The First Americans

1. The First Americans

2. Anasazi Indians • The Anasazi Indians adapted to their environment by building homes in the stone cliffs of the U.S. Southwest.

3. The European’s Arrive • Europeans and other groups did not start arriving in North America until a little more than 500 years ago. • For thousands of years, the first Americans had the American continents to themselves.

5. Chapter Goals • In this chapter, you will learn about these resourcefulpeople and the creative ways they adapted to their environments. • Resourceful: good at finding ways to solve problems

6. Section 2 - Migration Routes of the First Americans Scientists believe that the first Americans migrated on foot from Siberia, in Asia, to present-day Alaska. A strip of ocean called the Bering Strait separates Alaska and Asia. Migrate: to move from one place and establish a home in a new place. A move of a large number of people is called a migration, and the people are called migrants.

7. Migration Routes • The last Ice Age was when a land bridge connected Asia and North America. • This Ice Age exposed a wide bridge of land between Asia and North America that scientists call Beringia. • Animals and Humans migrated over this land bridge.

8. Over thousands of years, the animals slowly spread eastward. Generations of Siberian hunter families followed. • Once in America, hunters followed the animals south, where spring brought fresh grasses • As the glaciers melted and the oceans rose, the land bridge disappeared.

9. Mammoths • Mammoths began to die off. • They could have died off from: • Disease • Overhunting • Changes in climate