SS8H1 The student will evaluate the development of Native American cultures and the impact of European exploration and settlement on the Native American cultures in Georgia .
a. Describe the evolution of Native American cultures (Paleo, Archaic, Woodland , and Mississippian) prior to European contact.
Paleo Indians
-10,000-8,000 B.C. (paleolithic period)
-“Paleo” = very old
-Tools, knives, scrapers, and spear points made during this era were all made of stone
o pre-historic cultures are often classified by the materials that they used
§ Paleolithic age = old stone age
-Major technological contribution- the atlatl
o The atlatl allowed hunters to throw spears or darts much more accurately and from greater distances than when thrown by hand.
o How might an invention like this be beneficial to a hunter?
-Paleo Indians were nomadic
-“Why were these people nomadic?
-Paleo Indians hunted large game animals that roamed in herds
- animals such as the bison, mammoths, ground sloths, and mastodons
-one interesting hunting technique was when the Indians would chase large game
animals over cliffs in order to kill them
-Paleo Indians lived in groups of twenty-five to fifty people
-Nomads did not leave behind many artifacts
-Paleo Indian artifacts have been uncovered in the following Georgia locations Savannah River area, in the Ocmulgee River area, and the
Flint River at Albany .
Archaic Indians
-“archaic” = old
-The Archaic period is split into three distinct time spans: early, middle, and late
-Early Archaic Period
-8,000 B.C. – 5,000 B.C.
-Still hunted large game animals
-these animals slowly became extinct because of over hunting or climate change
-Early Archaic Indians began hunting smaller game such as deer, bear, turkey, and rabbit.
-began using smaller spears – Why?
-also began eating reptiles, game birds, and fish
-major technological contributions
-choppers, drills, and chipping tools made from deer antlers – Why deer antlers?
***Economics Alert*** -many stone artifacts found in Georgia are made from rock not often found in Georgia , so the early Archaic Indians must have
engaged in trade with other Indian groups
-early Archaic Indians moved with the season
-during the fall they lived where berries, nuts, and fruits were available
-during the summer they located places that were good for fishing
-Why did the early Archaic Indians move with each new season?
-Middle Archaic Period
-5,000 B.C. – 4,000 B.C.
-Georgia became warm and dry
-water levels along rivers and coastal areas receded
-began to eat shellfish, such as mussels and clams
-Major technological contributions
-the weighted spear- spears were weighted in the middle with polished stones, allowing them to be thrown greater distances
-this made food easier to get, leading the middle Archaic Indians to not have to move around as often as before
-there is also evidence that several small groups came together to form camps
-Late Archaic Period
-4,000 B.C. – 1,000 B.C.
-Major technological contributions
-the grooved axe- a stone axe head on a wooden handle
- the grooved axe was used for clearing trees and brushes around the camp
-horticulture – the science of cultivating plants and trees
-What do the grooved axe and horticulture lead you to believe about the Indians of the late Archaic Period?
-burial grounds, fire hearths, pipes, axes, shell beads, bone pins and needles, and bone hooks
-***Most Significant*** clay pottery- pottery was used for storing, cooking and serving food
-How would pottery, and its ability to store food, possibly lead Indians to change their nomadic lifestyle?
-used a grinding stone to grind nuts into a type of flour
-nutting stone- used to hammer nuts to get the meat and oil from them
-around 2,500 B. C., the climate of Georgia became cooler and wetter, much like it is today
-water filled lakes, rivers, and streams
-these bodies of water provided shellfish (mussels and clams), the main food source for the late Archaic Indians
-it is believed that late Archaic Indians lived in more permanent settlements due to the following artifacts being found at archaeological dig sites
- burial grounds, fire hearths, pipes, axes, shell beads, bone pins and needles, and bone hooks
Woodland Indians
-1,000 B.C-1,000 A.D.
-first Indians to band together and form tribes
-major technological contributions-
-these tribes lived in villages and built huts and houses
-used trees and bark to build homes- they stuck trees into the ground, bent them forward at the top and tied them together
-sticks are then woven in and out of the trees to form walls
-often covered their huts with bark or cane mats
-holes were left in the tops of their homes to allow smoke to escape
-slept on fiber mats
-bow and arrow
-arrow points were made out of stone, shark teeth, or deer antlers
-learned to make pottery last longer
-found clay along river banks and mixed it with sand
-rolled the mixture into strips and laid them on top of each other into the shape that they wanted
-they made the clay smooth with rocks and water
-after the pottery dried in the sun, it was baked in a high temperature fire until it was hard enough to cook
with
-Food
-the bow and arrow made hunting easier
-fishing, hunting, and gathering nuts and berries remained important ways of getting food
-also GREW squash, wild greens, and sunflowers
-Religion
-elaborate religious ceremonies were introduced during this time
-cone-shaped burial mounds were built by the Woodland Indians
Mississippian Indians – a.k.a. “The Temple Mound” period
-700 A.D. – to European contact
-highest prehistoric civilization in Georgia
-the name “Mississippian” comes from the first artifacts of this era being excavated along the Mississippi river
-lived in villages, farmed, and were very religious
-grew most of their food
-maize (corn), beans, pumpkins, and squash
-planted tobacco for use in ceremonies
-Major technological contributions
-used crop rotation- to preserve soil fertility
-used bone hoes and digging sticks
-began to dress and fix their hair differently
-tattooed their bodies
-villages grew to include several thousand families
-built centers for religious ceremonies
-also served as a home for the priest-chief – the head of the village
-villages were protected by moats and palisades (wooden fences)
-guard towers were located one-hundred feet apart
-the Mississippian culture began to disappear around 1600 A.D.
-no one knows why
-migration and disease are possibilities
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