Category: History Articles

The tower in Pisa, Italy, is famous simply because it leans. It was closed to the public in 1990, after fears that an entire busload of tourists at the top would be enough to make it fall. Eleven years later, the lean has been corrected a little, but not entirely.

Although the tower is famous because it leans, it is an outstanding example of Romanesque architecture, and would probably be famous, even if it didn’t lean. It stands 187 feet high and until 1990 was leaning over at about a 10-degree angle, the top being 17 feet further over than was originally intended. It was estimated that the lean was increasing by one inch every 20 years.

Construction

In 1172, a wealthy widow named Berta di Bernado, left sixty coins in her will to buy stones to begin the construction of the tower. It is a bell tower to accompany the cathedral that it stands next to. It isn’t quite clear who the actual designer was, but construction was begun on August 9, 1173. Due to the fact that the people of Pisa were involved in a lot of wars, with several stops to fight, it took until 1350 to complete the building.

The tower is circular, and made up of eight floors of limestone and lime mortar, covered on the outside with marble. The outside of each level has columns and arches. There is a staircase of 293 steps leading up from the ground to the eighth floor; the steps are built between an inner wall and the outer walls. The eighth floor contains the bells, seven in all.

The first stage was the building of the first three floors; this began in 1173 and stopped in 1178, when Pisa was at war. Construction began again in 1275 under an architect called Giovanni di Simone. He built the next three floors, and again work was halted until 1319. The final two floors were added between 1319 and 1350.

The Lean

Only 5 years after work on the building began, it was leaning noticeably to the North. The lean was first noticed during construction of the third floor. During the building of the next three floors, the lean was corrected by building the floors parallel to the ground, and not level with the leaning building. During this phase the tower started to lean the other way. Now it was leaning to the South.

Why the lean?

The tower is built on unsuitable ground for such a heavy and tall building. It is only about 6 feet above sea level and built on a riverbed. The underlying ground is made up of layers of sand and clay. The layers are not even and the weight of the building has compressed them. Because the layers are not even, as the ground has compressed, it has sunk more in some places than others.

Why hasn’t it fallen over?

The fact that it took such a long time to build may be the main reason it hasn’t fallen. Between the periods of construction the ground had time to settle and become compacted, making the foundations stronger. Another important factor is the material it is built from; the limestone and lime mortar are able to bend and resist the forces that would make other, more brittle rocks, crack.

Why won’t it fall in the future?

Several plans have been tried over the years to stop the tower from falling. Some of them have been almost disastrous. In 1934 an Italian engineer drilled 361 holes into the base and filled them with mortar. The tower promptly leaned over some more. In 1993 650 tons of lead were hung from the North side of the building to try and stop the lean increasing. For a while it worked.

In 1995, they decided to try and increase the foundations under the South side of the building. They froze the ground using liquid nitrogen, to stop it moving, and then started to remove stones, so they could insert metal rods. What they didn’t know was that the stones they were removing were part of the original foundation of the building. That is the nearest the tower has come to disaster. In one night the lean increased as much as it normally increases in two years. They quickly added another 250 tons of lead and decided to rethink the whole thing.

At this point everyone was just about ready to give up. Then a British engineering professor came up with yet another idea. His plan was to remove ground from under the high side, instead of trying to add ground under the low side. In 1999 work began, and was done very slowly, so that the building wouldn’t get a sudden shock. At the beginning of June 2001, the work was complete, and the tower had been straightened up by about 16 inches, which returns it to the position it held in 1838. The engineers believe that it is safe for at least another 300 years.

So, if they know how, why didn’t they just straighten it up all the way? The answer lies in the tower’s name. It is the Leaning Tower of Pisa and just wouldn’t be the same if it didn’t lean! Some of the residents of Pisa say it would be better to let it fall down, rather than to straighten it all the way.

 

 

Why Egyptians Mummified Bodies

The ancient Egyptians believed in the afterlife. They believed that after
they died they were transported to a new life. This new life required them to
have their bodies intact. Most of the things they did in this life were a
preparation for the afterlife. Getting to the afterlife was the most important
thing that anyone could do.

They also believed that everybody had twin spirits within them. These spirits
were known as ba and ka. Ba was the soul, and ka was
a sort of invisible twin to the living body. After a person died, they believed
that these two spirits were released. Ba used to visit living relatives and
friends; ka made visits to the afterlife. Both ba and ka needed to be able to
recognize the body after they had been visiting. If the body had decayed or been
disfigured, they could not find it again. So, it was very important that the
body was preserved in a form that the spirits could recognize.

