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Chapter 2. The First Arkansas People. Scientist & Archaeology. Many scientists believe that people first arrived in North America during the last Ice Age.
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Chapter 2 The First Arkansas People
Scientist & Archaeology • Many scientists believe that people first arrived in North America during the last Ice Age. • Historians rely on archaeology (the study of the unwritten past) and artifacts (remains of objects made by humans) to determine when people crossed into North America.
Artifact Examples • Spear tips • Arrow points • Pottery • Jewelry • Baskets
1st People Don’t know much about them. Ancestors of today’s American Indians Arrived here 12,500 years ago.
Time Periods • Paleo-Indian Era 9500 BC-8000 BC • Archaic Era 8000 BC- 500 BC • Mound Building Period 1000 BC-1700 BC Woodland Era 500 BC-900 AD Mississippian Era 900 AD- 1541 AD • Historic Era 1541 AD- 1850 AD
The First Migration to the Americas • Migrations, movement of people from one region to another, took place over a long period of time. • Artifacts suggest that Paleo-Indians, the first Americans, crossed into Alaska from Asia sometime between 38,000 and 10,000 b.c. across Beringia, a land bridge.
Paleo-Indians9500 BC-8000 BC • Hunters • Used spear and dart throwers
Paleo-Indians9500 BC-8000 BC • Small population • Died out or assimilated by later tribes • Findings of Clovis points prove they lived in the region
Paleo People • Nomads who wandered hundreds of miles to search for food • Resourceful people • Fully developed language • Belief in the afterlife • Made clothing from animal skins • Baskets from split-cane • Spear point and tools from flint
Paleo Culture • Left no clues, that they had no written language; stories & traditions passed down orally • Traveled in small family groups • When they killed an animal: • Set up camp • Butchered the animal • Then, moved on in search of another; didn’t stay in one place for very long
Paleo Indians in Arkansas • Around 9,500 B.C., small population of Paleo Indians arrived in Arkansas • Most of northern regions of North America was covered with glaciers. • Arkansas was mostly tall grasses and wide prairies with a few large forests
THE FIRST PEOPLE OF ARKANSAS • They were the tough big-game hunters. • They tracked game in small groups. • Mastodon, an ancestor of the modern day elephant, were hunted.
Dinosaurs Mastodons Dogs Woolly Mammoth Giant Beaver Sloth Musk Ox Man Mussels Crayfish Tapir Bear Deer Elk Wolves Raccoon Rabbit Squirrels Birds Saber-tooth tiger Prehistoric Animals in Arkansas
Animals Sloth Wooly Mammoth Musk Ox Giant Beaver
Clovis Points • Fluted spear points of the period • A picture of a Clovis can also be seen on page 35 of your textbook
Dalton Culture • Different from earlier Paleo Indians • Made a more distinctive spear point called a Dalton point. • Advanced tool called the adze. • Adze: chisel-like stone tool that was used to shape wood into bowls
Changes • Climate warmed becoming more hot and humid • Mastodons, mammoths and saber-tooth tigers died out • With extinction of ice age animals, they began to hunt smaller animals. • Began to gather nuts from the hickory trees and acorns form the oaks.
Changes • Caught fish, harvested shellfish from the rivers, and steamed what they caught over a fire. • Increased plant life, meant they were able to add berries and roots to their diets • Hunter-gatherers: traveled shorter distances in search of food, they gathered seasonal plant life nearby and followed migrating herds of animals
Maximum Efficiency • Used nearly every part of the animal or plant • Wasted or discarded almost nothing • Animals: • Fur and skins used for clothing and shelter • Bones used for tools • Meat was eaten
Oak Squash Walnut Maple Pine Tupelo Nuts Berries Goosefoot Marshelder Sumpweed Gum Plants in Arkansas
Plants Goosefoot Marsh elder Sumpweed
Archaic Indians8000 BC-500 BC • Direct ancestors to modern Indians • Mainly in northwest Arkansas • Bluff Dwellers • Hunter-gatherers • Practiced basket weaving • Earliest group in Arkansas around 8000 BC • Art appeared during this period
Development of Archaic Tradition • Conditions that allowed the Archaic Tradition to develop: 1. The glaciers melted. 2. The Ice Age ended. 3. The climate became drier and warmer.
