Warm Up: Put the Prehistoric cultures in order from the one that was around for the longest amount of time, to the one that was around for the shortest amount of time.

Paleo-Indians 10,000 BC – 8,000 BC

Paleo-Indians Thought to have started out as vultures – eating things after they died Followed herds of animals Males – hunters females – gatherers Hunted mammoths – only group Points would stay inside the animal http://www.atlatl.com/

Paleo Period – 10,000+ years ago Why would Paleo Indians need the biggest spear points?

Paleo Scraper

Mammoth

Mastodon Tooth

Archaic Indians 8,000 BC – 1,000 BC

Archaic Indians Returned to the same site year after year Hierarchy of individuals – based on burial sites Evidence of canoes Mass graves – 40 bodies (equal station) Could smoke and store food to be eaten later

Early Archaic 8000 BCE – 5000 BCE Rock Bowl

Archaic Deer Hunter As large mammals became extinct during Archaic period, hunters began hunting deer, bear, turkey, and rabbit

Middle Archaic Period 5000 BCE – 4000 BCE During the Archaic period hunters began to weight their spears to get more distance

Archaic Indians had a more complex lifestyle than Paleo indians

Late Archaic Period 4000 BCE – 1000 BCE Archaic Axe Head

Pottery is first introduced Early pottery was air dried not fired

Horticulture began in the late Archaic Period

Archaeologists have uncovered evidence of circular mounds including burial mounds, artifacts and evidence that the Late Archaic villages were more permanent

Woodland 1,000 BC – 1,000 AD

Woodland First to use bow and arrow First to have permanent settlements (farming and storage) Traded with other clans Surplus of food – increased population Burial mounds

Woodland Indians 1000 BCE – 1000 AD During the early Woodland period, people still hunted and gathered most of their food. Spear Points looked like the one pictured above.

During the Woodland period, several hundred families banded together and formed tribes.

A shell midden was found in Stallings Island near Augusta Shell Midden like the one found in Georgia

Woodland people lived in domed shaped huts made from trees

Hunting became easier with the invention of the bow and arrow

They learned to make pottery last longer

Kolomoki Mounds in GA are an example of Woodland cone-shaped mounds Elaborate religious ceremonies were introduced during the Woodland period Kolomoki Mounds in GA are an example of Woodland cone-shaped mounds

Woodland Indians began grinding corn into flour to make bread

Mississippian Indians AD 1000 - 1600

Mississippians Mound builders Large towns – center of gov’t and religious life - town built around central plaza Chiefs and priests controlled trade, made alliances and war Warfare increased – palisades – skeletons w/ arrows imbedded in them Artwork – beheading and scalpings

Why build mounds? Thought to be religious purposes – believed in a sun god – tried to get closer to him Some mounds had the chief living on top – when he died they burned him in his house and added to the mound to build a new house for the next chief

                                                     

Mississippian Indians 700 AD – 1600 AD

Mississippians were the most advanced ancient culture in Georgia

They were farmers and grew most of their food Cultivating the foods we think of today as being the “most” Native American

New farming tools helped Mississippians become great farmers Mississippian wooden farming hoe

The Temple Mound Builders were very religious Archaeological finds such as statues and other items found in burial mounds give us clues about the religious beliefs of the Mississippians

Mississippian pottery was more ornate

Scientists are uncertain what happened to the Mississippians

Although Creek tradition and many anthropologists believe the great Mississippian societies broke off into smaller tribes after the arrival of Europeans forming the Creek Confederacy

Life Among the Common Folk at Italwa - 1295 AD Etowah River Valley, Georgia

Muscogee Creek Town as it May Have Looked Around 1650