paleo-indians

"For thousands of years, before the arrival of Christopher Columbus and the Europeans, the vast American landscape was home to millions of Native Americans, whose ancestors still remain on the land today. They formed a wide variety of regional cultures, dotting the unspoiled environs stretching from the stark, red rock formations of the Southwest to the thick forestlands of the Northeast. . . . readers will examine how each Indian culture group adapted to their unique surroundings and turned nature into home, as they built their houses, hunted for food, raised their children, and worshiped their gods"--Amazon.

Covers the history of early man in America from the earliest known sites to approximately 1492 A.D.

Who were the earliest Americans? When, how, and from where did they enter and spread across the continent? And what is their relationship to modern Native Americans? Anthropologists develop theories to answer these questions based on the evidence they discover.

"From the author of Apocalyptic Planet, an unsparing, vivid, revelatory travelogue through prehistory that traces the arrival of the First People in North America twenty thousand years ago and the artifacts that enable us to imagine their lives and fates. Scientists squabble over the locations and dates for human arrival in the New World. The first explorers were few, encampments fleeting. At some point in time, between twenty and forty thousand years ago, sea levels were low enough that a vast land bridge was exposed between Asia and North America. But the land bridge was not the only way across. This book upends our notions of where these people came from and who they were. The unpeopled continent they reached was inhabited by megafauna--mastodons, sloths, mammoths, saber-toothed cats, lions, bison, and bears. The First People were not docile--Paleolithic spear points are still encrusted with the protein of their prey--but they were wildly outnumbered and many were prey to the much larger animals. This is a chronicle of the last millennia of the Ice Age, the gradual oscillations and retreat of glaciers, the clues and traces that document the first encounters of early humans, and the animals whose presence governed the humans' chances for survival"--.

Follow prehistoric nomadic hunters as they cross the Bering land bridge from Asia and become the Americas' first inhabitants. Join archaeologists as they examine artifacts, such as spear points and fabrics, and ancient mounds to learn more about the earliest Paleo-Indians in North America. Then travel to Central and South America to uncover how the Mayas, Aztecs, and Incas lived before the arrival of the Europeans.

Uses anthropological theories and discoveries to tell the story of when, how, and from where the earliest Americans entered and spread across the continent and discusses their relationship to modern Native Americans.

"Who were the Paleoindians? They were the first people to come from Asia to the Americas. Readers discover what it would have been like to live among these people as they explore their culture, homelands, and daily activities, such as hunting and gathering. They also discover the archaeological finds that have allowed scientists and historians to determine how the Paleoindians lived"--Amazon.com.

Chronicles the history of American Indians from their earliest beginnings through the present, discussing how their culture was affected by the colonization of America.