Most Native American origin stories assert that
Native nations have always called the Americas home; however, some
scholars believe that between nine and fifteen thousand years ago, a
land bridge existed between Asia and North America that we now call Beringia.
The first inhabitants of what would be named the Americas migrated
across this bridge in search of food. When the glaciers melted, water
engulfed Beringia, and the Bering Strait was formed. Later settlers came
by boat across the narrow strait. (The fact that Asians and Native
Americans share genetic markers on a Y chromosome lends credibility to
this migration theory.) Continually moving southward, the settlers
eventually populated both North and South America, creating unique
cultures that ranged from the highly complex and urban Aztec
civilization in what is now Mexico City to the woodland tribes of
eastern North America. Recent research along the west coast of South
America suggests that migrant populations may have traveled down this
coast by water as well as by land.
Researchers
believe that about ten thousand years ago, humans also began the
domestication of plants and animals, adding agriculture as a means of
sustenance to hunting and gathering techniques. With this agricultural
revolution, and the more abundant and reliable food supplies it brought,
populations grew and people were able to develop a more settled way of
life, building permanent settlements. Nowhere in the Americas was this
more obvious than in Mesoamerica
Mesoamerica
is the geographic area stretching from north of Panama up to the desert
of central Mexico. Although marked by great topographic, linguistic,
and cultural diversity, this region cradled a number of civilizations
with similar characteristics. Mesoamericans were polytheistic;
their gods possessed both male and female traits and demanded blood
sacrifices of enemies taken in battle or ritual bloodletting. Corn, or
maize, domesticated by 5000 BCE, formed the basis of their diet. They
developed a mathematical system, built huge edifices, and devised a
calendar that accurately predicted eclipses and solstices and that
priest-astronomers used to direct the planting and harvesting of crops.
Most important for our knowledge of these peoples, they created the only
known written language in the Western Hemisphere; researchers have made
much progress in interpreting the inscriptions on their temples and
pyramids. Though the area had no overarching political structure, trade
over long distances helped diffuse culture. Weapons made of obsidian,
jewelry crafted from jade, feathers woven into clothing and ornaments,
and cacao beans that were whipped into a chocolate drink formed the
basis of commerce. The mother of Mesoamerican cultures was the Olmec
civilization.
Flourishing along the hot Gulf Coast of Mexico
from about 1200 to about 400 BCE, the Olmec produced a number of major
works of art, architecture, pottery, and sculpture. Most recognizable
are their giant head sculptures (Figure 1.4)
and the pyramid in La Venta. The Olmec built aqueducts to transport
water into their cities and irrigate their fields. They grew maize,
squash, beans, and tomatoes. They also bred small domesticated dogs
which, along with fish, provided their protein. Although no one knows
what happened to the Olmec after about 400 BCE, in part because the
jungle reclaimed many of their cities, their culture was the base upon
which the Maya and the Aztec built. It was the Olmec who worshipped a
rain god, a maize god, and the feathered serpent so important in the
future pantheons of the Aztecs (who called him Quetzalcoatl) and the
Maya (to whom he was Kukulkan). The Olmec also developed a system of
trade throughout Mesoamerica, giving rise to an elite class.
