romikgosai/squad_modified huggingface dataset:
The specifics of Paleo-Indian migration to and throughout the Americas, including the exact dates and routes traveled, provide the subject of ongoing research and discussion. According to archaeological and genetic evidence, North and South America were the last continents in the world with human habitation. During the Wisconsin glaciation, 50–17,000 years ago, falling sea levels allowed people to move across the land bridge of Beringia that joined Siberia to north west North America (Alaska). Alaska was a glacial refugia because it had low snowfall, allowing a small population to exist. The Laurentide Ice Sheet covered most of North America, blocking nomadic inhabitants and confining them to Alaska (East Beringia) for thousands of years.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: How Paleo-Indians migrated to the Americas is still a matter for what type of research?
A: ongoing', "
Q: When did humans inhabit North and South America's continents?
A: last", '
Q: What allowed people to move across Beringia to North America?
A: falling sea levels', "
Q: A small population could exist in Alaska because of it's lack of any significant what?
A: snowfall", '
Q: What confined the nomadic inhabitants to East Beringia for thousands of years?
A: Laurentide Ice Sheet']
Indigenous genetic studies suggest that the first inhabitants of the Americas share a single ancestral population, one that developed in isolation, conjectured to be Beringia. The isolation of these peoples in Beringia might have lasted 10–20,000 years. Around 16,500 years ago, the glaciers began melting, allowing people to move south and east into Canada and beyond. These people are believed to have followed herds of now-extinct Pleistocene megafauna along ice-free corridors that stretched between the Laurentide and Cordilleran Ice Sheets.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: What do studies on the genetics of the first American inhabitants conclude about their ancestral population?
A: single', '
Q: Where did the single ancestral population of all the indigenous peoples of the Americas likely develop?
A: in isolation', '
Q: How many years may the isolation of the peoples in Beringia lasted?
A: 10–20,000 years', '
Q: When did the glaciers begin to melt?
A: 16,500 years ago', '
Q: What did the people follow in the corridors between the ice sheets?
A: Pleistocene megafauna']
The data indicate that the individual was from a population directly ancestral to present South American and Central American Native American populations, and closely related to present North American Native American populations. The implication is that there was an early divergence between North American and Central American plus South American populations. Hypotheses which posit that invasions subsequent to the Clovis culture overwhelmed or assimilated previous migrants into the Americas were ruled out.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: What does the data indicate about the population the individual was from?
A: directly ancestral', '
Q: What populations is the individual closely related to?
A: present North American Native American', '
Q: What type of divergence is implicated to have occurred between North American and South American populations?
A: early', '
Q: Theories that there were invasions which overwhelmed or assimilated previous migrants into the Americas have been what?
A: ruled out']
While technically referring to the era before Christopher Columbus' voyages of 1492 to 1504, in practice the term usually includes the history of American indigenous cultures until Europeans either conquered or significantly influenced them, even if this happened decades or even centuries after Columbus' initial landing. "Pre-Columbian" is used especially often in the context of discussing the great indigenous civilizations of the Americas, such as those of Mesoamerica (the Olmec, the Toltec, the Teotihuacano, the Zapotec, the Mixtec, the Aztec, and the Maya civilizations) and those of the Andes (Inca Empire, Moche culture, Muisca Confederation, Cañaris).

Questions and answers:
["
Q: The term Pre-Columbian technically refers to which era?
A: before Christopher Columbus' voyages of 1492", "
Q: When was Columbus' first voyage?
A: 1492", '
Q: In practice, Pre-Columbian refers to the history of the indigenous cultures of America prior to Europeans doing what to them?
A: conquered or significantly influenced', '
Q: What term is used most often when discussing the great civilizations of the Americas?
A: "Pre-Columbian"', '
Q: What area of the Americas did the Inca Empire, Moche culture and Muisca confederation hail from?
