There are many different Native American cultures. One of them is the mound builders or the Anazi. The mound builders began settling about 2,700 years ago. They got their name because they built mounds that were in many different shapes. Archaeologists have found many weird artifacts, like stone pipes, copper tools and mirrors that were made of mineral mica. Archaeologists also know that some mounds were made for religious ceremonies, not just burial sites.
The Adenas were also mound building people who settled in modern day Ohio and West Virginia. They were hunters and gatherers rather than farmers. Game and wild plants were what they fed on. They built permanent houses near the one location.
The Hopewell mound builders lived in many locations such as Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, present day West Virginia, Wisconsin and Michigan, The high point of their culter was between 2,100 and 1,500 years ago. There neighbors were the Adenas, but unlike them, they farmers for their food. Around 500 years A.D., The Hopewell and Adenas disappeared.
The Mississippian mound building culture formed around 700 A.D. They were the most advanced of all the mound builders. They are also known as Temple mound builders. The Mississippians settled near rivers where they farmed or practiced advanced farming. They grew corn, beans, squash, pumpkin and tobacco. They also had some livestock. The Mississippians traded for goods with Native American in present day Mexico.
The Anasazi built homes that the Spanish explorers of the 1,500's used that were made of stones, timber and adobe bricks called Pueblos. They first lived on the canyon floor and later began to build pueblos on the side of cliffs which could have been good for protection, Which definetely made life difficult for the farmers who had fields at the base of or above the mesa above it, because they spent much of their time climbing.
