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Native Americans Unit 1
2 Narratives, Geography, Before the Encounter, Archaic, Woodland, Mississippiana
81
Anthropology
Undergraduate 4
09/14/2011

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Term
The Great Easting
Definition
to the Native Americans, this was the colonization of the Americas. A story of cultural survival and triumph, not cultural disappearance.
Term
The Great Westing
Definition
This is the story we have all heard growing up. The European discovery & colonization of the New World. Usually accompanied with notions of "untouched land", "civilization" being brought, and European triumph.
Term
5 things that effect the earth's climate
Definition
revolution, rotation, inclination, parallelism, and spherical shape
Term
natural regions
Definition
a large geographic area whose physical structure, attributes, morphology & climate distinguishes its geography and geology.
Term
what are natural regions effected by?
Definition
rainfall, temperature, erosion, etc.
Term
how are natural regions grouped?
Definition
there are 42 natural regions grouped into 9 divisions
Term
life zones
Definition
geographic areas characterized by specific association of flora & fauna (biotic communities)
Term
Arctic-Tundra Life Zone
Definition
temps rarely above 0 centigrade, harsh & dry, permafrost (soil frozen most of yr)
Term
vertical zonation
Definition
as you climb higher, you enter and leave different life zones.
Term
Pleistocene epoch of North America
Definition
most recent episode of global cooling. time of the wooley mammoth
Term
cultural areas
Definition
geographic territories characterized by specific patterns of culture & association of cultural traits
Term
3 parts of human socio-cultural system
Definition
superstructure, social structure, and infrastructure
Term
superstructure
Definition
worldview, ehtos, & system of ethics, morals, and values
Term
social structure
Definition
norms, patterns of relationship (marriage, sex, race), & institutions
Term
infrastructure
Definition
subsistence & economic patterns
Term
Precolumbian Plains Villages
Definition
earth lodge buliding peoples, farmed in river valleys (maize), plains riverine zone
Term
Early Post-Contact Plains Villagers
Definition
densely populated villages, corn agriculture, buffalo hunters, trading (this combo made them successful), epicenter of trade, also epicenter of epidemic (smallpox, etc.)
Term
the 2 moving frontiers
Definition
horses and guns
Term
Quaternary Period
Definition
geological period w/ 2 epochs (holocene and pleistocene)
Term
Pleistocene
Definition
cyclical advance & retreat of continental scale glaciation, sea level rise/fall, change in mean annual temp & humidity, biogeographical change, evolution of anatomically modern humans
Term
final glacial stage
Definition
glacial ice reaches max extension westward; reaches coldest temps; most spectacular fauna & flora appears (Rancholabrean fauna)
Term
Rancholabrean
Definition
period in the final glacial stage that exhibited very large animals (larger than any modern ones)
Term
sequence of prehistoric cultural period in N.A.
Definition
Pre-Clovis -> Paleo-Indian -> Archaic -> Woodland -> Mississipian
Term
cultures of Paleo-Indian period
Definition
Folsom & Clovis Cultures. Hunting & gathering cultures that hunted large animals of the Rancholabrean time
Term
Clovis Culture
Definition
often labeled 1st culture in the New World (until recently); named after Clovis, NM in 1932; fluted bifacial blades indicates a stone tool culture.
Term
Folsom Culture
Definition
1st recognized at Folsom, NM in 1927; stone tools ("Folsom Points") found all across N.A. in association w/ bison remains
Term
Olsen-Chubbock Site, CO
Definition
bison butchering site; 27 lanceolate points; "River of Bones"; example of wasteful stone hunting
Term
Pleistocene extinctions
Definition
Rancholabrean animals, maybe caused by hunting "blitzkrieg" by Paleo-Indians?, climate change?
