Native Americans of Georgia

1. Native Americans of Georgia What was the Influence of Native Americans on the History and Development of Georgia

2. Where Did They Come From? • Where did the people to be called “Native Americans” come from? • Scientists believe that they came from Asia and crossed the Bering Straits during the last ice age. Massive glaciers removed so much water from the seas that a “land bridge” between the Asian and North American continents appeared. www.americanindian.net/ links7.html

3. Prehistoric Indians of Georgia There were four time periods of Indian life in prehistoric Georgia: • Paleo Period – 10,000 BC to 8000 BC • Archaic Period – 8000 BC to 1000 BC • Woodland Period – 1000 BC to 1000 AD • Mississippian Period – 1000 to 1600 AD

4. Paleo Indians10,000 B.C. to 8000 B. C. http://www.cr.nps.gov/seac/ssteller.htm

5. Weapons of the Paleo Indians • Made from antlers and rocks • Knives, spearheads, and axes • Used cane or tree trunks for shafts • Clovis Points were the earliest known spear points of the Paleo Indians

6. Clovis Point • These points were made from flint rocks using a technique called ‘flint knapping”. • This point is about 2 ½ inches long. http://www.stlcc.edu/fv/users/mfuller/martens/Pottery.html

7. Clovis Spear Points • These are other examples of Clovis Points. • Notice that the back of several are plain. • Later Paleo Indians began to notch the ends of the points to better tie them to their spears. http://www.150.si.edu/150trav/remember/r112a.htm

8. Paleo Food Sources • Primarily ate fruit and berries • Hunted large game such as the mammath, the mastodon, giant bison, giant sloths, and other large mammals. • They hunted in groups and had to get very close to their game in order to kill it (they were using spears, see picture on page 43).

9. Wooly Mammoths • Over 9 feet tall at the shoulder • Over 15 feet long from tusk to tail • The longest tusks found were over 17 feet in length. • Heavier than the mastadons. http://www.unmuseum.org/mastodon.htm

10. Mastodon • Stood from 6 to 9 feet tall at the shoulder. • Were up to 15 feet long from tusk to tail. • Weighed from 4 to 6 tons. • Evolved from the wooly mammoth. http://www.museum.state.il.us/exhibits/larson/mammut.html

11. Paleo Indians Attacking a Mammoth • Mammoths could weight 8,000 to 10,000 pounds. • The spears used by the Paleo Indians were crude weapons, the men had to get very close to their game to kill it. They risk injury or death trying to kill one of these beasts. • If injured, there were no doctors or hospitals. http://www.crt.state.la.us/crt/ocd/arch/laprehis/paleo.htm

12. Ground Sloth • The giant sloths weighed about 100 pounds. • They became extinct about 10,000 years ago. • Hunting pressure and environmental changes due to climate changes. http://www.museum.state.il.us/exhibits/larson/sloth.html

13. Giant Sloth Claw and Tooth http://www.museum.state.il.us/exhibits/larson/mgjf_bones.html

14. Giant Bison • They were about twice as big as our modern day buffalo. • Their horns could be seven feet from tip to tip (modern buffalo will reach about 2 feet). • They may have weighed as much as 4,000 pounds. http://www.sd4history.com/Unit1/giantbison.htm

15. Shelter of the Paleo Indians • Paleo Indians were nomadic, they moved from place to place, following animals they killed for food. • They did not build permanent houses, but rather lived in shallow pits or crude shelters covered with animal skins or tree bark. http://www.cabrillo.cc.ca.us/~crsmith/anth7_paleo.html

16. Religion and the Paleo Indian • There is only limited evidence of religious practices of the Paleo Indians living in Georgia. • Two skeletons were found buried with several artifacts and covered with a red powder. • This suggested that they practiced some form of burial ceremony.

17. Lifestyle of the Paleo Indians • They lived in small family groups, usually no more than 20 to 30 people per group. • The family groups were small because they could not get enough food (animals they killed plus nuts and berries they gathered) to support larger numbers. • They usually only lived to be 30 to 40 years old due to disease and accidental death (for example - being stepped on by a mastodon).

