1130 Spalding Dr. Atlanta, GA 30350      Ph. 770-551-5890   Fax 770-673-4091

Old is Good
How old is old? What do you think of when you say the word old? Are your parents old? Your grandparents old? Are your teaches old? (watch out here) How old, really is old?

As we study ancient Indians in the United States, we are talking about a different kind of old. This can mean not hundreds of years, but thousands and ten thousands of years. Older than dirt in some cases.

What was here even before the ancient indians, and how did these Native Americans come to be in North America? What we are looking at here is the beginning of civilization in the United States. Your Social Studies text has information on these theories on pages

"Who were the first Americans and when did they arrive in this hemisphere? Did the Indians originate here, or as Asians who crossed over the Bering Strait or over the ancient sea? Were they even Asian? Were the first Americans even related to our Native Americans? Did they migrate all at once or in three or more waves? Perhaps the population of this land was an almost imperceptibly drawn out event."

The Theory of the
Bering Strait Landbridge

How and when did music become a part of culture? Some researchers believe that even early civilizations might have been " Rock Musicians ". This web site has evidence that rocks that were thought to be tools, may have actually been some of the first musical instruments. Check out this site, and listen to an old style of Rock and Roll.

In lives of these ancient Americans, what was important? Determining what might have been important is examining the culture of these people. Archeologist are scientist who look at these ancient civilizations, and try to determine what life was like thousands of years ago. Questions archeologist ask are: how and where did these indian tribes live? What were their customs? What contributions did they make that has had a lasting impact? What were their customs of music and art?

Hundreds of years ago in what is now modern Honduras, Copán was a thriving center of Maya life. Tens of thousands of people made their home in the Copán Valley. Yet despite its importance, Copán went into decline. Across the vast territory of the ancient Maya, other towns were sharing a similar fate. Classic Maya civilization was collapsing. At this site, "Why do Civilizations Fall" you can become an archeologist unravel the mystery of the Maya civilization.

Even though we have to guess what music of ancient civilizations may have sounded like, they did leave art on the walls of their caves. This site will give you many more examples of creative wall painting.

Ancient art found throughout the world includes animals, humans, geometrics, tools used for hunting and abstracts. The most common figure are those of animals, both life size and pictorial. They include animals that were hunted and animals that were common to the culture.
Prehistoric art was created over so long a period by so many different humans that we will never be able to figure out the exact story of their creation. These ancient masterpieces do tell us that our ancient ancestors had many more different types of feelings than we once imagined. We may never truly understand just how rich their lives may have been.