Page 94 - Key to Social Studies 6

Lesson 8 Early History of the Americas
Theme 3
Essential Question History Let’s Learn

How did life start

During the last Ice Age, around 15,000 years ago, historians
in the Americas? speculated that a land bridge existed between Siberia and Alaska,

called Bering. The rst inhabitants of the Americas migrated from

Asia across this bridge in search of food. When the glaciers melted,
the Bering Strait was formed. Later, settlers came by boat across the

narrow strait.

The earliest settlers in the Americas lived as hunters and gatherers.

Others lived as farmers in the fertile valleys of South America.

The North America settlers began to build cities along the

Mississippi River around 800 C.E. The largest was Cahokia.

Words to Know

complex
Map of how Siberia and Alaska were connected
frigid

sparsely populated

meso

archeologist

basalt

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