How well the body was preserved, and what treasures they took with them,
depended on how rich and important a person was. It was not unusual for people
to take food, toys, games, weapons, furniture, boats and even pets with them.
The more things they took, the more important they were, and the better the
mummification process.

How Mummies Began

The earliest Egyptian graves were a shallow pit in the sand, with the dead
body laid inside in a curled position. Although the person was buried without
clothes, some of their favorite things, such as weapons, hunting supplies, and
toys- were placed in the burial pit with them. If a person was to have fun in
the after life, they needed to take their favorite things with them. They also
needed food for the journey, and usually a boat.

The hot sun and the dry sand stopped the body from decaying (rotting). When a
living thing dies, bacteria breaks down the body, everything disappears. The
bones usually remain, but all of the soft tissues, such as skin, flesh and
internal organs rot away.. Bacteria need moisture to work. In the desert sands the body was
preserved as the bacteria couldn’t work. The very first Egyptian mummies were
a mistake, no one planned them, but they gave them the idea about the afterlife.

Once the Egyptians discovered that the bodies were not decaying, they decided
that they were right about the afterlife.

If the afterlife was real, they thought they ought to have fancier funerals.
One improvement was to pile rocks on the graves to keep animals from digging up
the bodies. Later, they lined the bottoms of burial pits with a carpet of straw
or animal skins. A while after that, they added brick floors and walls. These
were the beginnings of the very fancy Egyptian tombs.

Dead kings and queens were given special funerals. Instead of being buried
without clothes, they were wrapped in linen, which is a type of cloth made from
the flax plant. To protect the body even further, the linen was coated with
melted resin (a very sticky plant extract), which created a waterproof, seal around the body after it hardened.

The body was placed in a coffin with with jewels and treasures
and then buried in a grave much deeper than usual. The Egyptians
thought they had come up with a good way to protect these important bodies from
animals that might dig them up.

They soon found out they had made a big mistake. Instead of protecting the
body, all the things they had added kept the moisture in, and the bodies
decayed. All of the soft tissues rotted away, and all that was left was bones,
the cloth and the treasures.

They then decided they needed to find some way of preserving the bodies. If
the bodies couldn’t be preserved, the person would have no afterlife.

They needed to come up with a way to bury the bodies deep underground, to
keep animals away, but still prevent the body from decaying. They experimented
with different methods and finally came up with the one that was used on the
mummies that are still around today.

 

The entire process of mummification took 70 days to complete. Several
embalmers carried out the task in the special embalming shop or per nefer.
The chief embalmer was known as the hery seshta. He wore a jackal mask to
represent Anubis, the guardian of the underworld. Assistants called wetyw
bandaged the body and carried out other tasks of the embalming process.

Since the body had to be as near perfect as possible, they took very great
care to do as little damage to it as possible. When the hery seshta made the cut
in the body, to remove the organs, the wetyw would throw stones at him. They
were very small stones, and not meant to do any real harm. Instead, they were
supposed to show that people thought doing any damage to the body was a terrible
thing.

Now, find about how the mummies were made, and try some of the assignments:

 

How Mummies Were Made

 

It may
seem a little odd to think about technology in the 1600’s but it really means
the use of the most up-to-date equipment and methods to get the job done. The
Pilgrims were faced with two enormous challenges, how to get where they were
going, and how to survive once they got there.

To the
Pilgrims the idea of undertaking the long and difficult journey was probably the
part they thought was the most difficult. However, that wasn’t the case.
Surviving once they got there proved to be by far the hardest task.

How the Mayflower Got There

Nowadays,
knowing exactly where you are, on an ocean, is a fairly simple task. Navigators
use complex technology, including satellites, to fix their exact position. This
wasn’t always the case. In the early 1600’s navigation was a far more hit
and miss affair. It wasn’t at all unusual for ships to end up in entirely the
wrong place. In order to get to where they were going, navigators needed to know
three things; where they were, which direction they were heading in, and how far
they had gone. We will look at each of the problems in turn, and see what
instruments were available to help them.

Where Were They?

On land, it was a fairly
simple job to know where you were, you just needed to know some landmarks, or
ask a passing traveler. At sea it was a little more difficult. However, by the
1600’s there were several fairly accurate ways of telling at least half of
where you were. To have an accurate idea of where you are you need to know
latitude and longitude for your position. Early navigators hadn’t worked out
the longitude part, but the latitude was easy to calculate. The calculations
were based on the position of the Pole Star or the Sun. In the Northern
Hemisphere, where the Mayflower was, the Pole Star was used.