Term
characteristics of Holocene epoch
Definition
global temp & humidity rise; de-glaciation; sea levels rise; Ria Coastline develops; migratory bird pop. rises; improvements in conditions for life; Bering Strait drowned by sea
Term
Early Archaic characteristics
Definition
final retreat of Wisconsin glaciation; variation in stone points; wooden canoes; decorative wood & shell objects; burial/status differentiation; atlatl
Term
subsistence & settlement systems of Early Archaic
Definition
little hierarchy (egalitarian); small/mobile bands (move w/ seasons); intimate understanding of nature & animals
Term
characteristics of Middle Archaic
Definition
new projectile points; broad spectrum foraging; increased trade; mound building; broad spectrum hunting and foraging ("Primary Forest Efficiency"); intensified food processing; gather plants, seeds, nuts, fruits, & mussels; slash-burn technology
Term
characteristics of Late Archaic
Definition
new projectile points; widespread trade of exotics; baked clay objects & ceramics; soapstone bowls; mound building expands; asymmetrical treatment of burials; maize pollen; "sedentism"
Term
sedentism
Definition
appears in Late Archaic; condition of routinely remaining at a single location; more reliant on subsistence in one place; reciprocity & sharing common
Term
sites of the Late Archaic exhibit...
Definition
storage pits, house floors, baked clay objects, and fire tempered ceramics
Term
baked clay objects
Definition
Late Archaic; fist-sized objects; probably part of culinary technology; used in substitution of stones in "stone boiling"; found in Gulf Coast area where stones are rare
Term
fiber tempered ceramics
Definition
Late Archaic; adding a "temper" aids in keeping the pottery from cracking in kiln; Spanish moss & other organic plant material used
Term
mound-building
Definition
Late Archaic; fisher-hunter-gatherers; primarily for ceremonial & burial uses; shows increase in subsistence productivity; evidence of status & stratification; ex: Poverty Point, LA - Central Earthwork Ceremonial Precinct
Term
sequence of change in Late Archaic
Definition
Gathering -> Tending -> Planting
Term
4 key macro-regions of earth
Definition
SW Asia; S & SE Asia; Mesoamerica; Andean S.A.
Term
primary New World plant domesticants
Definition
maize, beans, squash, potatoes, cacao, manioc, amaranth, etc.
Term
the Three Sisters
Definition
maize, beans, and squash
Term
primary New World animal domesticants
Definition
dogs, turkeys, guinea pigs, & llamas
Term
corn
Definition
"maize", originated w/ the teocinte plant (perinneal); completely human dependent; must be shucked & planted
Term
domesticated problem children
Definition
sunflower & bottle gourds. hard to find out where they came from originally.
Term
domesticants of Central & S. America
Definition
sunflower, wild gourd, maygrass, marsh elder, & sumpweed
Term
characteristics of the Mississippian period
Definition
native plants replaced by the Three Sisters; Three Sisters become important in Native American religious & ceremonial life; women important in agriculture
Term
Birger Figurine
Definition
Mississippian figurine; women hoeing serpant's back. serpant has teeth of an animal.
Term
Early Woodland Period characteristics
Definition
well tempered pottery replaces fiber tempered & soapstone; hunting/fishing/gathering central but squash & other seed plants domesticated; Adena Culture; paddle & anvil ceramics;
Term
paddle & anvil method
Definition
early Woodland; walls of pot paddled w/ cord-wrapped paddle & anvil; build pot walls up from base
Term
"fire clouds"
Definition
Early Woodland; characteristic visible on pottery after the firing sequence
Term
steatite
Definition
Early Woodland; no longer used in mading bowls, but used in pipes and other decoratives
Term
Adena Culture
Definition
cultural complex centered in Ohio & extending from Indiana to W. Virginia; burial mounds contain rich burial goods w/ raw materials; effigy mounds in forms of birds, snakes, & other animals; ex: Great Serpent Mound @ Chillicothe, Ohio; Marching Bear Effigy Mounds; Iowa
Term
Middle Woodland Period characteristics
Definition
widespread trade in exotic raw materials; elaborate geometric burial mounds; bison scapula hoes; shell hoes. the Woodland period ends badly.
