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    The First Americans 1

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    The First Americans 1

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    the first americans 1

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    634 views10 pages

    The First Americans 1

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    api-234908816

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    You are on page 1of 10

    The First Americans

    The Mayas, Aztecs, and I ncas



    Life in Meso-America

    The First Americans Arrive
    Scientists have a number of
    ideas about how people
    came to the Americas.
    Some think that people may
    have come from Asia in
    large canoes. However,
    most think that the first
    humans arrived by land.
    One thing is certain: tens
    of thousands of years ago,
    no humans lived in North or
    South America!
    The Land Bridge-Theory
    Between 10,000 and 100,000 years ago,
    much of the Earth was covered by
    glaciers, or thick sheets of ice. As
    more and more water froze, water
    levels in the oceans dropped,
    exposing more land. One of those
    areas was between modern-day
    Alaska (USA) and Siberia (Asia).
    This area became a land bridge
    many miles wide. The area now lies
    under a narrow waterway called
    the Bering Strait.
    Many scientists believe that people first
    came across the land bridge while
    following herds of Wooly
    Mammoth, some 20,000-30,000
    years ago. Over thousands of years,
    these first Americans eventually
    spread across North and South
    America.

    The Land Bridge (Beringia)
    The Mayas
    When: Between 250 A.D and 900 A.D

    Where: Mayas built large cities and temples in what is now Southern
    Mexico and Central America

    Important Achievements: The Mayas developed arts, a system of
    government and a written language. They observed the stars and studied the
    heavens. ***The Mayas also developed the most accurate calendar
    known until modern times.

    What happened to the Mayas?: Around 900 A.D, the Mayas began to
    abandon their great cities they had built. Disease or overpopulation may
    have caused the decline. Although the Mayan civilization is gone, the Mayan
    language still forms the root of more than 20 languages of Central America.
    The Mayan Calendar
    The Mayas (Click on Video to play, click on other screen to move on)
    The Aztecs
    When: As the Mayan civilization declined around 900 A.D.,
    the Aztec civilization was on the rise.

    Where: The Aztecs built a great capital city, Tenochtitlan
    (tay noch tee lahn) on the site of present-day Mexico
    City, Mexico.

    Important Achievements: More than 200,000 people lived
    in Tenochtitlan at its height, making it perhaps the
    largest city in the world at that time. Religion
    dominated Aztec life. The Aztecs practiced human
    sacrifice as an offering to their gods.
    What happened to the Aztecs?: Cortes and the Spanish
    arrived in 1519, captured Montezuma the Aztec leader,
    destroyed the capital city of Tenochtitlan, and claimed
    the land as a colony for Spain.




    The Aztecs
    The I ncas
    When: By the 1400s, the Inca empire in South America was
    the largest empire in the world.

    Where: The vast empire of the Incas stretched down the
    coast of South America along the Andes Mountains all the
    way to the Amazon rain forest.

    Important Achievements: Capital city of Cuzco was linked to
    other cities and towns by a great network of roads. The
    Incas constructed large buildings, walls for their farms,
    canals to carry water and bridges over deep canyons. Inca
    rulers wore gold and silver jewelry, and their palaces
    contained plates of gold.

    What happened to the Incas?: By 1533, Francisco Pizzaro
    and the Spanish invaded Peru, captured the Inca ruler and
    the capital city of Cuzco.

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