A: Andes']
Many pre-Columbian civilizations established characteristics and hallmarks which included permanent or urban settlements, agriculture, civic and monumental architecture, and complex societal hierarchies. Some of these civilizations had long faded by the time of the first significant European and African arrivals (ca. late 15th–early 16th centuries), and are known only through oral history and through archaeological investigations. Others were contemporary with this period, and are also known from historical accounts of the time. A few, such as the Mayan, Olmec, Mixtec, and Nahua peoples, had their own written records. However, the European colonists of the time worked to eliminate non-Christian beliefs, and Christian pyres destroyed many pre-Columbian written records. Only a few documents remained hidden and survived, leaving contemporary historians with glimpses of ancient culture and knowledge.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: Urban settlements and complex societal hierarchies are just some of the hallmarks established by which civilizations?
A: pre-Columbian', '
Q: What had long faded prior to the first European and African arrivals?
A: Some of these civilizations', '
Q: How do we know about some of the civilizations that were gone by the time of European arrival?
A: oral history and through archaeological investigations', '
Q: What did European colonists destroy on their pyres?
A: written records', "
Q: What gave today's historians a glimpse of the culture and knowledge of the indigenous civilizations?
A: a few documents"]
According to both indigenous American and European accounts and documents, American civilizations at the time of European encounter had achieved many accomplishments. For instance, the Aztecs built one of the largest cities in the world, Tenochtitlan, the ancient site of Mexico City, with an estimated population of 200,000. American civilizations also displayed impressive accomplishments in astronomy and mathematics. The domestication of maize or corn required thousands of years of selective breeding.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: What had the civilizations in the Americas achieved by the time the Europeans encountered them?
A: many accomplishments', '
Q: What had the Aztec civilization constructed?
A: one of the largest cities in the world', '
Q: How big was the population of the Aztec cit of Tenochtitlan?
A: 200,000', '
Q: Astronomy and mathematics were also accomplishments of which civilizations?
A: American', '
Q: How many years of selective breeding did it take to domesticate maize?
A: thousands']
The European colonization of the Americas forever changed the lives and cultures of the peoples of the continents. Although the exact pre-contact population of the Americas is unknown, scholars estimate that Native American populations diminished by between 80 and 90% within the first centuries of contact with Europeans. The leading cause was disease. The continent was ravaged by epidemics of diseases such as smallpox, measles, and cholera, which were brought from Europe by the early explorers and spread quickly into new areas even before later explorers and colonists reached them. Native Americans suffered high mortality rates due to their lack of prior exposure to these diseases. The loss of lives was exacerbated by conflict between colonists and indigenous people. Colonists also frequently perpetrated massacres on the indigenous groups and enslaved them. According to the U.S. Bureau of the Census (1894), the North American Indian Wars of the 19th century cost the lives of about 19,000 whites and 30,000 Native Americans.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: What did the European colonization forever change?
A: lives and cultures of the peoples of the continents', '
Q: How much did the population of the Americas decrease after first contact with the Europeans?
A: between 80 and 90%', '
Q: What was the leading cause of death for the native population after European contact?
A: disease', '
Q: What triad of disease epidemics ravaged the American continent?
A: smallpox, measles, and cholera', '
Q: Why did Native Americans suffer such high mortality rates to the diseases?
A: lack of prior exposure']
The first indigenous group encountered by Columbus were the 250,000 Taínos of Hispaniola who represented the dominant culture in the Greater Antilles and the Bahamas. Within thirty years about 70% of the Taínos had died. They had no immunity to European diseases, so outbreaks of measles and smallpox ravaged their population. Increasing punishment of the Taínos for revolting against forced labour, despite measures put in place by the encomienda, which included religious education and protection from warring tribes, eventually led to the last great Taíno rebellion.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: Who was the first group of indigenous people Columbus encountered?
A: the 250,000 Taínos of Hispaniola', '
Q: What did the Taínos represent in the Greater Antilles and Bahamas?
A: dominant culture', '
Q: What percentage of the Taínos were dead thirty years after contact with Columbus?
A: 70%', "
Q: Why were outbreaks of measles and smallpox able to so easily decimate the Taínos' population?
A: no immunity to European diseases", '
Q: What led to the last great Taínos rebellion?