By measuring the height of
the Pole Star above the horizon, the navigator could calculate exactly how far
north of the equator, he was. At the North Pole, the Pole Star, or Polaris,
is directly overhead, or 90^o above the horizon. At the Equator, it is on the Horizon, or at
0^o above the horizon. The angle of the Pole Star above the horizon
tells you your exact latitude on the earth.

To measure the angle of
Polaris above the horizon, navigators had a choice of instruments. Good
navigators used more than one to get a more accurate reading. The best-known one
is the sextant, but that wasn’t invented until the middle of the next century.
The sailors on the Mayflower had to rely on more primitive methods. The three
tools they may have used were the jackstaff the astrolabe and the quadrant.

The
jackstaff was a long pole with a vertical piece of wood, called a transom, which
could be slid along it. The sailor held the staff up, much like a rifle, and
then slid the transom along the staff until the top of it marked the star and
the bottom of it marked the horizon. By measuring how far along the pole the
transom was he could work out the angle of the sun or star. When the sailor was
holding up the jackstaff he looked like he was going to shoot an arrow into the
sky. This is where the expression “shooting the stars” comes from.

The astrolabe was a similar tool. Instead of being a
straight pole, it was a flat, circular instrument, marked in degrees. There were
pointing arms on it, something like the hands of a clock, with “sights” on
the hands. The navigator would line up the star through the sights on both hands
of the instrument. The hands then pointed at the scale and he could read off the
degrees.

Another
tool was the quadrant. This was a flat piece of metal, with a ninety-degree
angle and a curved side opposite the angle. The curved side was marked with a
scale of degrees. A piece of thread with a weight hung from the angle. The navigator would look along one straight edge and lining
the star or sun up with the line of the edge, he would see where the thread
crossed the curved side of the quadrant. It was a very good tool when there was
no wind and the sea was calm. When there was any wind, the weight would be blown
around, and it was very difficult to get an accurate reading.

So now the Navigator could
tell exactly how far North of the equator he was.

Which Direction Were They Heading?

A compass was another very
important instrument to have. The most simple ones had a needle in the center,
with a scale, marked in directions around it. The needle always pointed to the
magnetic North Pole. The navigator pointed the compass over the bows (front) of
the ship. As the needle pointed north, but the compass didn’t, he could read
the direction of the ship by seeing where the needle pointed on the scale.

To
get from Plymouth to New England he would have traveled in a northwesterly
direction until he came to the correct latitude for New England. Then all he had
to do was travel west until he came to land. Not very accurate, but accurate
enough to get the Pilgrims where they wanted to go.

How Far They Had Traveled?

This was the hardest part
of navigating. By guessing the speed they were traveling at and marking it off
on a chart, using dividers, navigators could make a guess at how far they had
traveled. The guesses were totally unscientific, and the best way to know was to
see land. When you saw land you had gone the whole way!

Read this articleto learn
more about compasses and how they show direction:

How
The Pilgrims Survived

The Pilgrims had not really
planned carefully for how they were going to survive, once they arrived.
Although they had brought wheat for planting and tools for building, they
hadn’t done much research into the climate or the conditions of the soil. They
soon discovered that the soil was poor and that the sun was harsh. Their wheat
crop failed and they were left with very little to eat.

The Natives in the area
understood the climate and cultivation methods needed, and so they managed to
survive quite successfully. They moved several times a year in search of food,
and to avoid the more difficult weather conditions. They survived by fishing,
hunting for wild animals and collecting wild berries, fruits and nuts. They had
also found good methods for growing corn, so that they could store food. The
fact that they could store food meant that they could survive, even when the
weather was very bad and prevented hunting, fishing or gathering of wild crops.

At first, the Pilgrims
survived by living in an abandoned native village. The natives had abandoned it
when they made one of their moves in search of better food and weather. They
hadn’t managed to build much by way of houses and were living in dirt-covered
shelters. After the first winter they were in very poor shape. Many had died,
from disease, the weather and lack of good food. Only 50 of the original 110
pilgrims survived.

The Pilgrims technology had
failed them; their wheat could not survive in the harsh sun and rocky soil. They
needed new technology to help them survive. Just when they must have been about
ready to give up, an English-speaking Native turned up. His name was “Tisquantum”
(TisSKWAN tum) or “Squanto” (SKWAN toe). His arrival of must have
seemed like a gift from heaven. Not only did he now how to survive the harsh
conditions, he could teach them in their own language.

