The Archaic Indians
The Archaic Indians lived around 800 B.C.- 1000 B.C. The Archaic time period was separated into 3 groups: early, middle, and late. In the early period, a lot of animals became extinct. Animals such as mastodons, camels, and mammoths were gone. The animals that their ancestors relied on was no longer able to be hunted. The Indians lived in small 'bands' of about 20-50 people. Now, instead of hunting huge animals, they hunted black bears, deer, and turkeys. They also learned to hunt fish, birds, and turtles. They adapted to warmer climate, and the big game started to disappear. They relied more on gathering berries and hunting smaller game to save their time and effort. They had some pottery, to store nuts, berries, and other items, and used the atlatl to hunt. In the middle period, the climate became warmer and drier. Now, instead of oak and hickory forests, pine forests now dominated the area. The number of the Archaic Indians living together slowly started to increase, and they all adapted to the warmer climate together. It is known to believe that they began to move less, and a lot of projectile points were found by the archeologists. The late Archaic Period lasted about 5,000-3,000 years ago. The amount of people in each village or tribe started to increase, and they began to trade with other people. The late Archaic period settlements were usually near rivers and they grew a taste for shellfish. They left the shells in big piles by the river, and they also started to build mounds to bury the dead, and for ceremonial uses. There was also evidence of cooking technology, because archeologists found bowls that were made.