Native American Studies: NAS 11

NAS 11

Ancient Native Americans (Identical to Anthropology 11)

07F: 10A

This course provides an introduction to the pre-Columbian societies of North America. Discussion begins with a consideration of the wider social context of archaeological views of Native Americans and how these have changed over time. We briefly review the enormous diversity in language; economic, social, and political organization; and religion of Native American societies at the time of European contact. The course moves back in time to examine the populating of the Americas and related controversies. We then concentrate on the subsequent development of diverse pre-Columbian societies that included hunter-gatherer bands in the Great Basin, the Arctic, and the sub-Arctic; Northwest Coast chiefdoms; agricultural societies of the Southwest, such as Chaco Canyon and the desert Hohokam; and the mound-building societies of the Eastern Woodlands.

Open to all classes. Dist: SOC; WCult: NW. Nichols.