1/19/2023
Lecture 1
● pre-Clovis sites in N. America
○ 20,000 years ago (keeps getting pushed further back)
○ N. America = one of the last continents populated
○ 1st ppl in N. America
○ Most of n. hemisphere = ice caps
■ Sea levels dropped
■ Dry land between Asia & N. America
■ Ppl from Siberia (Asia) followed big animals migrating to N. America
● Followed herds south down through Canada
○ Meadowcroft Rockshelter (Pittsburgh, PA) & the Gault Site (Central TX)
● Pleistocene N. America
○ Conclusive proof ppl were in the Americas = clovis point embedded in an animal
in Clovis, NM
■ Btwn 13,000-8,000 years ago
■ Weren’t carved down to make them lighter/more streamlined
○ During Clovis large animals started dying out
■ Mixture of human activity & profound climate change
○ Folsom Point
■ 8,500 years ago
■ Ppl started hunting bison
● Fluting = more material removed from the rock (flew faster & more
accurately)
■ Folsom point embedded in a bison in Folsom, CA
■ Only domesticated animals were dogs
● N. American Language Families
○ Indigenous explanations for the peopling of the Americas
■ Earth Diver Myths
● Center around some being falling to Earth & creating humans
● Iroquois Creation Story: Sky Woman fell to the Earth
■ Emergence Myths
● Trace their 1st ancestors to emerging from the Earth in some way
● Caddos Creation Story: Tribe emerges from an underground cave
located near the confluence of the Red & Mississippi Rivers in N.
Louisiana
○ Woman carried seeds for agriculture (corn & pumpkin)
■ Women had a lot of political power, men took the
woman’s last name
○ Man carried tools (pipe & fire)
● Agriculture
○ Natives fed the Pilgrims
■ Most of the global “plate” was domesticated by the Native Americans
○ New World Crops
, ■ Beans, potatoes, tomatoes, squash, corn, chili peppers, and pumpkins
○ Agriculture developed around 8,000 years ago
■ Perfected 2,500 years ago (ppl began planting things successfully)
○ Sweet potatoes and Polynesia (?)
● Pre-Columbian Points
○ Poverty Point
■ UNESCO World Heritage SIte
■ City built around 3,000 years ago in N. Louisiana
● Didn’t practice agriculture (strange)
● Survived through rich aquatic resources (shellfish)
■ Evidence of long-distance trade
■ Disappeared around 1,600 years ago
○ Great Serpent Mound & Cahokia
■ Lots of mounds found in Mississippi (St. Lewis)
■ Cahokia
● 1,000 years ago ppl built a large pyramid
○ 100 ft. high
● High levels of social stratification & trade
○ Found shells, copper, & micah all from regions as far as
Appalachia
○ Used slave labor to build these sites (raided tribes & took
young women who were sacrificed when the leaders died)
,1/24/2023
Lecture 2
● Texas Native Americans
○ Tonkawa
■ Seasonally migrate back and forth
○ Caddo
■ Off-shoot of Mississippi historic tribes
■ E. Texas
■ Communal agricultural villages, beehive shaped houses
○ Karankawa
■ Seasonally migrate back and forth from the coast
■ Involved in long distance trade between Jumano & Caddo
○ Jumano
○ Tigua
■ Lived in huge multi-family homes
■ One of few tribes that practiced agriculture in W. Texas
○ Coahuiltecan
■ Hunter-gatherers who learned to live off the resources
○ Comanche
■ Moved to Hill Country from Montana in the 1600s/1700s for better access
to Mexico (for horses)
○ Wichita
■ Antelope Creek is the only example of a settled village in the Panhandle
● Spanish Exploration
○ Columbus
■ Spanish King & Queen (Ferdinand of Aragon & Isabella of Castille)
financed Columbus' exploration to find a sea trade route to India/China
● India = spices
● China = silk
○ 1492? = 1469-1492: Spanish monarchs in war w/ Grenada
(Muslim monarchs) and King & Queen get married to unite
the 2 kingdoms and win
■ This means they had a lot of $ to throw around →
Columbus
■ Columbus route (1st voyage): The Bahamas → Cuba → Haiti