Archaic Indians • Traded with others • Began to grow plants for food • Grew sunflowers to harvest the seeds • Ate squash and barley • Dug pits in the ground where they stored food for the winter
Surplus food Rocks Minerals Hematite Novaculite Crystal Seashells Copper Pottery Quartz Items Traded Between The Tribes
Novaculite Hematite Chert Barite Antimony Mercury Minerals in Arkansas
Minerals Chert Hematite Novaculite
Archaeologists Finds • Uncovered fish hooks made of bone • Small stones (Hematite) used as weights for fishing nets • Harpoon points
Important New Tools • Unique tools discovered: • Tools used for butchering • Making jewelry • Stones for grinding food • Rock anvils for cracking nuts • Axe head and celts (ungrooved axes) • Most important find • Atlatl was used by the Archaic Indians to throw their spears farther and faster
Atlatl • A stick about 18 inches long that had a grip on one end and a bone or antler hook, on the other end • Hunters attached a spear to the hook and then held the spear & Atlatl in one hand about shoulder level
Atlatl • To release the spear , they would pitch the Atlatl overhead from back to front-much like throwing a ball • Made it easier to catch large prey • Picture on page 38 of your text book
Making a Dugout Canoe • Long and difficult process • Suitable tree was found • Tree was cut all the way around, taking off bark and a layer of wood • This process called girdling and would eventually kill the tree
Making a Dugout Canoe • Begin to shape the canoe with stone axes or an adz • Repeatedly, they burned the middle of the trunk until a hollow area was formed • This became the center where someone would sit • Dugouts were important because they were used for fishing, trade, and transportation
Mound Builders1000 BC-1700 AD • Woodland Tradition 500 BC-900 AD • Mississippian Tradition 900 AD-1541 AD
Mound Builders • Mainly southern and eastern Arkansas • Burial mounds, ceremonial mounds, and residential mounds • Food options expanded: produced squash, corn, barley, and beans • People stayed closer to home to take care of their crops
Clay Pottery • Important trademark of the Woodland Indians • Stored part of their harvest in jars for the winter • Dried acorns over the fire to make them easier to eat & rid them of the acid.
Mound Builders • Hunters traveled to obtain meat less often • Traded goods with other Indian cultures • Possible assimilated by the Quapaw
Woodland Tradition • Utilized burial mounds
Rock Art • Woodland Indians left behind many paintings and carvings on cave and rock walls in Arkansas • Pictographs were painted on rock walls • Petroglyphs were carved into the rock
Plum Bayou Culture • Mound builders who lived in Arkansas towards the end of the Woodland period • Built elaborate city of 18 mounds made of earth near Scott, Arkansas • Some mounds were nearly 50 feet tall • To see these mounds you can visit the Toltec Mounds State Park near Scott, AR
From Hunting Tool to War • Indian skills continued to increase • By eighth century A.D., Arkansas Indians were using the bow and arrow for hunting
Competing for Land & Meat • Bow and arrow improved chances of getting meat to sustain a family • Eventually, tribes may have started to compete with each other for hunting grounds & other resources
Competing for Land & Meat • Trade disagreements may have caused conflicts that led to war. • Once various groups, turned to warfare to solve their problems, the fighting continued
Rituals • When preparing for battle, they would perform rituals for good luck • Rituals: ceremonies in order for them to receive blessings from their gods • Also, performed to celebrate events or religious practices
Corn • Great advance was the growing of corn • Extremely useful food • Eventually spread throughout the world
Important Changes because of Agriculture • Eliminated or reduced hunger • People had to stay in one place to protect and cultivate crops • Tribal government had to exercise more power • Religious beliefs and practices started to appear