A: Increasing punishment']
Following years of mistreatment, the Taínos began to adopt suicidal behaviors, with women aborting or killing their infants and men jumping from the cliffs or ingesting untreated cassava, a violent poison. Eventually, a Taíno Cacique named Enriquillo managed to hold out in the Baoruco Mountain Range for thirteen years, causing serious damage to the Spanish, Carib-held plantations and their Indian auxiliaries. Hearing of the seriousness of the revolt, Emperor Charles V (also King of Spain) sent captain Francisco Barrionuevo to negotiate a peace treaty with the ever-increasing number of rebels. Two months later, after consultation with the Audencia of Santo Domingo, Enriquillo was offered any part of the island to live in peace.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: What behaviors did the Taínos begin to adopt after years of mistreatment?
A: suicidal', '
Q: What did Taínos women start doing to their infants?
A: aborting or killing', '
Q: Why would ingesting untreated cassava be a bad idea?
A: violent poison', '
Q: Who was sent to negotiate a peace treaty with the rebels?
A: Francisco Barrionuevo', '
Q: How many years was a Taínos Cacique able to hold ou in the Baoruco Mountain Range?
A: thirteen']
Various theories for the decline of the Native American populations emphasize epidemic diseases, conflicts with Europeans, and conflicts among warring tribes. Scholars now believe that, among the various contributing factors, epidemic disease was the overwhelming cause of the population decline of the American natives. Some believe that after first contacts with Europeans and Africans, Old World diseases caused the death of 90 to 95% of the native population of the New World in the following 150 years. Smallpox killed up to one third of the native population of Hispaniola in 1518. By killing the Incan ruler Huayna Capac, smallpox caused the Inca Civil War. Smallpox was only the first epidemic. Typhus (probably) in 1546, influenza and smallpox together in 1558, smallpox again in 1589, diphtheria in 1614, measles in 1618—all ravaged the remains of Inca culture.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: What was the overwhelming reason for the decline of Native American populations?
A: epidemic disease', '
Q: Old World diseases accounted for up to what percentage of deaths among the native New World population?
A: 90 to 95%', '
Q: How long did it take for the Old World diseases to decimate the native population to the extent it did?
A: 150 years', '
Q: What disease killed almost a third of the population of Hispaniola in 1518?
A: Smallpox', '
Q: How did smallpox cause the Inca Civil War?
A: By killing the Incan ruler Huayna Capac']
Contact with European diseases such as smallpox and measles killed between 50 and 67 per cent of the Aboriginal population of North America in the first hundred years after the arrival of Europeans. Some 90 per cent of the native population near Massachusetts Bay Colony died of smallpox in an epidemic in 1617–1619. In 1633, in Plymouth, the Native Americans there were exposed to smallpox because of contact with Europeans. As it had done elsewhere, the virus wiped out entire population groups of Native Americans. It reached Lake Ontario in 1636, and the lands of the Iroquois by 1679. During the 1770s, smallpox killed at least 30% of the West Coast Native Americans. The 1775–82 North American smallpox epidemic and 1837 Great Plains smallpox epidemic brought devastation and drastic population depletion among the Plains Indians. In 1832, the federal government of the United States established a smallpox vaccination program for Native Americans (The Indian Vaccination Act of 1832).

Questions and answers:
['
Q: What percent of the Aboriginal population of North America was killed in the first hundred years after first contact by smallpox and measles?
A: between 50 and 67 per cent', '
Q: How much of the native population near Massachusetts was killed by smallpox in the epidemic between 1617 and 1619?
A: 90 per cent', '
Q: Who were the Native Americans exposed to smallpox because of?
A: Europeans', '
Q: When did smallpox read the lands of the Iroquois?
A: by 1679', '
Q: What did the Indian Vaccination Act of 1832 establish?
A: a smallpox vaccination program for Native Americans']
The Spanish Empire and other Europeans brought horses to the Americas. Some of these animals escaped and began to breed and increase their numbers in the wild. The re-introduction of the horse, extinct in the Americas for over 7500 years, had a profound impact on Native American culture in the Great Plains of North America and of Patagonia in South America. By domesticating horses, some tribes had great success: horses enabled them to expand their territories, exchange more goods with neighboring tribes, and more easily capture game, especially bison.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: What Empire brought horses to the Americas?
