Ancient Civilizations of North America

For the past few hundred years, most of what we've been taught about the native cultures of North America came from reports authored by the conquerors and colonizers who destroyed them. Now-with the technological advances of modern archaeology and a new perspective on world history-we are finally able to piece together their compelling true stories. In Ancient Civilizations of North America, Professor Edwin Barnhart, Director of the Maya Exploration Center, will open your eyes to a fascinating world you never knew existed-even though you've been living right next to it, or even on top of it, for as long as you've been on the continent.
The peoples of ancient North America were exceptionally knowledgeable about their environment, but their intellectual and artistic curiosity went much beyond the immediate need for food and safety. Beginning thousands of years ago, and without benefit of written language, native peoples became mathematicians, construction and soil engineers, astronomers, urban planners, and more. They developed thriving cities, extensive trade routes, canals to bring water to the desert, and earthworks we still marvel over today.
In 24 exciting lectures, you'll learn about the vibrant cities of Poverty Point, the first city in North America, built about 3,500 years ago, and Cahokia, the largest city of ancient North America. You'll explore the many ways in which the Chacoan environment provided cultural and religious focus for peoples of the southwest. And you'll learn about the Iroquoian source of some of our most basic "American" values.

All Lectures:
1. The Unknown Story of Ancient North America
2. The First Human Migrations to the Americas
3. Clovis Man: America's First Culture
4. The Archaic Period: Diversity Begins
5. Late Archaic Innovations
6. Poverty Point: North America's First City
7. Medicine Wheels of the Great Plains
8. Adena Culture and the Early Woodlands Period
9. The Hopewell and Their Massive Earthworks
10. The Origins of Mississippian Culture
11. The Mississippian City of Cahokia
12. The Wider Mississippian World
13. De Soto versus the Mississippians
14. The Ancient Southwest: Discovering Diversity
15. The Basketmaker Culture
16. The Mogollon Culture
17. The Hohokam: Masters of the Desert
18. The Ancestral Pueblo
19. The Chaco Phenomenon
20. Archaeoastronomy in the Ancient Southwest
21. The Periphery of the Ancient Southwest
22. Late Period Cultures of the Pacific Coast
23. Late Period Cultures of the Great Plains
24. The Iroquois and Algonquians before Contact