The name of the most notable Pre-Colonial Civilization in USA?

Question

What were the names of the biggest and the most notable Pre-Colonial Civilizations in US history that are equivalent to Maya, Aztec and Inca?

1. Can you name 3 tribes/civilization in order of their size?

2. How come they didn't grow as huge and prosperous as Maya, Aztec or Inca?

Answer 1

No

Answer 2

Just read your d**n text book.

Answer 3

icabob has done it all for you

Answer 4

Chumash Indians

Hopi

The Clovis people

Looks them all up

Answer 5

i dont know

Answer 6

Icabod has referenced mound builders as their dating to be 500 to 800 ad. This info is incorrect. Recent studies on the Mound Builder culture in South Carolina Date to 28,000 years ago. Mounds in the Ocmulgee study date to 10- 12 thousand years ago. As studies continue the foundations long ago established in this area are being  reviewed and revised. With the use of DNA  previous history given for all Native American peoples is being  shown as faulty prior to what is recorded in our recent history. Without question there are several groups who numbered as large as any Mayan etc. culture. The introduction of European diseases decimated  Native American societies some to extinction.

Answer 7

Why do you say that Native Americans didn't grow huge or prosperous?

They had pretty big groups (like the Iroquois nation) and had social structures and governments... what is so un-prosperous about that?

I would say check out Iroquois and Cherokee, those are the two biggest I know of... and the Anasazi (the ones who built Mesa Verde, which is pretty impressive in my opinion)

Answer 8

There are two possibilities The Mound builders and the Anasazi

"Mound builders" is the collective term used for the Andena, Hopewell, and the Mississippians.

They were generally centered in the Midwest with the Adena and Hopewell mound complexes located in Ohio and Kentucky. Most Adena and Hopewell mounds fall into the period 800-500 AD. However, the culture dates are 1000 BC to about 1700 AD. The mounds and Mound Builders spread across much of what is now the United States. Recently earthworks have been discovered in Louisiana.

The mounds may be of several styles. There are effigy mounds in the shape of animals; defensive structures and flat topped mounds used for ceremonies or to hold structures. The largest is the Cahokia Mound in Illinois: 100 feet high, 700 wide and 1,080 long. While it's the center, within seven miles there are over 300 other mounds.

The people were farmers and traders. They used peals, obsidian, jade, mica and copper from the Great Lakes. In fact a few artifacts are made from meteor iron.

The culture used a great deal of ground and polished stone. It was shaped into axes, pipes and statutes.

They are known to have had elaborate religions. Burials were conducted in the mounds and cremation was practiced. What the ceremonies were have been lost.

Much of the artifacts and the information about the people had been lost. For many years it was the custom of the 19th century settlers to dig into the mounds to discover "treasures" and "curiosities" In this way a great deal of information was destroyed. While facts and research has shown that the people that built the mounds were native Americans, some have argued for outsiders. The Welsh, Jewish immigrants, Irish monks, and Europeans have all been credited with the work.

In the Southwest were the Anasazi. Again there appear to have been multiple groups.The term Anasazi comes from the Navaho Language and means "Ancient Enemies." The Pueblo Native Americans, who are descended from the Anasazi, prefer the term "Ancient Ones." The Anasazi lived in the American southwest, around the "Four Corners" area. That's the place Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Utah meet. Native Americans settled in the area at least 12,000 years ago. The began to use agriculture around 2500 - 3000 BC.

The Anasazi culture is dated between 100 AD to 1300 AD. It's demise is linked to a large drought that devastated the American southwest. Prior to these dates is what's termed the "Archaic period" when the Anasazi people lived as nomadic hunter and gatherers.

As farmers the people were supreme in growing corn beans, and squash. They added to their food supply by hunting.

The Anasazi were the original cliff dwellers. They constructed their homes high up on the cliff sides with limited access. This form of housing was done later in their culture when migrating tribes such as the Apache and Navaho competed for the limited resources in the area.

The Culture is now divided into stages. The two main ones are the Basketmaker and Pueblo. Each stage has a number of intermediate ones. The Pueblo stages can be exactly dated. In fact it can be determined just how many years a pueblo was occupied.

In the Basketmaker stage, we know the Anasazi first lived pit houses. These are holes in the ground and are roofed over with wood, brush or hides. Houses were rectangular, projected above the ground and were entered through a hole in the roof. This hole also was used to let smoke out of the home. Normally a small tunnel was dug in the side of the house. This lead up to the surface and was used to ventilate the house. The people were farmers, growing corn, along with practicing hunting and gathering. They received the name "basketmakers" from the incredibly fine baskets that they made and used.

About 700 AD they changed their lifestyle and began to collect in larger settlements. They built pueblos, above ground buildings that were normally placed on high ground. These structures tend to be square and blocky in appearance. Most entry is by means of ladders. Each room is interconnected. This lifestyle differs from the other tribes in the area. Navahos, for example, prefer to live in widely separated dwellings call hogans. A number of pueblos were constructed during this period. The pueblo of Oraibi, Arizona was founded in the twelfth century. It is the oldest still inhabited town in the United States. Pueblo Benito, in New Mexico, is estimated to have had 800 rooms, 1,200 people and stood four and five stories high.

At the end of their culture, the pueblos were replaced by cliff dwellings. This appears due to the increased need for defense. The culture's end coincides to a twenty year period of drought. Where the Anasazi people dispersed to isn't know. Today they are considered to be the ancestors of the Zunis, Hopis, Pimas, and Papago tribes.

Much of the exact dating and information about the weather is due to the science of dendrochronology, tree rings. Basically, when the weather is wet, the tree rings are wide, showing rapid growth. During droughts, the rings are narrow. As the weather changes, it creates a unique series of rings. Science has created an "endless tree" for the Southwest. This shows the weather patterns back some 2,000 years. Given a sample, the actual dates that the tree lived and died can be established. Cores taken from the wood rafters of cliff houses can thereby be dated.

When the Spanish arrived, they first believed reports that the pueblos were the "Seven Cities of Gold." They conquered the Pueblo Peoples but were thrown out brief in a great revolt. The Zunis, Hopis, Prima, and Papago tribes still live in pueblos.