He stayed with them for the
next few months, bringing them meat and animal skins. They ate the meat and used
the skins to make blankets and clothing for the cold weather. Among the things
he taught them was how to grow corn successfully. He showed them how to use fish
as fertilizer, which helped the corn to grow. He also taught them about the wild
fruits and berries. He showed them which were poisonous and which were good to
eat. He showed them how to get sap from the maple trees and how to dig for
clams, and how to cook them.

Up until his arrival the
Pilgrims had been surviving on a very poor diet. They were able to fish, so they
had some protein, and they collected a few wild berries and fruits. Their grain
(the wheat) had failed, and they had no domestic animals, so they had no dairy
products. They were living on a diet of only protein and fruits and vegetables,
and very little of those. On some days they had no food at all. By learning how
to cultivate the corn, they included grains in their diet. The sap of the Maple
tree was a good source of carbohydrates also. The meat made their protein intake
more varied. Now that they had a more balanced diet they became stronger and
less likely to die from disease.

They also learned how to
make better shelters and using the animal skins (mainly beaver) they could make
warm clothes and blankets. Now that they had a more balanced diet they became
stronger and less likely to die from disease. They also had better shelter, to
protect them from the climate. The Pilgrims had turned the corner, and were now
able to survive. All thanks to the technology they learned from the natives.

The Pilgrims needed to
adapt their methods to suit the new conditions they found. Using technology they
already had, they reached their new home. Using new technology they survived
there.

For more information on the
different Native North American groups and the methods they used to survive,
read this article.

An Overview

 

Native
Americans, wrongly known as Indians, were the original inhabitants of
the Americas. Anthropologists agree that they are descended from people
who traveled to America from Asia. They originally formed small
wandering groups, hunting for food and living off the land. Later they
formed larger groups. The type of food they hunted and the ability to
store food for coming years is thought to be one of the main reasons for
the cultural differences between the groups.

The first people to live in North America are called Native
Americans. When Christopher Columbus first landed in the Americas, he
thought he had landed in India, and so he called the people Indians.
The name is totally wrong, but it stuck. Later still, a Swedish man decided that
the Natives should be given a proper name, and so he called them Americans
or the Red Race. This didn’t help much, as people then
started calling them Red Indians or American
Indians. Only recently have they been given their proper title, that of
Native Americans.

Although all Anthropologists agree that people from Asia were the original
inhabitants, they cannot agree on when the migration happened. These original
descendants of Native Americans crossed from what is now Siberia into Alaska
sometime between 40,000 and 20,000 years ago.

Gathering Food

At first they lived in small groups. They were nomadic hunter-gatherers. This
means that they moved around in search of food, hunting wild animals and
gathering wild plants to survive. This type of living can only support small
groups. People living like this build small shelters, from animal skins and
poles that can be moved easily. They may also build using poles, branches and
grass, and just abandon their homes when they move on. They tended to move
southwards, in search of food, as food was more plentiful in warmer climates.

Growing Food

As some groups moved further south, they found that they were able to grow
their own crops. These groups were agrarian, meaning they planted and harvested
their own crops. The ability to grow crops meant that there was enough food to
support a larger group. The groups became larger and more permanent. Homes
became more elaborate, and less movable, and small villages started appearing.
At this stage, they were still unable to store much food. This meant that in
years when they had a bad harvest, they didn’t have enough to eat. Two or more
years of bad harvests following each other meant they had to move again, or face
starvation.

As the groups became larger, and moved further south, they learned valuable
lessons on the way. Not everyone moved south. Those who stayed remained in
fairly small groups, or tribes, and were able to support themselves with the
farming and hunting methods they already used. Most of the tribes who remained
in North America had less than 1000 people in each group. The size of the group
depended on the availability of food. In some areas, where food was plentiful,
the groups were much larger.

Storing Food

As the groups neared Central America, they learned how to irrigate crops.
They found ways to bring water to their fields. This meant that they could grow
more crops, and even store food for years when the harvest didn’t supply enough
food. They also learned how to terrace and fertilize, growing much more food
over a small area. These groups were able to support a much larger number of
people. They built permanent homes, and eventually very elaborate civilizations
grew up, with towns and cities.

The Native Americans from these areas are known as the Nuclear Americans.
They lived in the southern part of North America, Mexico and Central America.
From these groups the Aztec, Mayan and Inca civilizations grew.

