Category History

The Indians who lived in North America had been hunters since time immemorial. They were used to wandering across the vast prairies in pursuit of wild animals. But these Indians only became really nomadic after the coming of the Europeans.

We have often seen on western films how the Indians galloped along bareback on their horses, so it is quite surprising to learn that before the Europeans came in the fifteenth century, no horses had existed in the New World. The horse revolutionized the life of the Indians and changed their ways greatly.

Horses were brought to America by the Spanish conquerors and settlers. Some of these animals escaped and began to breed in the wild, multiplying into the numerous herds of the prairies and pampas. Soon there were tens of thousands of them throughout the continent. The Indians caught and tamed them and then learned to ride them. It was then that life changed for the Indians. This horse, known as the mustang, brought enormous advantages: the Indians tribes could now move more easily from place to place and hunting became more effective and profitable.

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The hardest blow against the civilized societies of black Africa was the slave trade. It is impossible to say just how many men, women and children were dragged away from their villages in chains to distant lands. According to one authoritative source at least 9 million people were uprooted from their homes before 1776 and taken mainly to America.

A recent American investigation considered this figures too low. At least one million slaves died during the ocean crossings which were carried out in dreadful conditions. A British doctor who served on board one of these slave ships gives some sort of idea of how terrible they must have been. This doctor said the slaves were stowed in the deepest hold of the ship and crammed together, without even enough room to stand up or stretch out. They were kept in chains which shackled their right hand and their left foot for the whole journey which sometimes lasted for months.

The doctor also remarked that it was impossible for a white man to spend more than a few minutes in these slave holds without fainting.

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Zimbabwe, meaning ‘stone house collection of ruins of extremely ancient stone buildings. These buildings were situated at the top of a granite hill that rose some 100 meters above the wild plain north of the river Limpopo which flows between Zimbabwe and South Africa. The ruins were discovered by chance by an American hunter who had heard missionaries talk about them. The German anthropologist Carl Mauch was the first man to write about the ruins after organizing an expedition in 1871. Mauch worked on the account given to him by an African chief in a German mission.

When Mauch was abandoned by his porters was helped by the Karanga tribe and as a guest of these people he was able to explore the region. He was convinced when he saw the colossal stone buildings and listened to all the old local legends that he had found the realm of the queen of Sheba, which provided the gold for the temple of Solomon. Rumors soon spread that a great treasure lay hidden at Zimbabwe and much clandestine digging damaged the site before the authorities could act to stop it.

 The majority of the objects excavated were locally made: pottery, iron tools and weapons, gold objects and carvings of human figures, birds and bowls in a local stone. A number of imported goods were also found including animals with germs to develop diseases. Sometimes various organs are removed from these laboratory animals for detailed study of their functions.

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The mayas were skilful astronomers and through their knowledge of the heavens were able to draw up a calendar. This was a great achievement at a time when there were practically no scientific instruments to help them.

The year (tun) was divided into eighteen periods (vinal). The names of these eighteen periods were of various animals and colours. When the vinal added up to only 360 days, a special short vinal of only five days, known as ‘ghosts’, was added to complete the year. These five days were considered unlucky and nothing was ever done while they lasted.

In addition to this calendar there was a 260-day sacred almanac which was of supreme importance as a guide to daily conduct and an instrument for diving lucky days.

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In prehistoric times man buried his dead near where he lived. The deceased’s possessions that he had used most frequently during his life, such as his axe and knife, were buried with him and enough to the next world. This suggests that man believed in a continued life after death.

Towards the end of the Stone Age it became the practice to bury the sealed off with boulders to assure the deceased undisturbed peace. Collective burial grounds date from this period. These were the first graveyards and they were treated with great respect. The appearance of these cemeteries was a sign of sign of an important social change and the development of religion.

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