1) The earliest inhabitants of the Americas migrated from Asia over land bridges between 15,000-35,000 years ago. 2) These early peoples lived semi-nomadic lifestyles, moving seasonally to hunt, fish, and gather plant foods. 3) Some groups began settling more permanently as collecting plant foods became more efficient than hunting. Societies developed leadership structures and became more organized under an elite class, with the development of techniques like writing.

1. Early Civilizations in the Americas
Henry Lesperance Alvarez
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2. Mexican Americans
• “The History of Mexican Americans is a
tale of a frontier people whose land was
taken by conquest, whose culture was
pushed aside by Anglo conquerors” (4)
• First period must consider both their
Indian and Spanish background.
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3. Early Civilizations in the
Americas
1) Who inhabited the Americas before the
arrival of the Spanish and Portuguese?
2) Where did these peoples came from?
3) How would you describe these peoples?
4) How do you think these peoples lived?
5) How do you think living then was different
to our current life styles?
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4. The most prevalent theory is that the early people migrated from
Asia to the Americas between 15,000 or 35,000 years ago.
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6. Alternative Migration Theories
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7. Early humans had reached Australia, which was never connected to the
Asiatic mainland by a land bridge, by 50,000 years ago, surely by boat.
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8. Isla de Pascua 400 AD
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13. Semi-nomadic bands
• “Were forced into a seasonal cycle of hunting,
(fishing) and collecting by the poverty of the
relatively rainless Mexican environment.
However, their efficiency at collecting plant
foods began to outweigh their hunting
prowess, with and increase amount of settling
down.” Michael D. Coe.
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15. Early Civilization
• “Life became organized under the
direction of an elite class, usually
strengthened by writing and other
techniques of bureaucratic
administration.” Michael D. Coe.
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17. Early Civilizations in
Mesoamerica
• “The kind of art produced by them
reveals the sort of compulsive force
which held together these first civilized
societies, namely a state religion in
which the political leaders were the
intermediaries between gods and
humans.” Michael D. Coe.
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