● 3 ships
■ Columbus wasn't the first European in the Americas
● Vikings arrived in Newfoundland
○ Columbian Exchange
■ Exchange of people, animals, plants, & pathogens between Eastern &
Western Hemisphere
■ Begins during Columbus’ 2nd voyage
● 17 ships (>1,000 settlers)
■ European diseases devastated the native population in the Americas
, ● Domesticated livestock (horses & pigs) comes from Eurasia
(besides llamas, alpacas, dogs, & turkeys)
● Animals carry disease which transfer to people
○ Bubonic plague, smallpox, influenza
■ Native pop. had no immunity to European diseases
or any idea how to deal with these diseases
● Hispaniola = Around 1,000,000 dropped to
32,000 (1600)
● Peru = 9,000,000 dropped to 500,000
(1600)
● Mexico = 25,000,000 dropped to 1,300,000
(1600)
○ N. America ydropped 74%
○ Estimated that in N. & S. America
(1492-1650) 89% of the pop. died
○ Syphilis is the main disease that comes from the Americas
to Europe (doesn’t devastate European pop. b/c you have
to have sex to catch it)
○ Cortez and Pizarro
■ Cortez
● Responsible for the conquest of Mexico
● 1519: Set sail for Cuba to “get rich”
○ Ordered crew to sink ships so they wouldn’t be tempted to
flee
● Tenochtitlan (Mexico City)
○ Aztec empire
○ “Floating City” built on a huge lake
○ Cortez recruited Aztec enemies (other Native American
groups) to defeat the Aztec
○ Smallpox breaks out at the same time
■ Cortez invaded and defeated the Aztecs
● Tlaxcala
○ “Dona Marina”
○ Could speak Spanish and Native languages
■ Became Cortez’ companion and had his son
(symbolic of the birth of Mexico = mixing of Europe
and Natives)
● Found a lot of gold
■ Pizarro
● Responsible for the conquest of the Inca
● Also used a mix of disease and native allies to defeat the Inca
● Also found a lot of gold & silver
○ Modern Potosi, Bolivia
■ 60,000 tons of silver since 1600
Lecture 1
● pre-Clovis sites in N. America
○ 20,000 years ago (keeps getting pushed further back)
○ N. America = one of the last continents populated
○ 1st ppl in N. America
○ Most of n. hemisphere = ice caps
■ Sea levels dropped
■ Dry land between Asia & N. America
■ Ppl from Siberia (Asia) followed big animals migrating to N. America
● Followed herds south down through Canada
○ Meadowcroft Rockshelter (Pittsburgh, PA) & the Gault Site (Central TX)
● Pleistocene N. America
○ Conclusive proof ppl were in the Americas = clovis point embedded in an animal
in Clovis, NM
■ Btwn 13,000-8,000 years ago
■ Weren’t carved down to make them lighter/more streamlined
○ During Clovis large animals started dying out
■ Mixture of human activity & profound climate change
○ Folsom Point
■ 8,500 years ago
■ Ppl started hunting bison
● Fluting = more material removed from the rock (flew faster & more
accurately)
■ Folsom point embedded in a bison in Folsom, CA
■ Only domesticated animals were dogs
● N. American Language Families
○ Indigenous explanations for the peopling of the Americas
■ Earth Diver Myths
● Center around some being falling to Earth & creating humans
● Iroquois Creation Story: Sky Woman fell to the Earth
■ Emergence Myths
● Trace their 1st ancestors to emerging from the Earth in some way
● Caddos Creation Story: Tribe emerges from an underground cave
located near the confluence of the Red & Mississippi Rivers in N.
Louisiana
○ Woman carried seeds for agriculture (corn & pumpkin)
■ Women had a lot of political power, men took the
woman’s last name
○ Man carried tools (pipe & fire)
● Agriculture
○ Natives fed the Pilgrims
■ Most of the global “plate” was domesticated by the Native Americans
○ New World Crops
, ■ Beans, potatoes, tomatoes, squash, corn, chili peppers, and pumpkins
○ Agriculture developed around 8,000 years ago
■ Perfected 2,500 years ago (ppl began planting things successfully)
○ Sweet potatoes and Polynesia (?)
