Paleo and Archaic People

2.1 Notes

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​"The First People"

The Beginning

Paleo Period (​9500-8000 BC)

​Archaeologists are the people who study the past, primarily through the study of artifacts.

Paleo Period (​9500-8000 BC)

Archeologists believe that the first people in North America came across a land bridge from Asia.​

Beringia

Beringia

Paleo Period (​9500-8000 BC)

Archeologists refer to these people as PALEO, or ancient people.

Paleo People

Paleo Period (​9500-8000 BC)

Known as nomads, these people did not have a permanent home, instead following large game over land

Paleo Period (​9500-8000 BC)

Improved hunting techniques and tools may have led to the extinction of many large animals, along with climate change

Paleo People

Paleo Period (​9500-8000 BC)

The oldest documented cemetery discovered in the US was discovered in Sloan.

Paleo People

​Archaic Period

​(8000-500 BC)

Archaic Period (8000-500 BC)

Warming climates, and the melting glaciers helped make the Arkansas we see today.​

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Archaic Period (8000-500 BC)

As large game died off, Native Americans had to switch from nomads to hunter-gatherers.​

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Hunter-Gatherers

Archaic Period (8000-500 BC)

While communities settled in one area for larger periods, they also began to trade with other groups and grow crops for food.

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Archaic Period (8000-500 BC)

Arkansas' many rivers and streams allowed the Archaic people to fish, evidenced by artifacts found at dig sites. ​

Stone Fishhook

Archaic Period (8000-500 BC)

Archaic Indians can be characterized by their increase in tool use, including the atlatl.

Atlatl

Woodland Period

​( 500 BC - 900AD)

Woodland Period (500 BC-900 AD)

​During this time period, the principle source of food was agriculture, not hunting.

Woodland Period (500 BC-900 AD)

An important trademark became their production of clay vessels, or pottery.

Pottery

Woodland Period (500 BC-900 AD)

​These were then then used in part to store and prepare food.

Woodland Period (500 BC-900 AD)

​From the Hopewell group in Ohio, these groups learned about building burial mounds.

Woodland Period (500 BC-900 AD)

​One of Arkansas' mound building sites in Plum Bayou suggests these people might have also been astronomers.

Mounds

Mississippian Period

​( 900-1541 AD)

Mississippian Period (900-1541 AD)

​By this point, Arkansas' Indian cultures had become almost entirely dependent on agriculture and trade with other groups.

Mississippian Period (900-1541 AD)

​Shelters were created using wattle and daub.

Wattle and Daub

Mississippian Period (900-1541 AD)

Potentially the largest settlement in Arkansas during the time period is located at Parkin, possibly home to thousands of people.

Parkin

Mississippian Period (900-1541 AD)

Sometime during this time period, the group probably encountered Hernando de Soto.

Hernando De Soto

Mississippian Period (900-1541 AD)

After this, populations began to mysteriously decline, possibly as a result of drought as well.