INTRODUCTION

  Prehistoric Cultures of North America focuses on the development of Native American cultures before the onslaught of immigrants after A.D. 1492. Native Americans include American Indian, Aleut, Yupik and Inuit (Eskimo) people. The course title does reveal various biases due to the view that only the European has a history and that North America is the primary interest to students in the U.S. Therefore, ancient Americans might be more inclusive. Further, America is a label given by Europeans. This begs the question, 'What did Native Americans call America  before? ' Commonly the response given by Native Americans is 'ours' or 'Turtle Island'. Fundamentally, non-Indians were initially baffled by the very existence of America and its indigenous people. Non-Indians have ignored the sovereignty of contemporary Native American people.  Europeans, primarily distorted reality further by referring to the Americas as the 'New World' vs. the 'Old World'. Contact or explorations before A.D. 1492 are discounted or ignored so that prehistoric equates to pre-Columbian. Norse contact and exploration after ~A.D. 982 is certain but reliable archaeological data indicates  minimal colonization in the harsh conditions around Greenland, the Labrador Coast and Newfoundland. If the Norse explored any further into the interior of North America, the archaeological evidence is meager and unreliable. Further, speculation of any other contacts before A.D. 1000 via the Atlantic or Pacific Ocean has not been substantiated by solid or reliable data. Similarities of artifacts and cultures between the ancient Americans and some 'Old World'  cultures are tantalizing, but support for Trans-Oceanic journeys by ancient Egyptians or Chinese are not substantiated. The issue of independent invention vs. diffusion is still worth exploring, especially with later innovations like the bow and arrow or domestic cotton. Recently, coastal theories have come in the vogue, again, but archaeologists are not finding solid data to support these.

     Europeans after A.D. 1492 were in search of a route or strait to Asia and ran into a continent that initially thought was part of Asia. That is what historians conclude from early chronicles. The existence of another continent or 'New World' became evident by A.D. 1600, but Europeans continued to be baffled by the ' New People' that were being called 'Indians'. Some Europeans thought that American Indians to be one of the 'Lost Tribes'; others provided early speculation of origins from Asia, especially for the Eskimo (Inuit) and Aleut peoples. Strange legends about 'Lost' cities or civilizations were popular among early European explorers and usually were coupled with the possibility of vast amounts of gold and other riches.

How Europeans became confused and ignorant about an entire hemisphere ?  Did Native Americans know of the rest of the world? Unfortunately two great libraries were destroyed and they may have had better clues as to the relative awareness of the world in ancient times.

The text for this course, Ancient North America by B. Fagan, is a comprehensive survey of archaeological finds and refers to many sites, cultural traditions and culture periods north of Mexico. Native Americans were present in all the Americas and civilizations were extent throughout the continent. At Palomar we have a course on Meso-America taught by A. Guerra and  History of the Americas taught by M. Arguello that both cover some of the other ancient Native American civilizations. In effect the true picture of  ancient Native American cultures is incomplete and lacking. In part this is due to the immensity of data, but also a European American bias favoring North America.

COURSE ORIENTATION

This course is totally online and primarily self-paced. First print the semester schedule and note your due dates. Your first 'homework' or task is to read the text and notes for Test #1. Print the syllabus to see the notes and appropriate readings in Fagan that are pertinent for the two tests. You can print your tests and fill them out offline, but you must return to post them online. Since, the grading is very specific you must let me hand grade the test online, do not depend on the initial score. I must also grade your essays. Test #2 deals with the second half and handled the same.

The practicum is printed and taken offline, but again you must come back and post it online. Note that you have a 'practice practicum' ( 6 objects) set up as a discussion forum. Read the instructions first, then participate or view the discussion to understand how you are to respond. Then print the practicum (20 objects) and fill it out offline. Before the due date come back and post it.

Finally, you have paper due at the end that is basically an assessment of one archaeological site (not an EIR or EIS). See the instructions, but do not forget references. You can e-mail the paper or submit it in Blackboard.

(Note: I am currently modifying the Digital Images and the submission of the paper on Blackboard; also the MAIN PAGE has been changed and hopefully is clearer than last semester.)

Copyright © by S. J. Crouthamel