It seems that the groups that continued on to South America did not take with
them the agricultural knowledge of the Nuclear Americans. Or perhaps they chose
not to use it, or it was unsuitable to the areas they lived in. It is also
thought that a second migration of Asians, this time from South East Asia, may
have reached South America 6,000 years ago. The groups in South America were
again small groups of hunter-gatherers. They tended to settle in one area, but
remained in small groups who did not need to move in search of food. Their
groups were small enough, and food plentiful enough, that they were able to stay
in the same region. They built permanent but very simple homes.

Small groups were formed of immediate family members, usually ruled by the
oldest male. Larger groups or tribes were also built around family, but a much
wider family. These groups usually had one branch of the family that ruled, the
rule being passed down to the next generation of the same branch. The much
larger civilizations of the Nuclear Americans had complex societies with levels
and classes.

Most
Anthropologists group Native North Americans into eight major groups.
These groups are according to the type of lifestyle the natives had.
Lifestyle depended largely on the type and amount of food available, and
how easily people could move around. The size of individual groups
within each area was limited by the amount of food available and the
ability to store food.

Sub arctic Hunters and Fishers

This group includes all of Canada, except the Northwest coast and Arctic region, and extends south to the Great Plains. It only extended a little way into the present day United States. This is a very wet region in summer, and covered in snow in winter. Natives had to use canoes, toboggans and snowshoes to move around. Life was very difficult. Food was plentiful, with protein being the biggest part of the diet. Large herds of caribou migrated through the area every year. Fish, bear, moose and deer were also good sources of food.

Because they hunted for food and transportation and movement was limited, they lived in small family groups. They had easily portable homes, usually made from the bark of trees.

Northwest Coast Fishermen

From the Northwest coast of Canada stretching down to northern California, a thin strip of coastal land formed a good area for Native Americans to settle. Here they could fish in the sea or the plentiful rivers. The rivers were full of salmon and provided plentiful food. The sea provided fish, mammals including sea lions and whales, and shellfish such as oysters and clams. The land provided plentiful food as well, with deer, moose, caribou, mountain goats and other small animals as well as berries and roots. The diet of this group was far more varied and healthy than that of the sub arctic group.

Villages here were larger, usually having over 100 members. Although they were usually related, they were much more loosely related. One family was the head family, and how closely related you were to them decided how important you were.

Interior Plateau Foragers

This group lived in a wooded area with streams. They were able to fish for salmon, hunt for small game and collect fruit and berries. They lived in small family groups and were very peaceful and friendly towards each other.

Great Basin Desert Foragers

This group of people, like the sub arctic hunters, didn’t have a very friendly environment to live in. The differences in temperature between summer and winter made living difficult. The climate meant that few things grew, and few animals lived there. Food was mainly berries, cactus fruits, pine nuts, seeds and roots. For protein they ate lizards, snakes and insects. Occasionally they would catch a moose or deer, and have a great feast. In winter there was very little food, and if they had not stored food in the summer, they faced starvation.

They lived in small family units, moving around in search of food. In bad years when food was scarce they joined with other related groups to help support each other.

California Foragers

This group covered much the same area as present day California. They survived mainly on plant food including grasses and acorns. Along the coast they supplemented their food with fish and seafood, and in the interior with animals such as deer and rabbits.

They lived in villages of about 100 people, not always related. Because the villages contained people who were unrelated there was a form of society with relationships between villages.

Plains Prairie Bison Hunters

This is the Native American group that most easily comes to mind when people talk about “Red Indians”. The plains are a huge area extending from the Rocky Mountains in the east to the Mississippi River in the west, and from the Canadian border to the Gulf of Mexico. It formed the largest region, and was based on hunting of bison. The groups were small groups who foraged for food and hunted the bison.

Once horses had been introduced to North America, more and more of the neighboring groups moved in, hunting the bison. The groups moved, following the bison. They were large groups and the head of the group fought for the position. In order to be accepted into a group and to have honor they fought and became very aggressive. They formed raiding parties and fought neighboring groups, to prove that they were “worthy” warriors. The warriors also served as a form of security police within the larger settlements. These were the natives who are portrayed in films as the aggressors. Generally, though, the Native Americans were peaceful.

