Chapter 1 Worksheet
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How did historians study the past?
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They study artifacts but mainly concentrate on written documents to determine the attitudes of the people
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The distinction between the study of humans by archaeologist and the study of humans by historians is often denoted by the
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invention of writing
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Though ancient Americans lacked writing skills, they
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used other kinds of symbolic representation
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How do modern archaeologist study ancient peoples?
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Modern archaeologist combine a variety of approaches.
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What was the reason for the early, prolonged absence of humans in the Western Hemisphere?
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They lacked a way of transportation
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How did the climate change allow hunters to reach the Western Hemisphere?
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It created the land bride of Beringia.
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Although experts debate the exact time people began migrating to North America, the first migrants probably arrived by
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around 15,000 BP
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How long did it take Paleo-Indians to migrate throughout the Western Hemisphere after their initial arrival?
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One thousand years
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What do the artifacts that have survived the Paleo-Indian era suggest about the first Americans?
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They were skilled hunters that specialized in the hunting of big mammals.
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About 11,000 years ago, the Paleo-Indians faced a major crisis because
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the large animals they hunted had difficulty adapting to the warmer climate.
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How did Native American cultures adapt to the extinction of big game
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Paleo-Indians began foraging wild plants.
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When Europeans arrived in 1492, Native American cultures were
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so varied that they defy easy and simple description.
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What does the term Archaic describe?
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Hunting and Gathering cultures that descended from Paleo-Indians.
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Which of the following is an accurate description of Archaic Indians?
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They hunted smaller game with traps, nets, and hooks.
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Archaic Indians who hunted the bison herds of the Great Plains were
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nomads who moved constantly with their prey
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How did the introduction of bows and arrows affect Archaic Indians
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it improved their hunting efficiency.
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The Archaic Indians in the Great Basin inhabited a region with
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great environmental diversity
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What was the main source of food for Archaic peoples inhabiting the Great Basin?
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Plants
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Why did native peoples in California remain hunters and gatherers for hundreds of years after Europeans arrived in the Western Hemisphere?
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Both land & ocean provided an abundant food supply
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Archaeological evidence indicates that the California Chumash culture was characterized by
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a notable amount of conflict among village due to relatively permanent villages.
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Archaic Northwest peoples took advantage of which plentiful resource for sustenance and for trade?
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fish
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What environmental factor shaped the cultures of the Archaic peoples of the Eastern Woodland?
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Forests
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Early Woodland Indians obtained food by
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hunting deer
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How did they diet and culture of Woodland peoples change around 4000 BP?
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Woodland cultures adopted limited forms of plant growing.
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Why did nomadic peoples shun the use of pottery?
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Pots ere to heavy to carry around
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How did agriculture change Archaic cultures?
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It encouraged the gradual establishment of permanent settlements
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Why did Archaic cultures in the Southwest adopt agriculture?
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The supply of wild plant food was highly unreliable
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When did corn become a food crop for southwestern cultures?
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3500 BP
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Ancient southwestern Indians became experts in the conservation of
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water
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What feature characterized the settlements of the Mogollon culture?
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Pit houses
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Why did Hohokam settlements utilize irrigation canals?
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Canals allowed planting and harvesting crops twice a year.
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Multistory cliff dwellings and pueblos are residential structures associated with the
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Anasazi Culture
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The Anasazi culture disappeared due to
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a drought that lasted more than 50 years.
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Burial mounds and chiefdoms are associated with which ancient Americans?
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Woodland people
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Why do archaeologist believe that the first ancient Woodland mound builders were organized into chiefdoms?
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The complexity of the mounds suggests that one chief commanded labor from others
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What does analysis of artifacts in burial mounds reveal about the Hopewell chiefdom?
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Burial was reserved for the most important members of society. It showed existence of trade network.
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Scholars speculate that Hopewell culture declined because
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farming & new weapons made central authority unnecessary
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Experts believe that the Cahokians used woodhenges for
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celestial observations
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What is a prudent estimate of the population of Native Americans in North America at the time of Columbus's arrival in the New World?
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4 million
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Although the 2 regions had roughly the same population in 1492, the population density of North America was
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much less than that of England
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Eastern Woodland peoples around the time of Columbus's arrival in 1492 clustered into which three major groups?
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Algonquian, Iroquoian, and Muskogean peoples
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The league of 5 nations, which remained powerful well into the 18th century, was formed as
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a loose confederation of the Iroquoian tribes for the purposes of war and diplomacy.
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The Athapascan tribes- mainly Apache and Navajo - were
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skillful warriors who preyed on the sedentary pueblo Indians
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What characteristic was common across the many tribes inhabiting North America at the dawn of European colonization?
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Their cultures had developed in relation to their local natural environments.
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Evidence indicates that before 1492, Native Americans
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practiced human sacrifice
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How did Native Americans relate to the natural environment?
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They changed the environment in a variety of ways that served their own interest
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In AD 1492, the empire of the Mexica
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encompassed up to 25 million people
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Which group held the most exalted position in Mexican society
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Warriors
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The Mexica used an extensive tribute system to redistribute wealth from
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the poor to the rich
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Spanish conquerors exploited which weakness of Mexica empire?
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The empires subjects didn't see the Mexica as legitimate of fare rulers.
