Exam Notes

Room 1: A Brave New World

• Beringia:
  • Existed between northeastern Asia and northwestern North America.
  • Allowed plants, animals, and humans to migrate between the Old and New Worlds.
• Agriculture in Mesoamerica:
  • Began around 7,000 years ago with the domestication of maize, beans, and squash (the "three sisters").
  • The "three sisters" agriculture spread across Mexico by 3,500 years ago.
  • Different Native American tribes cultivated corn, beans, and squash, as they grow well together.

Room 2: Pre-Contact American Empires

• Inca:
  • Organized tribute system with representatives in provincial capitals.
  • Used quipus for record-keeping of births, deaths, and resources.
  • Emphasized justice and ensured everyone worked; storehouses provided supplies during lean years.
• Aztec:
  • Tenochtitlan was well-constructed with palaces, gardens, and causeways.
  • Sophisticated markets with diverse goods.
• Cahokia:
  • Large, permanently settled society with Monk’s Mound at its center.
  • Had a complex social structure with a stockade separating the elite.
  • Used Woodhenge as sun calendars for determining seasons.
  • Mound 72 contained sacrificial victims and a male ruler, indicating complex burial rituals.

Room 3: Southwest Cultural Region

• Geographic and Temporal Setting:
  • Pueblo people (Mogollon, Hohokam, and Anasazi) resided in present-day Arizona, New Mexico, and surrounding areas.
  • Anasazi lived in the Four Corners region, Mogollon in southwestern New Mexico, and Hohokam in southern Arizona.
  • Apache and Navajo tribes arrived around 1200 CE.
• Common Food Practices:
  • Anasazi, Mogollon, and Hohokam were the first farmers in America, with corn as a primary crop.
  • Developed complex irrigation systems, such as the Hohokam system in 800 CE.
• Societal Organization:
  • Sedentary lifestyle in stone and adobe houses due to agriculture.
  • Chaco Canyon was a major trade hub connected by roads.
  • Navajos and Apaches were more nomadic, living in hogans.
• Social and Religious Norms:
  • Spiritual ceremonies for bountiful harvests and good weather.
  • Extended families worked together, with men participating in farming.
  • Droughts and floods led to the abandonment of some areas.

Room 4: California & Northwest Cultural Regions

• California Geographic and Temporal Setting:
  • Rivers ran freely and lands were filled with oak grooves and grasslands.
  • Native Californians interacted with diverse ecosystems.
• Northwest Geographic and Temporal Settings:
  • Narrow coastal land from Washington State to Alaska.
  • Moderate temperatures allowed for year-round fishing.
• California Common Food Practices:
  • Hunting, gathering, fishing, and controlled burnings were used to harvest resources.
  • Acorns were a staple food, processed into soup and bread.
• Northwest Common Food Practices:
  • Reliance on water for survival, especially salmon.
  • Exploitation of forests for resources like cedar.
  • Hunter-gatherer lifestyle with permanent settlements due to abundant food.
• California Societal Organization:
  • Communities of 200-500 people led by a male leader.
  • Kinship was a powerful organizing factor.
• Northwest Societal Organization:
  • Society ruled by wealth, with nobles, commoners, and slaves.
  • Clan membership inherited through the mother's side.
  • Recognized ownership of land and property.
• California Social and Religious Norms:
  • Close interaction with nature was central.
  • Religious beliefs varied, with some tribes being monotheistic and others animistic.
  • Religious rites tied into the ecological nature of society.
• Northwest Social and Religious Norms:
  • Customs, beliefs, and history passed down through stories, songs, and dances.
  • Belief in supernatural beings and the role of shamans.
  • Potlatches were celebrations to show off wealth, celebrate changes in social status, and bestow gifts.

Room 5: Great Plains & Great Basin Cultural Regions

• Great Basin Geographic and Temporal Setting:
  • Dry, desert areas between the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada.
  • Hunter-gatherer culture due to climate and limited resources.
• Great Plains Geographic and Temporal Setting:
  • Flatlands east of the Rocky Mountains.
  • Sparsely populated until 1100 CE.
• Great Basin Common Food Practices:
  • Migration of people due to desert climate.
  • Reliance on animals like deer, sheep, and rabbits, and sparse vegetation like piñon nuts.
  • Annual round of exploiting resources in different ecological zones.
• Great Plains Common Food Practices:
  • Introduction of corn, beans, and squash from the Southwest.
  • Shift back to hunting, especially after a drought in the 1300s.
  • Hunting became more dominant with horses.
• Great Basin Societal Organization:
  • Small family bands moving through an annual cycle.
  • Fluid and atomistic social organization.
• Great Plains Societal Organization:
  • Sedentary agrarian societies with larger networks and trade along rivers.
  • Shift to more nomadic societies focused on hunting with the introduction of horses.
• Great Basin Social and Religious Norms:
  • Religious concepts derived from mythical cosmogony and belief in "power" beings.
  • Shamanism as a medium between the visible and spirit worlds.
  • Animism as a belief that all natural objects have souls or spirits.
• Great Plains Social and Religious Norms:
  • Hunting-agrarian groups divided at the band level.
  • Rituals revolved around the sun and nature.
  • Introduction of horses led to less egalitarian societies and increased intertribal conflict.

Room 6: Northeast and Southeast Cultural Regions

• Northeast Geographic and Temporal Setting:
  • Extends from Quebec to the Ohio River Valley.
  • Settled extensively during the Hopewellian period due to climate and farming conditions.
• Southeast Geographic and Temporal Setting:
  • Extends down the Mississippi River.
  • Fertile land led to agricultural development.
  • Five Civilized Tribes: Cherokees, Choctaws, Chickasaws, Creeks, and Seminoles.
• Northeast Common Food Practices:
  • Shift towards three-sister farming (corn, squash, beans).
  • Algonquians combined hunting and gathering with farming.
• Southeast Common Food Practices:
  • Corn farming boomed, supplemented by hunting and fishing.
• Northeast Societal Structure:
  • Tribes traded food and commodities, with villages of a few hundred people.
  • Hopewellian culture began mound-building.
• Southeast Societal Structure:
  • Mississippian culture continued mound-building.
  • Urban trade centers along the Mississippi River.
  • Villages forming political units, with Seminoles constructing chickees.
• Northeast Social and Religious Norms:
  • Urbanization due to farming led to fortified villages.
  • Iroquois League established for peace and trade.
  • Republican principles and federalism.
• Southeast Social and Religious Norms:
  • Stratified economic wealth with chiefdoms and slavery.
  • Spiritual connection to the land and use of mounds for ceremonies.