Eastern Woodlands Cultivators

This area was to the west of the Great Plains area. It extended to the Atlantic Ocean, and from Southern Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. The area had woodlands which provided plenty of wild food, both plant and animal. All of the groups here used cultivation of crops to some degree. In the northern most part, the growing season was short, so they depended heavily on wild crops and fish from the Great Lakes and rivers. In the Eastern coastal region crops didn’t grow very well, so they also depended heavily on wild crops and fish. The rest of the region depended mostly on cultivated crops.

Because of the degree of cultivation, and the ability to store food, some of the groups in this area were very large, with a society and classes developing. In the coastal area and northern part, groups tended to be smaller and more family based.

Southwest Cultivators and Foragers

This area covers present-day Arizona, New Mexico and parts of Mexico. The climate was very hot and dry (arid). Despite the climate food was plentiful. They lived off wild plants and animals. In addition they used irrigation methods to grow crops. The main crop was maize. Because they used irrigation and cultivation methods they were able to store food for years when wild food was hard to find.

They lived in villages, usually related to one another. Unlike most of the other groups, they counted family as being on the mother’s side. This is called matrilineage. Most of the other groups counted it on the father’s side, known as patrilineage. Not all the villages were matrilineal, some were patrilineal, but all were related in some way.

---

These groups of Native Americans stayed pretty much along the same lines
until the European settlers arrived. With them they brought disease, guns,
horses and a desire for land. The result of European settlement was to destroy
the Native way of life.

 

 

European
colonization of North America had a devastating effect on the native
population. Within a short period of time their way of life was changed
forever. The changes were caused by a number of factors, including loss
of land, disease, enforced laws which violated their culture and much
more.

When the Europeans arrived they brought with them diseases unknown to the
natives. The natives, having no immunity died from diseases that the Europeans
thought of as commonplace. They also brought guns, alcohol and horses. The
effect of these was to change the way of life for the Native Americans. Horses
and guns changed their way of hunting for food. Since the cultural groups had
been based on their method of subsistence, changing this changed the groupings.
Some major groups moved. Once they started to move fights over territory broke
out. Groups who had had plenty of food, now didn’t have enough.

Missions were introduced, and Natives were aggressively encouraged to convert
to Christianity. Most of the groups had had some form of ancestral worship, and
this enforced change in religion altered their culture identity. On top of all
of these factors was the Europeans need for land and food. Native groups,
because they were nomadic, didn’t see land as belonging to one person. The idea
that someone could come in, claim a piece of land and ban them from it caused
many problems. Wars broke out over the fact that they could no longer hunt or
forage for food in places they had always done so.

Some of the effects that colonization had were unintentional. No one thought
much about immunity to diseases, or that they would kill off the entire bison
population. These effects were a side effect of the Europeans greed and attitude
that they could take anything they saw. Later however, things changed, and a
determined effort was made to completely suppress the Native culture. This
active suppression took many forms. Certain tribes were freely supplied with
guns, so that they could wipe out their neighbors. Old problems between tribes
were brought back into the open, causing wars. The army and many settlers
treated the Natives as nothing more than pests to be got rid of. Laws were
introduced that banned certain ceremonies, forced the children into the European
education system, and tied whole groups to land that was useless and could not
sustain them. The intention was to deny them of their cultural identity, which
has the same effect as wiping them out.

Here is a very brief look at the effects colonization had on the different
groups.

Sub arctic Hunters and Fishers

Initially the introduction of Europeans and guns affected the eastern sub arctic region the most. Europeans hunted for furs, using guns, and decimated the local wildlife. Often they just skinned the animals and left the meat to rot. This caused a shortage of food and fur for the natives in the area. The introduction of guns also caused some groups to become more powerful and more aggressive. The Cree, one of the largest groups in the area, moved south into the Great Plains using guns to hunt bison. The change in their way of life caused them to lose much of their cultural heritage. Although the rest of the area was untouched in the beginning, western influence has gradually destroyed the native culture.

Northwest Coast Fishermen

Many European ships visited the Northwest coast, beginning in 1741. Diseases, guns and alcohol caused many troubles. Land was not a major problem initially. Although the culture was failing, many of the people remained on the land or close to it. The Native Americans still living in the area are fighting hard to restore their culture.

Interior Plateau Foragers

Here fights over land led to bloody battles with huge loss of life among the Native Americans. The introduction of horses also caused major groups to move into the Plains area, to hunt for bison. Between them, battles, horses and disease almost wiped out this group entirely by as early as 1860.

Great Basin Desert Foragers

Basin Foragers had a very hard time surviving, even before the Europeans arrived. Horses caused many of them to leave for the Plains, in search of a better way of life. The remaining groups were easily over run by the European settlers, and their land taken from them.