Term
characteristics of the Mississippian Cultural Period
Definition
mound-plaza-village pattern; cultivation of corn, beans, squash; intensive hunting/gathering; shell-tempered ceramics; high quality crafts; Southwestern Cerimonial Complex; long distance trade in exotics
Term
subsistence of the Mississippian
Definition
intensive cultivation of Three Sisters, sunflower, tobacco, chenopods; intensive fishing/plant gathering/hunting; economy based on maize & harvesting wild resources
Term
settlement pattern of Mississippian
Definition
mound building concentrated in great river systems; many plaza-mound-village complexes
Term
Warfare in Mississippian
Definition
resources were fought over b/c major mound sites controlled most fertile & abundant areas
Term
society in Mississippian
Definition
"settlement hierarchies" - few were large enough to control others; political & religious power highly centralized w/ elaborate burials & ceremonial complexes; widespread trade networks; social inequality apparent in trade
Term
What is significant about April 15, 1519?
Definition
Hernan Cortes arrived in the New World with a fleet of 11 galleons. 2 years later the conquest of Mexico was over.
Term
key Aztec sites
Definition
Gran Chichimeca; Huitzilopochtili; Valley of Mexico; Queztalcoatl; Lake Texcoco; Tenochtitlan
Term
Chinampa agriculture
Definition
Aztec wet gardens which allowed for constant cropping; very productive
Term
Aztec calendar
Definition
celebrated as a tie to divination & fortune telling; called the Piedra del Sol
Term
Aztec gods
Definition
their natures were quite terrifying and violent; believed that it was the job of the Aztecs to "feed" the gods w/ sacrifices to appease them. Then, they wouldn't destroy the earth. Aztecs cannibalized the victims.
Term
Spanish defeat of the Aztecs
Definition
invited into the city by Montexuma & given gifts of gold; found allies (enemies of Aztecs); Cortes thought to be a god, Cortes and his men made their move; decimated the city & built a new city on top of it; replaced temple with RCC
Term
reputation of the Spanish soldiers
Definition
best and cruelest of the Spanish Inquisition; highly skilled and organized
Term
Bernal Diaz del Castillo
Definition
commemorates & depicts everything that happened in the conquest; does not shed a good light on Cortes
Term
Montexuma
Definition
leader of the Aztec nation; effective military commander, but given a bad wrap by his people. Killed by his own people at the end of Cortes's raid.
Term
reason for Aztecs to take captives
Definition
macahuitl (preferred weapon carved of hardwood - aim is to maim, not kill) capture victim for sacrafice
Term
location of the Inca Empire and key sites
Definition
Peruvian Andes; Machu Picchu; Cuzco; "Lost Valley of the Incas"
Term
Religion of the Incas
Definition
Emperor considered to be "Son of the Sun"; complex shrine and calendar system known as the Zeque; refusal by Atahualpa to convert was jumped on as reason to wage war
Term
types of metallurgy used by Incas
Definition
gold and bronze
Term
1 downfall of Inca Empire
Definition
no official writing system; but they did use an enigmatic Quipu knotted cords
Term
How were the Incas able to keep control of such a vast empire?
Definition
war, tribute extraction, & a vast road system (w/ a post system)
Term
fate of the Inca gold
Definition
Spanish melted it down and shipped it back to Spain
Term
Atahualpa
Definition
leader of the Aztec Empire at the time Pizarro invaded; taken captive and killed by Pizarro after offering a ransom of gold for his life
Term
Francisco Pizarro
Definition
conquistador leader that decimated the Inca Civilization; took over the Peruvian Andes and greedily took all the gold for Spain; later killed by his 1st business partner's son
Term
Advantages of the Spanish
Definition
horses, rapiers, artillery, & the "gift" of smallpox
Term
Roman Catholic Church
Definition
fanatical and powerful force with a fixation on life & death
Term
Malinche
Definition
slave girl given to Cortex; her people labeled her a traitor
Term
staples of the Inca Empire
Definition
potatoes, maize, and guinea pigs
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