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An overview of prehistoric America

Imagine you could walk from Asia to North merica on a great sheet of ice. Crazy? Between 34,000 and 30,000 B.C., the Ice Age reached its staggering peak. Most of the planet's water supply was frozen in enormous continental ice sheets. As a result a bridge, known as Beringia, spread between Asia and North America. Beringia is believed by many experts to have been 1,500 kilometers wide. A wet tundra, it might have been covered with grass, which would be attractive the larger animals. Early man would have hunted these for their survival. The first people in North America ( the "cavemen") probably would have been following animals along the coast, crossing the land bridge without even knowing.


Plenty of Evidence of American prehistori life has been unearthed but almost none can be dated before 12,000 B.C. Well crafted spear points and other items found near Clovis, New Mexico are believed to date to around that time period. Other artifacts found throughout the Americas bear the impression that human life was probably already established here before 10,000 B.C.
This was the time frame believed to be when the mammoth began to die out and the bison became a mainstay of food and precious hides for the prehistoric american. In time plants, berries and seeds became a much larger source for the early American diet as many species of large game became more rare or even extinct. Natives in what is now Mexico began cultivating corn, squash and beans, as early as 8,000 B.C. By 3,000 B.C., a type of corn was being farmed in the valleys of New Mexico. By the early A.D., the Hohokum lived in settlements near Phoenix, Arizona. They were responsible for the building of pyramid-style mounds similar to many found in Mexico. They are also believed to have built canal and irrigation systems.

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