Early Inhabitants

Paleo Ate Wooly Mammoth!

Early Inhabitants

BERING LAND BRIDGE At certain periods during the

Pleistocene Epoch, the temperatures turned cold enough to freeze much of the Earth’s water into ice. From about 25,000 to nearly 10,000 years ago, sea levels were as much as 135 m (440 ft) lower than they are today, and a natural land bridge, called Beringia, linked present-day Siberia and Alaska. Most anthropologists believe that Native Americans descend from Asian peoples who migrated into North America by way of this land bridge.

Early InhabitantsAncient Indians:

Broken into time periods, based on total change in culturePaleoArchaicWoodlandMississippian

Early InhabitantsPaleo

“Old Stone”Until 10,000 B.C. Nomadic Culture

HuntersHunted Large game

Large pointed sticks“Clovis points” spears

Lived in small groups25 – 50 members

Artifacts in GA:Around Rivers

Savannah Ocmulgee Flint

PALEO INDIANS Paleo-Indians lived in small nomadic

groups that remained in an area only as long as the animals and plant foods were plentiful. Evidence indicates that they camped near streams in temporary shelters made of branches, grass, and hides. At other times, they preferred high ground where they could see the countryside to watch for animals. The camp may have had a central area for group activities surrounded by living areas where families cooked and slept. These people probably used animal skins for clothing and as blankets, and they may have had dogs as hunting companions. They did not raise other animals or grow crops. They used no metal and made no pottery.

Used spears to hunt large game for food.

Archaic6000 B.C. – 1000 B.C.

3 periodsGame gets smaller

Weapons get smaller, fasterAtlatl

Simple toolsDrills, chipping tools

Seasonal MigrantsBegin horticultureSmall groups join

Make campsClay pots first used

Early Inhabitants

ATLATL USED BY THE ARCHAIC PEOPLES

The Atlatl…. By Atlatl Bob!

ARCHAIC PERIOD8000-5000BC

Invented useful tools such as:

Choppers, drills, and chipping tools

Hunted large game

Moved each season

WOODLAND INDIANS1000BC-1000AD

KNOWN AS HUNTERS AND GATHERERS

Lived a more settled life. Attentions to death and

burial EFFIGY MOUNDS Invented Bow and Arrow

Early InhabitantsWoodland

1000 B.C. – 1000 A.D. Camps join and form

tribesSeveral hundred familiesCommon ancestry,

customs Begin using Bow and

Arrow Fire pottery for strength Religious ceremonies

impt.Burial mounds filled with

goods

EFFIGY MOUNDS

Rock Eagle in Georgia

BOW AND ARROWWoodland Indians

invented the Bow and Arrow.

Early InhabitantsMississippian

700 A.D. - 1600 Lived in villages Farmed

Maize Beans Pumpkin Squash

Practiced religion Priest Chief

Temple Mound BuildersOcmulgee – Macon Etowah Mound –

Cartersville Ornate clothing Disappeared around 1600

Mississippian Farmers Farmers

Lived a more settled life. Lived near Rivers.

Agriculture: corn, beans, squash, pumpkins, tobacco

Build flat top mounds for burials

Used tattooingTwo sects of Indian tribes

from the Mississippian farmers are Creek and Cherokees.

Flat top mounds in Georgia

Ocmulgee mound

Etowah Indian Mound

Kolomoki Mounds