Some of the words you should know as you read these web sites are underlined below. We have defined some of them for you; others you should be able to figure out in the context of the sentences. 

• What are the two basic theories for the origin of native cultures in the western hemisphere?
• Why were the so-called Meso-
  American cultures important to the history of the Southwest?

• In general, how do hunters and gatherers use the resources where they live?
• Why do these people move with the change of seasons? Why is that important?

• When did the earliest Indians begin to live on the Colorado Plateau?
• Why did these people not live in villages?

• The term Archaic means "belonging to an earlier time or ancient."
• When did agriculture begin in the Southwest? How did farming change the way these people lived?
• How do the tools of hunters and gatherers differ from those of farmers?

• Paleo-Indians refers to the earliest peoples in North America.
• What were the major tools of these Indians? How were they made? What were they used for?

• When did the farming begin in the U.S. Southwest?
• Why did the cultivation of corn, beans, and squash lead to a more sedentary life style for these people?