The PaleoIndian Period 21,000 – 10,000 YA ANTH 221: Peoples and Cultures of Mexico Kimberly Martin, Ph.D.

Until about 10,000 YA, PaleoIndians hunted big game. Cliff Falls and Bogs. Tools were stone projectile points, scrapers and knives Fission and Fusion from bands of to smaller family groups seasonally

Earliest Dates in Mexico 21,OOO BP. Tlapacoya (25 mi. E. of Mexico City) –animal bones dated at 24,000 years ago -associated with 22,000 year old hearths, -obsidian blade buried under a 24,000 year old tree trunk - imported stone artifacts (obsidian, quartz). 20,OOO BP. Tequixquiac (just N. of old Lake Texcoco) - carved sacrum of an extinct camelid, made to resemble a dog, peccary, or camelid head. 13,000 BP. "Peñon Woman" 26 year old woman - skull is long and narrow - Oldest Human Remains  11,OOO BP. Santa Isabel Iztapan – Mammoth bones with in situ projectile points

Earliest Dates in Mexico 10,OOO BP. "Tepexpan 'man'" about 5'2“ – excavated on the shores of L. Texcoco.

Changes at 10,000 YA Big game died out around 8,000 BCE Theories: a) overkill by humans b) diseases c) climatic changes

Desert Tradition Hunting techniques and tools adapted to smaller animals. Projectile points became smaller and broader. Tools included choppers, scrapers, gouges, pebble mullers, mortars, and manos. People lived in semi-nomadic extended family groups, of less than persons. Few material possessions needed. First baskets and grinding stones.

Coiled Baskets & Grinding Stones

Beginnings of Domestication Grinding stones shows dependence on grains – First wild harvested, then slowly – Domesticated Baskets signal – Storage – Boiling baskets for grains

PaleoIndian Period Leads to the Archaic Period