A: Spanish', '
Q: What kind of impact did the re-emergence of horses have on some Native American cultures?
A: profound', '
Q: How long had horses been extinct in the Americas prior to their re-introduction?
A: 7500 years', '
Q: What did some tribes achieve by domesticating horses?
A: great success', '
Q: What enabled some tribes to expand territory, increase trade and capture more game?
A: horses']
Over the course of thousands of years, American indigenous peoples domesticated, bred and cultivated a large array of plant species. These species now constitute 50–60% of all crops in cultivation worldwide. In certain cases, the indigenous peoples developed entirely new species and strains through artificial selection, as was the case in the domestication and breeding of maize from wild teosinte grasses in the valleys of southern Mexico. Numerous such agricultural products retain their native names in the English and Spanish lexicons.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: What did the indigenous peoples of America cultivate over the course of thousands of years?
A: a large array of plant species', "
Q: What percent of worldwide crops in cultivation derive from the efforts of the America's indigenous people?
A: 50–60%", '
Q: How were new species and strains of crops developed?
A: artificial selection', '
Q: What was the origin of maize?
A: wild teosinte grasses', '
Q: What products sometimes retain their native names in both English and Spanish?
A: agricultural']
The South American highlands were a center of early agriculture. Genetic testing of the wide variety of cultivars and wild species suggests that the potato has a single origin in the area of southern Peru, from a species in the Solanum brevicaule complex. Over 99% of all modern cultivated potatoes worldwide are descendants of a subspecies indigenous to south-central Chile, Solanum tuberosum ssp. tuberosum, where it was cultivated as long as 10,000 years ago. According to George Raudzens, "It is clear that in pre-Columbian times some groups struggled to survive and often suffered food shortages and famines, while others enjoyed a varied and substantial diet." The persistent drought around 850 AD coincided with the collapse of Classic Maya civilization, and the famine of One Rabbit (AD 1454) was a major catastrophe in Mexico.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: Where was a center of early agriculture?
A: South American highlands', '
Q: Based on genetic testing, what has been suggested about the origin of the potato?
A: single', '
Q: Where did the potato originate?
A: area of southern Peru', '
Q: How long ago was the decedent of 99% of all modern potatoes cultivated as long ago as?
A: 10,000 years ago', '
Q: What event in 850 AD coincided with the collapse of Mayan civilization?
A: persistent drought']
Natives of North America began practicing farming approximately 4,000 years ago, late in the Archaic period of North American cultures. Technology had advanced to the point that pottery was becoming common and the small-scale felling of trees had become feasible. Concurrently, the Archaic Indians began using fire in a controlled manner. Intentional burning of vegetation was used to mimic the effects of natural fires that tended to clear forest understories. It made travel easier and facilitated the growth of herbs and berry-producing plants, which were important for both food and medicines.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: When did the North American natives begin farming?
A: approximately 4,000 years ago', '
Q: What had pottery become 4,000 years ago in the Americas?
A: common', '
Q: What did technology make feasible when it came to trees?
A: small-scale felling', '
Q: How did Archaic Indians use fire?
A: a controlled manner', '
Q: What was the intentional burning of vegetation intended to mimic?
A: effects of natural fires']
Many crops first domesticated by indigenous Americans are now produced and used globally. Chief among these is maize or "corn", arguably the most important crop in the world. Other significant crops include cassava, chia, squash (pumpkins, zucchini, marrow, acorn squash, butternut squash), the pinto bean, Phaseolus beans including most common beans, tepary beans and lima beans, tomatoes, potatoes, avocados, peanuts, cocoa beans (used to make chocolate), vanilla, strawberries, pineapples, Peppers (species and varieties of Capsicum, including bell peppers, jalapeños, paprika and chili peppers) sunflower seeds, rubber, brazilwood, chicle, tobacco, coca, manioc and some species of cotton.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: What global industry owes its existence to having been domesticated by indigenous Americans?