California Foragers

Europeans first came to this area in 1542, and missions were established soon after. However, the Native population remained fairly intact until the Gold Rush of 1849. During this time the Native Americans had their land taken from them by force, and thousands were needlessly massacred. Although there are still groups present in the area today, much of their cultural identity has been lost.

Plains Prairie Bison Hunters

The introduction of guns and horses initially caused an increase in the Native groups and a strengthening of their cultural bonds. However the sheer number of hunters, added to by Europeans hunting for fur, wiped out the bison herds. Once the herds were gone the culture was destroyed. Some groups continued to fight for the land, against the Europeans, even after the bison were gone. The final battle against the Native Americans was at Wounded Knee. Here a group of Sioux ran into a cavalry unit. 300 Natives, mostly women and children, were massacred. The fight was over. However, some groups did stay in the area on reservations, and they still maintain some of their culture, although in a very different form.

Eastern Woodlands Cultivators

Not much is known about the effects of colonization n this group. They were destroyed so quickly, that no one bothered to write down how it happened. Any group that survived was forced, by the US Government, to move to the Indian Territories in the 19th century.

Southwest Cultivators and Foragers

Although the Apaches and Hopi managed to keep the Mexicans out, they were no match for the US army. From 1840 to 1886, the Natives and US Army fought running battles. Geronimo, the Apache chief was the last to surrender in 1886. Today the Navajo (part of the Apache nation) and the Hopi still live in the area, and have the best preserved culture of all the Native American groups.

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It took Europeans, disease, guns and horses less than 300 years to destroy a
way of life that had been going on for at least 20,000 years. Although many
Native American groups are trying to regain their cultural identity, it will
never be the same.

 

First the body was cleaned with a wine solution and spices. This was to kill
as many bacteria as possible and stop the body from decaying. Then all the
organs that could decay were removed. The brain was the organ that was removed
first, using a long hook through the nose. The Egyptians didn’t think the brain
was important, so it was destroyed during the mummification process.

Next they took out the internal organs, lungs, stomach, liver, and intestines
by making deep cuts in the abdomen.

Then the body was stuffed with natron. Natron was a type of salt found by
wells. It is similar to ordinary salt mixed with bicarbonate of soda. The body
was covered in natron, also. After it was covered it was placed on a slanted
embalming table, so that any fluids could drip out of the body.

They also dried the internal organs with natron, while the body was drying.

After the organs were dried out they were place in special jars called
canopic jars.

The stoppers of canopic jars were shaped like the heads of the four sons of
the god Horus. Each son protected the organ placed inside his jar. 

• Duamutef,
  who had the head of a jackal, guarded the jar that contained the stomach. 
• Qebehsenuf,
  who had the head of a falcon, watched over the intestines. 
• Hapi, the
  baboon-headed son of Horus, protected the lungs, while human-headed 
• Imseti
  was in charge of protecting the liver. Canopic jars were usually stored in a
  chest that was later placed in the tomb with the mummy.

After the body was fully dried and cleaned, it was decorated with jewelry.
Then it was covered in linen shrouds (cloths) and wrapped with linen strips.

Small magical amulets were inserted between the layers of the bandages to
further protect the mummy’s spirit on its way to the afterlife. As each layer
was added, it was coated with resin to hold the wrappings together with a
waterproof seal.

 

Assignments

Make a canopic jar ~

Mummify some fruit ~

Make a life-sized mummy case

Explain the steps used to mummify a body. Write it like a set of
instructions. Use imperative sentences.

 

The Great Pyramid at Giza

The Inside

Although we have known about the outside of the pyramid since it was built, it wasn’t until the ninth century that we learned anything about the inside. How did anyone find a way in and when they did, what did they find exactly?

The entrance to the pyramid is in the North side, just to the east of the center. This entrance leads to a passage, sloping downwards, known as the descending passage. The passage ends in an underground chamber, which was never completed.

It appears that after they had started to build the pyramid they changed their minds about where exactly the King was going to be buried. Unlike all of the Pharaohs before him, King Khufu was not going to be buried underground; instead he was to be buried in the center of the pyramid itself. Because they had already built the entrance and descending passage, they built an ascending passage from the roof of the descending one. The ascending passage is very narrow and has a low roof. At the bottom of the passage are three large granite stone blocks. Granite is extremely hard, and difficult to cut, so it was hoped that these stones would stop grave robbers from breaking into the tomb. The outside entrance was hidden by a large limestone block, similar to all the other blocks in the pyramid, so for over 3,000 years nobody knew how to get into it.

