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  The America’s Importance to YOUBy learning about the peoples of the ancient Americas, you’ll see first-hand how their intelligence and creativity has influenced the ways we live today. Learning from the ancient Americas Learning about early cultures helps us understand the origins and continuing development of our own cultures, making us who we are today. The archaeological evidence of early peoples helps us understand how they experimented to overcome their problems, as well as appreciate their successes and failures. These lessons have relevance today. For example, by studying Ancestral Puebloans, who lived in what is now the southwestern United States, archaeologists have developed an understanding about some of the basic reasons why humans go to war and what the consequences may be. Warfare is a human invention, and if we want to control it, we have to look at its causes. By understanding patterns of the past, we can avoid destructive choices in our future. Living in the Present Examining early cultures provides insights into how and why cultures change today. No matter where or when people have lived, we all share the same common concerns of life: finding food and shelter, creating families, forming communities, resolving conflict, and many others. And by examining ancient cultures, we confirm that creativity, environment, and history influence how all people arrive at workable solutions that shape their world. Cultural differences arise as groups of people, both past and present, create unique solutions to the same problems. These solutions depend on each group’s existing culture, environment, past experiences, and creativity. Together, these forces shape the varieties of human culture throughout our history and our world. Sharing the Future Early Indigenous cultures in the Americas were incredibly diverse. The descendants of these peoples are still here, some of them carrying on traditions that are thousands of years old. Every day, contemporary Indigenous peoples draw on their past as they live in the present, and prepare new generations for the future. The threads of their cultures, past and present, are intricately woven into the fiber of today’s societies. Understanding the reasons for differences among cultures helps us to appreciate each culture on its own and to be open to the perspectives and experiences of others. And understanding other cultures not only in the Americas, but around the world, helps us live in mutual respect with people today whose beliefs are different from our own. Working toward this cultural understanding gives each of us the chance to strengthen connections among us all. Continue to The America’s Importance to The Field Museum. >> |
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