● Pre-Columbian Points
○ Poverty Point
■ UNESCO World Heritage SIte
■ City built around 3,000 years ago in N. Louisiana
● Didn’t practice agriculture (strange)
● Survived through rich aquatic resources (shellfish)
■ Evidence of long-distance trade
■ Disappeared around 1,600 years ago
○ Great Serpent Mound & Cahokia
■ Lots of mounds found in Mississippi (St. Lewis)
■ Cahokia
● 1,000 years ago ppl built a large pyramid
○ 100 ft. high
● High levels of social stratification & trade
○ Found shells, copper, & micah all from regions as far as
Appalachia
○ Used slave labor to build these sites (raided tribes & took
young women who were sacrificed when the leaders died)
,1/24/2023
Lecture 2
● Texas Native Americans
○ Tonkawa
■ Seasonally migrate back and forth
○ Caddo
■ Off-shoot of Mississippi historic tribes
■ E. Texas
■ Communal agricultural villages, beehive shaped houses
○ Karankawa
■ Seasonally migrate back and forth from the coast
■ Involved in long distance trade between Jumano & Caddo
○ Jumano
○ Tigua
■ Lived in huge multi-family homes
■ One of few tribes that practiced agriculture in W. Texas
○ Coahuiltecan
■ Hunter-gatherers who learned to live off the resources
○ Comanche
■ Moved to Hill Country from Montana in the 1600s/1700s for better access
to Mexico (for horses)
○ Wichita
■ Antelope Creek is the only example of a settled village in the Panhandle
● Spanish Exploration
○ Columbus
■ Spanish King & Queen (Ferdinand of Aragon & Isabella of Castille)
financed Columbus' exploration to find a sea trade route to India/China
● India = spices
● China = silk
○ 1492? = 1469-1492: Spanish monarchs in war w/ Grenada
(Muslim monarchs) and King & Queen get married to unite
the 2 kingdoms and win
■ This means they had a lot of $ to throw around →
Columbus
■ Columbus route (1st voyage): The Bahamas → Cuba → Haiti
● 3 ships
■ Columbus wasn't the first European in the Americas
● Vikings arrived in Newfoundland
○ Columbian Exchange
■ Exchange of people, animals, plants, & pathogens between Eastern &
Western Hemisphere
■ Begins during Columbus’ 2nd voyage
● 17 ships (>1,000 settlers)
■ European diseases devastated the native population in the Americas
, ● Domesticated livestock (horses & pigs) comes from Eurasia
(besides llamas, alpacas, dogs, & turkeys)
● Animals carry disease which transfer to people
○ Bubonic plague, smallpox, influenza
■ Native pop. had no immunity to European diseases
or any idea how to deal with these diseases
● Hispaniola = Around 1,000,000 dropped to
32,000 (1600)
● Peru = 9,000,000 dropped to 500,000
(1600)
● Mexico = 25,000,000 dropped to 1,300,000
(1600)
○ N. America ydropped 74%
○ Estimated that in N. & S. America
(1492-1650) 89% of the pop. died
○ Syphilis is the main disease that comes from the Americas
to Europe (doesn’t devastate European pop. b/c you have
to have sex to catch it)
○ Cortez and Pizarro
■ Cortez
● Responsible for the conquest of Mexico
● 1519: Set sail for Cuba to “get rich”
○ Ordered crew to sink ships so they wouldn’t be tempted to
flee
● Tenochtitlan (Mexico City)
○ Aztec empire
○ “Floating City” built on a huge lake
○ Cortez recruited Aztec enemies (other Native American
groups) to defeat the Aztec
○ Smallpox breaks out at the same time
■ Cortez invaded and defeated the Aztecs
● Tlaxcala
○ “Dona Marina”
○ Could speak Spanish and Native languages
■ Became Cortez’ companion and had his son
(symbolic of the birth of Mexico = mixing of Europe
and Natives)
● Found a lot of gold
■ Pizarro
● Responsible for the conquest of the Inca
● Also used a mix of disease and native allies to defeat the Inca
● Also found a lot of gold & silver
○ Modern Potosi, Bolivia
■ 60,000 tons of silver since 1600
