Who were the earliest inhabitants of America?

1, the natural environment in which the earliest inhabitants of America, Indians, lived.

America is short for Armenia, including North America and Latin America. North America consists of Canada, the United States and some islands; Latin America refers to Cape Horn from the south of Rio Grande in the Gulf of Mexico to the southernmost part of America, and is geographically divided into four regions: Mexico, Central America, West Indies and South America. American Indians are the earliest owners of the vast American land, and they are the general name of the people of all ethnic groups in North and South America before the European colonists invaded at the end of 15. Indians were named after Columbus mistook America for India in 1492. Indians originally meant "inhabitants of India", but later, unlike real Indians, they were generally referred to as "American Indians" or "Americans" for short. After the invasion of Portugal and Spain, they were also called Latin Americans.

2. The origin of Indians

In recent years, in the study of the origin of Indians, the views of anthropologists and historians can be summarized as follows:

The first is the "European immigration theory". According to this theory, the ancestors of Indians entered America from the European continent via Iceland and Greenland. Others believe that Europeans arrived in America by crossing the Atlantic.

The second is the "South Pacific Island Theory". This theory holds that Asians gradually migrated to America through islands in the South Pacific. Of course, some people think that Polynesians who originally lived in the Pacific Islands entered America through the South Pacific Islands.

The third is the "African Immigration Theory". This theory holds that African blacks, especially Nubians and Malians, may cross the Atlantic to reach America.

The fourth is the Bering Strait Theory. It is said that Asians of Mongolian race entered the American continent from Alaska through the frozen "corridor" of the Bering Strait 40,000 years ago and 1.8 million years ago.

The fifth is the "nativism". This theory holds that American Indians are native residents. However, this statement has little impact.

Sixth, "North China people say". Some scholars believe that Indians are descendants of our country.

The sixth law has a great influence and most people agree with it. On the basis of this statement, China scholars put forward the "North China People's Theory" and proved that the ancestors of Indians were China people with amazing evidence. Wang Dayou, a well-known scholar who holds this view, published a series of books of Zhonghua Avenue Library, in which some chapters discussed in detail the so-called "China ancestors explored America". He believes that the ancestors of Americans are "China people" and American civilization was created by immigrants from China in different periods from 10000 to 3000 years ago.

The evidence mainly includes the following aspects. 1975, a rock anchor 3,000 years ago was discovered in California, USA. Through the analysis of rock samples, it is confirmed that this kind of rock only exists near the Strait of Taiwan Province Province in China, but not in America. 1953, American archaeologists discovered 16 statues and 6 jade laurels in the sacrifice center of Olmec site in Mexico. There are characters engraved on the Hosta, which are considered by domestic scholars to be the characters of the Shang Dynasty and deciphered. They are the names of Yin ancestors: Chiyou,,, Giant Butterfly, Duofu, Qi, and Wanghai. In addition, the custom of offering sacrifices is the same as that of Dongyi people.

This view is controversial, but the mainstream does not admit it. Scholars believe that this view actually reflects the different perspectives of monism and pluralism. Most people agree with "pluralism". Some western scholars in modern times advocated a kind of "communication theory", that is, civilization spread from a center, which is a kind of "monism" We can't conclude that there is a father-son relationship between the two civilizations, let alone that two related groups are linked by the "father-son relationship" between the two civilizations. As far as the world is concerned, the origins of civilization are diverse.

3. India Group

/kloc-Before the 6th century, the social form of American Indians did not exceed the primitive commune period. In the 65438+5th century, about 1 10,000 Indians lived in North America. According to their social and economic conditions, they are roughly divided into seven groups:

(1) Eskimos (Indians mean "people who eat raw meat") and Aleutians along the Arctic Ocean are hunters and fishermen in the Arctic Circle. They settled in the igloo, mainly fishing and hunting, and their main production tools were harpoons and darts.

(2) The tribes represented by Wei Xiaobao and Hyde along the northwest coast of North America are hunters and fishermen who mainly hunt marine animals with darts, spears and nets. Most of them are in different stages of transition from matriarchal clan to paternal clan.

(3) The tribes in the primeval forest belt of Canada and North America are mainly Atabasque and Algonquin. They lived a hunting life with bows and arrows, spears and thick sticks.

(4) The eastern and southeastern parts of North Musca are tribes dominated by Giti, Iroquois and some argon Jin people. Engaged in hoeing agriculture and concurrently engaged in hunting and gathering.

(5) The Dakota (also known as the "Westbird"), Comanche, Cheyenne and other tribal groups live on the prairie in the midwest of the United States (west of the Mississippi River). They hunt large animals with bows and arrows and dogs, and they are in the transition stage from matriarchal clan to paternal clan.

(6) Californians on the Pacific coast of the United States. They gather wild food, hunt and fish, and live a semi-nomadic and non-settled life. Their clan still retains a strong matriarchal system.

(7) Pueblo Indians in the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. They are engaged in developed irrigated agriculture, planting corn, beans, cotton and other crops, building houses with brick and tile soil, and have good pottery-making technology and developed textile technology. In the transitional stage from clan commune to rural commune.

4. Types of ancient American civilization

By the end of 15, Latin American people had developed their own civilization and history by themselves. According to their economic form and civilization development level, they can be roughly divided into the following types:

(1) The southern part of the North American continent, Central America and South America are inhabited by various ethnic groups that have created developed agricultural civilizations. Among them are Maya, Toltec, Sapotec, Astek, Chibucha and Inca.

(2) Tribes in tropical forests and grasslands of South America in the Amazon basin. They are engaged in primitive agriculture, supplemented by fishing, hunting and gathering activities, mainly Arawak, Caribbean and Tupi? Guarani and others.

(3) Most hunter-gatherer tribes in eastern and southern Brazil belong to Tez Group and Botokuduo tribe.

④ Guaraní, Crandi, Hutt and some Arauca people in pampas and Patagonia (southern Argentina). They live a life of hunting and gathering, using tools such as workpieces, meteor hammers and slings.

(5) Tierra del Fuego lives in the southernmost part of South America and is the most primitive tribe, collecting mollusks, hunting animals, birds and fish in the ocean and coastal areas for a living.

Ancient American civilization originated in Mexico and Central and South America. From Mexico to Peru, the level of ancient civilization in America is the highest. Maya, Aztecs and Inca Indians living in these areas have successively established three centers of Indian civilization in Mexico and Central and South America.