1. Created by Mr. Hemmert Robertsdale Elementary Fourth Grade
Prehistoric Indians
Created by Mr. Hemmert
Robertsdale Elementary
Fourth Grade

2. ALCOS
2. Describe cultures, governments, and economies of prehistoric and historic Native Americans in Alabama.
Examples: prehistoric Native Americans—Paleo-Indian, Archaic, Woodland, Mississippian; historic Native Americans—Choctaw, Chickasaw, Cherokee, Creek
2.1 Identifying locations of prehistoric and historic Native Americans in Alabama.
2.2 Describing types of prehistoric life in Alabama.
Examples: plants, animals, people
2.3 Identifying roles of archaeologists and paleontologists.

3. Important Vocabulary
Geographers – scientists who study the land and how it affects the people who live on it

4. Important Vocabulary
archaeologist – scientist who studies tools and other items left behind by past generations to learn about how they lived

5. Important Vocabulary
Paleontologists - the study of prehistoric life, including organisms' evolution and interactions with each other and their environments

6. Important Vocabulary
Inhabitants – people who live in a particular place

7. Important Vocabulary
Petroglyphs – rock carvings

8. Important Vocabulary
Middens – garbage dumps used by Archaic Indians

9. Introduction
Anthropologists and archaeologists tell us that there were four distinct Indian cultures during the prehistoric period in Alabama.
These four groups are: Paleo Indians, Archaic Indians, Woodland Indians, and the Mississippian Indians.

10. Paleo Indians
The Paleo Indians moved into Alabama about 12,000 years ago while following herds of now-extinct food animals.
They were hunters and gatherers.

11. Paleo Indians - Shelters
Where did the Paleo Indians live?
The Paleo Indians looked for shelter that was both safe and close to food sources.
They made camps beneath rock overhangs and caves.
One camp site was at Russell Cave in Jackson County in the northeastern corner of the state. A second is at Dust Cave in the cliffs overlooking the Tennessee Rive in northwestern Alabama.

12. Paleo Indians – Russell Cave

13. Paleo Indians - Shelter

14. Paleo Indians - Foods What did the Paleo Indians eat?
Small family groups of bands of these early people cooperated to hunt game and to gather wild plant foods like berries and nuts from the forest.
The Paleo Indians hunted large prehistoric animals like mastodons and woolly mammoths.

15. Paleo Indians - Tools
Paleo Indians sharpened stones into spear points and scrapers.
Most of the objects that the Paleo Indians used may not be known because only stone objects can survive long enough to be found by archaeologists after hundreds of thousands of years.

16. Paleo Indians - Art The Paleo Indians were excellent artists.
In some parts of north Alabama archaeologists have found petroglyphs carved into rocks.
These ancient symbols offer clues about religious beliefs of the state’s original inhabitants.

17. Paleo Indians - Petroglyphs

18. Paleo Indians - Petroglyphs

19. Paleo Indians - Petroglyphs

20. Paleo Indians - Petroglyphs

21. The Archaic Indians
The Archaic Indians lived in Alabama 10,000 – 3,500 years ago.
The changes of the Paleo period meant that although the Archaic people were still hunters and gatherers, they made use of other resources too.

22. Archaic Indians - Shelter
The Archaic Indians lived near rivers during the summer. During the winter, they lived near forests.

23. Archaic Indians
Archaic Indians lived near rivers during the summer because they used fish and shellfish as a food source.
In the winter time, they would move to the forest to collect nuts and to hunt game.

24. Archaic Indians - Middens
Middens are garbage dumps used by Archaic Indians.
Archeologists have learned about what the Archaic Indians ate by studying these garbage dumps. They noticed many muscle shells.

25. Archaic Indians - Tools
Archaic people developed many tools that made life easier.
They used the atlatl, or a throwing stick, for hunting.
The atlatl is shaped like a jointed spear tipped with a stone weight and a hook, the atlatl allowed a hunter to aim much better and throw much farther. The atlatl improved hunting.

