Differing Cultural Patterns
lIn 1500 about 200 languages were spoken in North America.
lBy then the towns of the Mississippi Mound Builders had been abandoned and only a few peoples maintained their patterns.
lIn the southwest the Anasazi and other cliff dwellers had moved to pueblos along the Rio Grande and practiced irrigated agriculture.
lMost other North American Indians were hunters and gatherers, sometimes also cultivating crops.
lIn rich environments complex social organization might develop without agriculture.