A: Many crops', '
Q: What is arguably the most important crop in the world?
A: corn', '
Q: Squash, beans, and peppers are all examples of what type of crop?
A: significant', '
Q: What type of bean is used to make chocolate?
A: cocoa', '
Q: Who do we owe gratitude for even some species of cotton to?
A: indigenous Americans']
Cultural practices in the Americas seem to have been shared mostly within geographical zones where unrelated peoples adopted similar technologies and social organizations. An example of such a cultural area is Mesoamerica, where millennia of coexistence and shared development among the peoples of the region produced a fairly homogeneous culture with complex agricultural and social patterns. Another well-known example is the North American plains where until the 19th century several peoples shared the traits of nomadic hunter-gatherers based primarily on buffalo hunting.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: What did geographical zones encourage the sharing of?
A: Cultural practices', '
Q: What did people in the same reason adopt?
A: similar technologies and social organizations', '
Q: Where did millennia of coexistence produce a culture with advanced agricultural and social patterns?
A: Mesoamerica', '
Q: How long was there a homogeneous culture on the North American plains?
A: until the 19th century', '
Q: What creature did the nomadic hunter-gatherers of the plains hunt?
A: buffalo']
The development of writing is counted among the many achievements and innovations of pre-Columbian American cultures. Independent from the development of writing in other areas of the world, the Mesoamerican region produced several indigenous writing systems beginning in the 1st millennium BCE. What may be the earliest-known example in the Americas of an extensive text thought to be writing is by the Cascajal Block. The Olmec hieroglyphs tablet has been indirectly dated from ceramic shards found in the same context to approximately 900 BCE, around the time that Olmec occupation of San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán began to wane.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: What was one of the many achievements of the American cultures?
A: development of writing', '
Q: What region produced several writing systems independent of other areas of the world?
A: the Mesoamerican region', '
Q: What is presumed to be written upon the Cascajal Block?
A: extensive text', '
Q: When were writing systems being created in the Americas?
A: beginning in the 1st millennium BCE', '
Q: When has the Olmec tablet been dated to?
A: 900 BCE']
The Maya writing system (often called hieroglyphs from a superficial resemblance to the Ancient Egyptian writing) was a combination of phonetic symbols and logograms. It is most often classified as a logographic or (more properly) a logosyllabic writing system, in which syllabic signs play a significant role. It is the only pre-Columbian writing system known to represent completely the spoken language of its community. In total, the script has more than one thousand different glyphs although a few are variations of the same sign or meaning and many appear only rarely or are confined to particular localities. At any one time, no more than about five hundred glyphs were in use, some two hundred of which (including variations) had a phonetic or syllabic interpretation.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: What is the Mayan writing system the only known pre-Columbian one to completely represent this?
A: spoken language of its community', '
Q: What writing system combined phonetic symbols and logograms?
A: Maya', "
Q: What signs play a significant role in the Mayan's writing system?
A: syllabic", '
Q: How many different glyphs in total does the Mayan writing system have?
A: more than one thousand', '
Q: How many of the Mayan glyphs had phonetic or syllabic interpretations?
A: some two hundred']
Spanish mendicants in the sixteenth century taught indigenous scribes in their communities to write their languages in Latin letters and there is a large number of local-level documents in Nahuatl, Zapotec, Mixtec, and Yucatec Maya from the colonial era, many of which were part of lawsuits and other legal matters. Although Spaniards initially taught indigenous scribes alphabetic writing, the tradition became self-perpetuating at the local level. The Spanish crown gathered such documentation and contemporary Spanish translations were made for legal cases. Scholars have translated and analyzed these documents in what is called the New Philology to write histories of indigenous peoples from indigenous viewpoints.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: When were indigenous scribes taught to use Latin letters?
A: the sixteenth century', '
Q: Who taught indigenous scribes to write their languages?
A: Spanish', '
Q: What were a large number of the local documents in regards to?
A: lawsuits and other legal matters', '
Q: What were Spanish translations at the time made for?
A: legal cases', '
Q: What viewpoint have scholars translated and analyzed documents to writes histories from?
A: indigenous']