civilizations
1. Vikings
2. Polynesian
3. Speculative theories lacking signicant physical & literary evidence.
III. Native America's Nurturing Geography
A. Great Plains (eg. ancestors of Sioux, Blackfoot, etc.)
B. Mississippi River Valley (eg. ancestors of Mississippian Culture=> Mound Builders)
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C. Woodland (eg. ancestors of The Iroquois, etc.)
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D. American South-West (eg. ancestors of Anazasi, Pueblo)
E. Pacic North-West (eg. ancestors of Sea-dependent cultures=> Tlingit)
F. Central Mexican Valley (eg. ancestors of Olmec, Teotihuacan)
IV. History-Altering Impact
A. Crops: Corn, Beans, Squash, Potato
B. Medicine: Advanced Pharmacopoeias
C. Science & Technology: Architecture, Food Preservation, Agriculture, Metallurgy#
Materials/Sources: Refer to the course calendar for additional materials, assignments and pertinent due dates.
! Maps of Americas
! Millennium Video Series, CNN Productions, Inc. 1999.
! Slide presentation
! World History: Patterns of Interaction
Listen to a podcast sponsored by The Gilder-Lehrman Institute of American History (GLI). Learn the latest about Pre-Columbian
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America from one of nations important historians.
Charles C. Manns America Before Columbus
Brown University, July 22, 2008
Running Time: 45:00
Recent research on the Mound Builders of the famous Cahokia site can be accessed from the GLI website. Timothy R. Pauketats
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Cahokia: A Pre-Columbian American Indian City
Read recent ndings on a great Native American society by accessing GLIs Matthew Denniss The League of the Iroquois.
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