The Original Americans Approximately 30,000 years B.C.E. Highways of Migration The Paleolithic and Archaic Eras Paleolithic: ca BCE to 9000 BCE Hunter-gatherers, nomadic lifestyle Archaic: Environmental Transitions Domesticated Agriculture Semi-Nomadic & Sedentary Societies The Formative Era ca years in durationthrough 200 AD Types of social organization The Olmecs San Lorenzo La Venta Characteristics Legacy The Decline: after 200 BCE Olmec Artifacts Classic Era Societies Teotihuacn The city The population Three types of empire military commercial cultural & religious The end of the city Teotihuac n Teotihuac n Pyramid of the Sun Teotihuac n Pyramid of the Moon Teotihuac n The Avenue of the Dead Monte Albn in the Classic Era The Zapotecs Relations with Teotihuacn Social hierarchy The role of violence and the military Monte Alb n The Classic Maya Traits of Maya Civilization Older Perceptions of the Maya Regions and Polities The End of the Classic Era, ca. 900 CE What Happened? Various Theories Maya Hieroglyphs Maya Hieroglyph (Detail) Chichen Itza Palenque Palenque (Carving Detail)