18. Prehistoric Indians of Georgia There were four time periods of Indian life in prehistoric Georgia: • Paleo Period – 10,000 BC to 8000 BC • Archaic Period – 8000 BC to 1000 BC • Woodland Period – 1000 BC to 1000 AD • Mississippian Period – 1000 to 1600 AD

19. Archaic Period Indians8000 B.C. to 1000 B.C. • About 7000 B.C. the climate began to change. Large mammals such as the mammoth, mastodon, giant sloth, and giant bison died out. • A new tradition of Native Americans, known as the Archaic Indians adapted to the warming climate of Georgia.

20. Archaic Weapons and Tools • Archaic points were more defined and often had a barb on the end. This helped hold the point on the spear shaft. • An axe head and two grinding stones. • The axe was not just used as a weapon but also used to cut down trees, hollow out holes for storage, etc. http://www.crt.state.la.us/crt/ocd/arch/laprehis/paleo.htm

21. Weapons/Hunting Tools, Archaic Period • The atlatl became the weapon of choice for the Archaic Period Indians. • They still used spears to kill their game, but since the large mammals had disappeared, the spear was not as effective as a hunting tool.

22. Atlatl (pronounced – (at/lat/l) • An atlatl was a stick about two feet long with a notch on the back. • It would throw a spear about six feet long. • The spear could be thrown accurately about 100 yards (the length of a football field). • The world record distance is over 700 feet. http://www.crt.state.la.us/crt/ocd/arch/laprehis/paleo.htm

23. Animals Hunted by Archaic Indians www.bearbiology.com/bbdesc.html http://www.esf.edu/pubprog/brochure/turkey/turkey.htm http://www.bcadventure.com/adventure/wilderness/animals/raccoon.htm http://www.bowhunting.net/Scouting/default.htm

24. Archaic Indians • Small villages of people living together was possible because they used more variety in their diet, eating more vegetables. • They also ate shellfish and used barbed hooks to catch fish. Huge piles of shells (called middens) were found in coastal areas, for example, the midden at Stallings, GA is 1,500’ long, 500’ wide and 6’ to 12’ thick. • Grinding stones and large storage pits for food were common. • They would burn areas of the woods so new plants would grow, attracting wild animals which they used for food. http://archive.ncsa.uiuc.edu/Cyberia/RiverWeb/History/Cahokia/archaic/settle.html

25. Archaic Indian Pottery • The first use of pottery was found at the end of the Archaic Period. • Pottery allowed the people to store food, cook with oils, and water. • Primitive markings and symbols were used to decorate the outside of some pottery pieces. http://www.cr.nps.gov/seac/outline/04- /

26. Evidence of Religion – Archaic Indians • There is evidence that the Archaic Indians believed in life after death. • They buried tools, weapons, body ornaments and food with the dead person.

27. They were the first to make fiber tempered pottery. They decorated their pottery with simple designs. There is evidence that they were primitive mound builders. There is evidence that they traded with other native peoples. They moved in limited areas, often spending a lifetime within a small area. They moved seasonally rather than following their food animals. They invented new ways of hunting and fishing, using barbed fishhooks and fish traps. Lifestyles of the Archaic Indians

28. Woodland and Mississippian Indian Cultures Continue

29. Prehistoric Indians of Georgia There were four time periods of Indian life in prehistoric Georgia: • Paleo Period – 10,000 BC to 8000 BC • Archaic Period – 8000 BC to 1000 BC • Woodland Period – 1000 BC to 1000 AD • Mississippian Period – 1000 to 1600 AD

30. Woodland/Mississippian Foods • http://www.cr.nps.gov/seac/woodland.htm http://free-stock-photos.com/food/beans.html http://www.funnytummy.com/posters_asst_vegetables.html

31. Woodland Period Shelter • Sometimes referred to as “longhouses” these were often permanent locations. • Covered with tree bark or often animal skins. • In the later part of the period they also used “wattle and daub” constructed houses. • Wattle and daub houses were constructed from interwoven sticks and twigs and covered with mud and allowed to dry. http://www.germantown.k12.il.us/html/homes.html

32. Woodland Indians Shelters • Woodland Indians began to build permanent settlements. • They began to use horticulture with their corps, they would harvest grains, beans, and squash/gourds to carry into the winter months. • They would burn off areas in the forest so that the new growth that appeared in the spring would attract small game. http://archive.ncsa.uiuc.edu/Cyberia/RiverWeb/History/Cahokia/woodland/settle.html

