Early Native American Cultures and History

Vocabulary flashcards covering early American migrations, climate periods, ancient agriculture, and pre-European Native American cultures.

Beringia

A land area between Siberia and North America during the Ice Age that allowed people to cross into North America between about 25,000 and 14,000 BCE.

Paleo-Indians

Early Native peoples in North America who lived from about 25,000 to 10,000 BCE and survived by hunting large Ice Age animals.

Archaic Indians

Early Native peoples who lived from about 10,000 to 3,000 or 4,000 BCE and adapted to the extinction of large animals by hunting smaller animals and gathering plants.

Medieval Warm Period

A period lasting from about 900 to 1300 CE when temperatures in North America and Europe were about 2-3 degrees warmer than usual, significantly affecting agriculture and human societies.

Three Sisters

A combination of three crops—corn, squash, and beans—originating from Mesoamerica around 1200 BCE that provided Native peoples with a successful and nutritious farming system.

Pellagra

A disease that the nutrients provided by beans helped prevent in Native populations using the Three Sisters farming system.

Ancient Puebloan (Anasazi) Culture

A complex society in the Southwest that existed from about 700 to 1300 CE, featuring trade networks, roads, great houses, and social classes of nobles and common people.

Chaco Canyon

An important center of the Ancient Puebloan culture known for its great houses, which was deserted during the 12th century.

Great Houses

Large buildings constructed by the Ancient Puebloan culture within their communities.

Mississippian (Mound Builder) Culture

A society located in the Mississippi River Valley from about 900 to 1300 CE known for building large earth mounds, engaging in warfare, and establishing social classes of priests, nobles, servants, and enslaved people.

Cahokia

One of the largest and most important settlements of the Mississippian (Mound Builder) culture.