Question

MEDAL AND FAN: hey guys I know this is history but nobody is on over there:
How were the native peoples of the Americas living prior to European contact?

a. They were organized into two large empires of the Incas and the Aztecs.
b. They had not developed into advanced forms of civilization.
c. They relied primarily on nomadic herding of domesticated animals for their sustenance.
d. They were divided into many diverse cultures speaking more than 2,000 different languages.

Answer 1

@jim_thompson5910 know anybody who can help?

Answer 2

`They had not developed into advanced forms of civilization`

that is false and a common myth in history. It was also a common myth to the explorers that the native peoples weren't sophisticated (and that they were savages incapable of civilization or something)

Answer 3

ok so that gets rid of b. what else

Answer 4

`They were organized into two large empires of the Incas and the Aztecs`

these two empires did exist, but there were other tribes out there. I'm not sure how many, but definitely more than these 2. If you restrict yourself to a certain geographical area, then you can probably make this statement true

Answer 5

d is probably a bit extreme as well

Answer 6

so its probably c?

Answer 7

`They were divided into many diverse cultures speaking more than 2,000 different languages`

yes there was a lot of diversity. How diverse? I'm not sure. But 2000 doesn't seem that much of a stretch really. Think of north, central and south america combined.

Answer 8

`They relied primarily on nomadic herding of domesticated animals for their sustenance`

no clue honestly. I'm sure some tribes did herd, but I think for the most part they were hunter gathers

Answer 9

ok so what should i put...

Answer 10

http://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/society/native-american-languages.html

quote:

`Another widely accepted estimate suggests that at the time of Columbus more than 15 million speakers throughout the Western Hemisphere used more than 2,000 languages; the geographic divisions within that estimate are 300 separate tongues native to some 1.5 million Native Americans N of Mexico, 300 different languages spoken by roughly 5 million people in Mexico and Central America, and more than 1,400 distinct tongues used by 9 million Native Americans in South America and the West Indies.`

Answer 11

oh, ok so I am going to go with the 2000 languages one. wow a person of many talent (smart in lots of subjects). I don't usually do this but can you help with a few more? I accidentally started a test without reading the book and now I have to finish it without having a freaking clue what to do.

Answer 12

I can't help with tests so you're on your own for that. And I'm ok with history. I rely on the internet as my backup.

Answer 13

haha ok I understand, sorry for having you answer this question not know it was a test. won't happen again.