1. Chapter One: Converging Cultures
Section One: The Migration to America
A. The Asian Migration
a. Scientists believe that the first people came to the Americas
around _______________- years ago.
b. Most came from Asia across a “__________bridge” (Berengia).
c. These people were mostly _____________ meaning they moved
around from place to place.
d. These were _______________________ societies.
e. They hunted wild game and gathered ___________, etc. for food
B. Civilizations in Meso-America.
a. Meso-America = present day Mexico and ____________ America.
b. Agricultural Revolution – people learned to farm and began to
develop more ____________ societies with complex government
and social systems.
i. The Olmec and the Maya
1. The Olmec may have been the first people to create a
_______________________ in the Americas.
2. Located in present-day _______________.
3. The Olmec built large villages, pyramids, and large _____________.
4. After the Olmec, the ____________ civilization developed.
5. Also in _________________.
6. The Mayans had a very sophisticated _________________.
7. They developed an accurate ____________, a system of writing,
mathematics, engineering and were interested in astronomy.
8. The Mayans often _______________ with each other and
eventually disappeared
ii. The Aztec
1. The Aztec created a huge empire with great
____________ power and strength.
2. They often went to war taking over other villages and ___________
3. The Aztec would be present in Mexico when the Spanish
arrived in the 1500s.
C. Mississippian Culture
a. Farming - Anthropologists believe that the agricultural
_________________ of Mesoamerica spread into the American
Southwest and up the Mississippi River Valley area.
b. The rich soil of the flood plains was good for growing
___________ and beans.
c. Many of these people were ________________ builders.
d. This culture spread to the Southern United States, into present
day ________________.