26. The Archaic Indians – Art
Archaic period people made bowls and other items from stone.

27. Woodland Indians
The Woodland period in Alabama was characterized by increasing cultural complexity and population growth and began about 1000 BC and lasted until about AD 1000.
The Woodland period started about 3,000 to 2,000 years ago.

28. Woodland Indians - Shelter
Woodland people tended to live in small villages, perhaps in deer-hide tents.
They stayed in one place for at least a season.

29. Woodland Indians – Hunting and Farming
The Woodland Indians were excellent hunters and farmers.
The Woodland Indians invented the bow and arrow which improved their hunting abilities.
With both farming and hunting, the Woodland Indians had a more dependable and healthier diet than their predecessors. As a result, their population increased.

30. Woodland Indians - Diet
Some of the foods that the Woodland Indians ate were:
Maize (corn), squash, and beans, nuts, wild animals, and other wild foods.

31. Woodland Indians - Art
The Woodland Indians were also excellent artists. Archaeologists have found numerous forms of pottery from the Woodland period.
Using clay that they eventually mixed with a temper (crushed limestone or other material that made the clay stronger), they shaped bowls and other containers by hand.
They made bowls, containers, cooking utensils, effigies, and hunting tools.
Turn to page 16 and 17 to see some of the pottery that the Woodland Indians made.

32. Woodland Indians – Burial Mounds
In many of the Woodland Indian sites in Alabama, archaeologists have found many dome-shaped burial mounds.
In these burial mounds, archaeologists have found remains of individuals buried with grade goods such as bowls, spear points, jewelry made from shell or bone, and other special objects.

33. Woodland Indians – Society
In the Archaic period, people seemed to be equals in society. During the Woodland period, society was becoming more complex as more people lived close together for longer periods of time.
Leaders began to take charge, and burials show that some people were more important than others.

34. Summary Group Time Period Shelter Foods Tools Paleo Archaic Woodland
12,000 years ago
Caves
Nuts, berries, animals
Prehistoric animals
Stone tools
Archaic
10,000 – 3,500 years ago
Moved around according to the season
Freshwater mussles
Fish
Oysters
Nuts
meat
Atlatl
Shell middens
Made bowls from stone
spears
Woodland
3,000 – 2,000 years ago
Lived in small villages
Deer-hide tents
Raised corn, squash, and beans
Meat
berries
Bow and arrow
Made pottery from clay

35. Review Time
1. Scientists who study the land and how it affects the people who live on it are called ______________.
archaeologists
geographers
geologists
paleontologists

36. Question 1 Answer
b. geographers

37. Question 2
Scientists who study past cultures by looking at their weapons, tools, buildings, and other remains are called _______________.
geographers
paleontologists
archeologists
geologists

38. Question 2 Answer
c. archeologists

39. Review Question 3 Where did Paleo Indians sometimes make their home?
Caves and/or rock overhangs
houses
Mr. Hemmert’s classroom
tents

40. Question 3 Answer
A. They made their homes beneath rock overhangs and in caves. They wanted to be safe and close to food sources.

41. Review Question 4 What did Paleo Indians hunt? elk and deer fish
prehistoric animals such as mastodons and woolly mammoths
Cheese burgers

42. Question 4 Answer
C. Paleo Indians hunted large prehistoric (now extinct) animals such as the woolly mammoth and mastodons.

43. Review Question 5
The ___________ was a throwing stick used by the Archaic Indians.
Atlatl

44. Review Question 6
The _____________ Indians made bowls and other items from stone.
Archaic
Woodland
Paleo

45. Question 6 Answer
a. Archaic Indians

46. Question 7
The bow and arrow was first used by the ___________ Indians.
Archaic
Woodland
Paleo

47. Question 7 Answer
b. Woodland Indians

48. Question 8
People who live in a particular place are called ____________.
inhabitants
prehistoric
middens
migration

49. Question 8 Answer
a. inhabitants

50. Question 9 The study of prehistoric life is called _________.
paleontologists
geologists
archaeologists
geographers

51. Question 9 Answer
a. paleontologists

52. Conclusion
Think, Pair, Share: Turn and talk to your neighbor about something you have learned today. You will each have one minute to share.
Tomorrow, we will learn about the Mississippian period.

53. Resources