33. Woodland Period Pottery • Woodland Indian pottery was more useful, they had not yet learned to color their works. • The early Woodland pottery did exhibit markings and designs • The pottery was fiber tempered to begin with but later shells and grit and sand were used to add strength to the temper. http://archive.ncsa.uiuc.edu/Cyberia/RiverWeb/History/Cahokia/woodland/tech.html

34. Late Woodland Pottery • The late Archaic Period Indians made fiber tempered pottery using Spanish moss and other plant fibers. • The Woodland Indians began using grit and shells in the tempering of their pottery, making it much more durable and able to withstand higher cooking temperatures. http://www.cr.nps.gov/seac/outline/04-woodland/index-3.htm

35. Making a Bow and Arrow • They would select the branch of a tree that was fairly straight and strip the bark from it. • The Indians shaped a piece of flint into an arrow head using a process called “knapping”. • They would attach the stone point to the branch and then put feathers on the other end (fletching) to give the arrow stability in flight. http://www.virtualmuseum.ca/Exhibitions/Traditions/English/archery_02.html

36. Making a Bow and Arrow • A long straight tree limb was selected, stripped of its bark, and allowed to dry. • They would then string the bow. • Each bow was made to fit the person using it, according to the “draw” of the bow – how hard it was to pull it back. A smaller person would need a bow with a lighter draw than a larger person. http://www.virtualmuseum.ca/Exhibitions/Traditions/English/archery_02.html

37. Woodland Stone Points • The Woodland Indians developed the bow and arrow. It replaced the spear and atlatl as the primary hunting weapon. • The stone points for the arrows were much smaller in order to fit and allow the arrow to fly straight and far. http://www.cr.nps.gov/seac/outline/04-woodland/

38. Prehistoric Indians of Georgia There were four time periods of Indian life in prehistoric Georgia: • Paleo Period – 10,000 BC to 8000 BC • Archaic Period – 8000 BC to 1000 BC • Woodland Period – 1000 BC to 1000 AD • Mississippian Period – 1000 to 1600 AD

39. Mississippian Period Warrior • The Mississippian warrior presented a very interesting figure. • Notice the tattos on his body, meant to scare his opponents. • The bow and arrow became the weapon of choice, it was accurate and could kill at great distances. • The warrior would carry 15 to 20 arrows in a quaver on his back. • He could fire about 4 to 5 arrows per minute in a battle situation.

40. Mississippian Village/Mounds • The Mississippian Period Indians were prolific mound builders. • The mounds were generally used for worship or for an elevated area for the chief-priest to live on. • When the chief-priest died they would burn his house down and often bury him under the ashes. • The next chief-priest would then build his house on the site, above the former house. http://www.mississippian-artifacts.com/html/main.html

41. Mississippian Indian Village • Mississippian Indians became permanent residents of the areas. • Warm climate and longer growing seasons made permanent settlements possible. • Mississippian Indian villages were often surrounded by logs and a moat on the outside. • Notice how the houses had mud covered walls and thatch roofs. http://www.cr.nps.gov/seac/outline/05-mississippian/index.htm

42. Mississippian Period Pottery • The Mississippian Indians made beautiful pottery and ceremonial and decorative pieces. • They used grit and shell tempered materials that were much more durable and able to withstand greater heat. • They not only drew intricate figures but also used coloring such as ochre colored clays to decorate them. http://ngeorgia.com/history/early.html

43. Mounds and Indian Religious Beliefs • Both Woodland Indians and Mississippian Indians believed in life after death. • This was demonstrated by the great mounds they built. • The effigy mound at Rock Eagle and the seven mounds built near the present city of Cartersville are examples of their skills. http://roadsidegeorgia.com/site/rock_eagle.html http://ngeorgia.com/history/early.html

44. One of the Etowah Mounds Found at Cartersville, Georgia http://ngeorgia.com/parks/etowah.html

45. Late Mississippian Indians • Mississippian Indians developed highly structured societies, taking care of their elderly and those unable to care for themselves. • They traded with other Indian cultures from Arkansas, Kentucky, and other distant states. • These were the Indians that Hernando de Soto encountered when he began to explore Georgia in 1540. • These Mississippian Indians were to become the Creek and Cherokee Indian tribes that played such an influential role in the development of Georgia history.

46. That’s All Folks

47. Mississippian Indians http://www.cabrillo.cc.ca.us/~crsmith/anth7_formative.html

48. Mississippian Indian Village • This was an earlier Mississippian Indian village. http://www.cr.nps.gov/seac/outline/05-mississippian/index.htm