Introduction to North American Prehistory and Early Native Cultures

A complete vocabulary flashcard set reviewing key historical, archaeological, anthropological, and religious concepts from the lecture on pre-contact North America.

Homo sapiens

The branch of human beings that survived and originated in Africa about 300,000 to 400,000 years ago before spreading globally.

Bering Strait

A body of water between Alaska and eastern Siberia, named after explorer Vitus Bering, which exposed an approximately 800-mile-wide land bridge during the last Ice Age when ocean levels dropped.

Vitus Bering

A Russian explorer after whom the Bering Strait separating Alaska and eastern Siberia is named.

Radiocarbon Dating

A mid-twentieth-century scientific process used by archaeologists to date fossilized biological remains and establish timelines of animal and human movement.

Prehistoric Megafauna

Massive prehistoric mammals weighing five to seven tons, such as woolly mammoths and Colombian mammoths, whose fossilized remains preserve evidence of early hunting.

Spear Point

A sharpened, shaped stone weapon found embedded in the bones of prehistoric megafauna, providing physical evidence of early human presence and hunting activity.

Clovis Points

Shaped stone spear points named after Clovis, New Mexico, dating back to approximately 13,000 to 15,000 years Before Present (BP).

Folsom, New Mexico

The location where a cowboy in the 1920s discovered mastodon skeletal remains with embedded stone spear points while searching for stray cattle.

Prehistory

The historical era prior to the existence of written records, relying entirely on physical remains and archaeology to substantiate human activity.

Creation Story

Sociocultural or religious traditions held by native tribes asserting that they were created directly in the Americas—often from the earth itself—rather than migrating from elsewhere.

Monte Verde

An archaeological site in Southern Chile that demonstrated human presence by at least 14,500 years ago, forcing a reevaluation of migration timelines.

Meadowcroft Rock Shelter

An archaeological site under a rock ledge in Washington County, Pennsylvania, showing evidence of human activity dating back as early as 19,000 years ago.

James Adebasio

The lead archaeologist who initiated and directed extensive excavations at the Meadowcroft Rock Shelter starting in 1973.

Broad Spectrum Subsistence Folk

A term used by archaeologist James Adebasio to describe early humans at Meadowcroft who consumed a diverse diet ranging from elk to mice and over 105 different animal species.

Taino

The aboriginal population encountered by Christopher Columbus in 1492 upon making landfall on Samana Cay or nearby islands in the West Indies.

"Virgin Land"

A concept historically asserted by European colonizers claiming that North America was an empty, unpopulated land prepared by God for European settlement.

Population Modeling

An anthropological method using formulas and computer models based on prehistoric village sites to estimate overall pre-contact human populations.

Mesoamerica

The region encompassing Mexico and parts of Central America, which supported dense populations and large stone-city civilizations such as the Mayans and Aztecs.

Socioeconomic Organization

The anthropological classification of how human groups structure their communities and feed themselves, evolving through hunter-gatherer, semi-sedentary, and sedentary stages.

Hunter-Gatherer Societies

The most primitive form of human organization, consisting of small mobile bands of 50 or fewer people who survive exclusively by hunting wild animals and gathering naturally occurring plants.

Semi-Sedentary Societies

Societies practicing mixed subsistence by combining hunting and gathering with seasonal agriculture, inhabiting temporary wooden villages until soil nutrients are depleted.

Sedentary Societies

Advanced societies practicing full year-round agriculture and generating food surpluses, enabling permanent stone cities, dense populations, and specialization of labor.

Specialization of Labor

A societal development occurring in sedentary societies where agricultural food surpluses allow individuals to adopt non-farming roles such as political leaders, priests, and artisans.

Uneven Evolutionary Process

The non-linear cultural progression in North America where hunter-gatherer, semi-sedentary, and fully sedentary native societies existed simultaneously across different regions.

Monotheistic Animism

The predominant religious structure of Native North Americans, combining belief in a single creator God with the understanding that nature and the unseen world are alive and interconnected.

Animism

The belief that natural elements—such as wind, earth, sun, and rain—are living, responsive forces with which humans interact through specific rituals and ceremonies.