Pre-Historic America

In class this semester, we have spent a great amount of time discussing the first nomadic lifestyles originating in Mesopotamia and Egypt. We have become knowledgeable about the transformation of nomadic people, which grew into large cities and eventually became civilizations. This theme was no different for America and before Columbus ever embarked on American territory, it was already populated with Native Americans. The cultural development of America also began with various regions containing nomadic lifestyles and were also defined by the change in environment, technology, and populations requiring cultural adaptations. It is very interesting how America experienced the same shifts in revolution as the people of Mesopotamia even though they were oceans apart.

The nomadic lifestyle in the plains of the Americas, relayed on buffalo hunting, pottery making and bow/arrow technology. The first populations of nomads included the Paleo-Indians. This population contained small, mobile populations that used hunter and gathering skills towards plants and animals.

The Archaic hunter and gatherers were less mobile and stuck to specific regions that exploited more of their environment. The Archaic people divided into three divisions including Early, Middle, and Late. This divisions distributed to different sites which caused a greater adaption to their environment.

The Early Ceramic period consists as the woodland period. It represented an increased utilization of the environment and also a number of useful innovations. They began relaying on a greater variety of cultigens which caused specific occupations for the people. Bow/arrow technology also began during this period, along with the production of pottery.

One of the last prehistoric groups includes the Caddoan culture. This population of indigenous took advantage of the natural resources created by the Mississippi River. This is very similar to how the Mesopotamians benefited from being located along the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. The Caddo where the first to assemble social organizations and was the turn for an agricultural revolution. Villages were constructed by large groups of people and even constructed ceremonial areas which were also very important during the Old Kingdom. Like the other first civilizations, the Caddoan settlement lasted until the domination from surrounding areas.

This post was extremely interesting to me, because it showed the similarities and differences between revolutions in different areas. It is just crazy how humans beings can urbanize in similar ways even though they are miles apart.
http://tides.sfasu.edu/NAPre/index.php?culture=4&chrono=1&index=1