Who discovered the entrance?

In the ninth century an Arab ruler, Caliph El Ma’moun, heard stories about treasures hidden inside the pyramid. Among the things believed to be inside were metal that wouldn’t rust and glass that could be bent. He was a very curious fellow, and decided that he had to see these things for himself, so he set off to explore. Well, he didn’t actually set off himself, instead he sent other people to do it for him.

His men had a very hard time finding an entrance. They seemed to know it was on the North side, but not where. Thinking that the Egyptians were very neat, they decided that it was in the middle, and they started to dig. Of course, since it was east of the middle, they were in the wrong place, and couldn’t find a way in. They had dug about 100 feet through solid rock and were getting fed up. They were just close enough, though for all their digging to pay off. Somehow the digging caused a stone in front of the granite blocks at the entrance to the ascending passage to fall. They heard the sound and started digging towards it. Eventually they reached the descending passage. The next day they went into the pyramid again, that is when they found the fallen stone and saw the three granite stones blocking the entrance to the ascending passage. The Ancient Egyptians were right, and the men couldn’t dig through the hard granite. That didn’t stop them, though, they just dug around them.

Up We Go

At the top of the ascending passage two things happen. First there is a horizontal (flat) passage, leading off into another unfinished room. This room is right in the center of the pyramid. El Ma’moun’s men called this the Queen’s Chamber. They thought that it was a room for the Queen to be buried in. This can’t be right though. We know that as soon as a King was buried his tomb was sealed and the entrance was kept secret, so robbers wouldn’t break in. So unless the poor Queen was killed straight after her husband, or worse still, buried alive, then she couldn’t be buried in his tomb. We know the Ancient As Egyptians didn’t kill their Queens or bury them alive we know this room wasn’t meant for her, so Queen’s Chamber isn’t a very good name for it. Since it isn’t finished it is quite likely that the King, or his designers, changed their minds yet again.

Immediately above the entrance to the Queens passage is another passage leading upwards. This passage is much wider than the lower part and is known as the Grand Gallery. It slopes at the same angle as the ascending passage but the roof is higher and more elaborate. Instead of having straight sides, the sides narrow as they go up to the roof, making a sort of an arch. At the top of the grand gallery we finally reach the King’s Chamber, the room in which he was eventually buried.

Inside the room is a large, pink granite sarcophagus. A sarcophagus is the container they put the actual coffin into. The room is covered in smooth granite, and there are two ventilation shafts in the roof, which lead to the outside of the pyramid. The roof of the chamber has five other “rooms” above it. Each is supported by a giant slab of granite. No one is quite sure why they are there, but it is thought that they were built to support the weight of the pyramid, and stop it collapsing into the chamber.

How Do We Know All This?

Nothing was ever written about the inside of the pyramid, or if it was, it has never been found, Everything we know is from looking and measuring and guessing. Some of the interesting theories that have been thought up so far are:
It is possible that the designers intended for the King to be buried in the top chamber all along. However, being cautious, they built other chambers along the way, so that if the King died before the pyramid was completed, there would be a burial place ready for him.
The sarcophagus must have been placed in the pyramid before it was completed, since it is wider than the ascending passage.
The granite stones protecting the entrance must also been placed and stored at the top of the grand gallery, before it was completed, because they are wider than the descending passage. They must have been dropped into place after the King was buried.

Now that brings us to an interesting theory. If someone had to stay behind to drop the stones, how did they get out?
There is another small passage leading from the ascending passage to the descending passage. We think that the workmen who dropped the stones, must have used this to escape from the pyramid, so it is called the escape shaft.

More Mysteries?

One of the things that makes the pyramid so fascinating is the fact that nothing was written about its construction. This means that every now and then somebody comes up with a new theory, and wants to investigate them all over again. Since they are so old they are important treasures, and the Egyptian Government doesn’t allow just anyone to go digging around them. However, if someone can come up with a good idea for investigating them, which doesn’t involve destroying them, the Government gives permission. Some of the most recent ideas have included one to do an ultrasound survey of the pyramid, to discover if there are anymore hidden passages. This hasn’t been done yet, since the experts can’t agree on whether or not it may damage the pyramid.

Who knows how many more secrets will be uncovered in the future?

Now take a 3D graphic tour of the inside of the pyramid.