What is prehistory?

Um…the history before history…

PREHISTORY before written records were kept

1st system of writing – Africa 6,000 years ago (~ 4,000 BC)

Oral traditions – older persons in the family/ group repeated tales of past events to younger generations until they learned them by heart

Beliefs, traditions, folklore passed down from generation to generation through stories

Later civilizations recorded events on cave walls and animal hides with symbols that later evolved into a system of writing

So how did the first humans

come to the Americas?

North America

Asia

Beringia – an icey land bridge

North America

Why did they come here?

WHEN did they come here?

30,000 B.C. – 10,000 B.C.

First people crossed land bridge into what is now North America

2,000 BC2,000 AD

10,000 BC8,000 BC

6,000 BC4,000 BC 0

Before Christ

Anno Domini

“In the Year of our Lord”

YOU ARE HERE

PALEO ARCHAIC WOODLAND

MISSISSIPPIAN

Essential Questions

How did changes over time in prehistoric Indian technology and food affected

Indian settlement patterns?

How did changes in settlement patterns affect religious practices?

Georgia’s Prehistoric Periods

The Paleo Period Dates

10,000-8,000 B.C. Weapons

“Clovis” points Stone spear points

Knives and scrapers Atlatl – used to propel spears

long distances Food

Large game hunted animals Mammoths, bisons, ground

sloths, and mastadons Wild berries and nuts gathered

Dwellings Lived in groups of 25-50 Always on the move for

food (nomadic) = no permanent housing

Slept in caves, under cliffs, and dug out “sleeping pits”

Religion Artifacts to suggest

general spirituality – nothing specific

Paleo = “Very old” / few lived to be 30 yrs. old

Snapshots of Paleo-Indian Life

The Archaic Period Dates

8,000 – 1,000 B.C. Weapons

New tools invented to save time and effort (ex. weighted spear, grinding stone)

Clovis points become smaller and sharper for smaller game

Grooved Axe – stone head w/ wood handle. Used primarily to chop wood / remove brush

Food Hunted smaller game as period

progresses Deer, bear, turkey, rabbit, birds, fish

Fishing and gathering important Large remains of middens (trash

heaps of shells ) found on Stallings Island in GA

Clay pots to store and transport food in created

Dwellings Small groups gathered to

form larger groups of 50-100

Would move from season to season

Semi-permanent housing w/ wooden poles covered by animal hides, braches, and bark

Religion Proper burial of the dead

seems to be important Tools, weapons, and

ornaments found in tombs

Things becoming more settled

Snapshots of Archaic-Indian Life

The Woodland Period Dates

1,000 B.C. – 1,000 A.D. Weapons

Bow and Arrow – better accuracy/saves time

Arrowheads become smaller and sharper

Food Beginning of Horticulture (farming)

Seeds are saved for planting Nuts, corn, squash, and bottle-

gourd Small game hunted Developed clay pottery that lasted

longer

Dwellings More sturdy houses

(huts) as small groups join together and form tribes

Flat-topped mounds for gathering/ceremonies

Animal effigy mounds – Rock Eagle created in 200 A.D.

Religion Burial mounds with more

elaborate tombs containing jewelry, pottery, figurines, and ceremonial objects suggests belief in life after death

The Mound-Builders!

Snapshots of Woodland-Indian LifeEvidence of long-distance trading

The Mississippian Period Dates

1,000 A.D. – 1,600 A.D. Weapons

All tools and weapons from previous periods – only better-made and more effective

Food Farmed most food

Corn, beans, pumpkin, and squash (tobacco for ceremonies)

Used slash-and-burn technique Prepare land with bone/stone

hoes Stored food in storehouses for

constant supply

Dwellings Large-scale

communities w/ palisades and moats Several 1,000 families

living together Wattle and daub houses

made of clay and wood Mound communities like

Etowah and Ocmulgee Religion

Priest-chief presides over religious ceremonies Religious aspects

controlled by govt.

Snapshots of Mississippian-Indian Life

End of Prehistory?

Prehistory ends in Georgia with the arrival of Spanish-Explorer Hernando deSoto. (around 1539) Beginning of

traditional European written records of GA

Essential Questions

How did changes over time in prehistoric Indian technology and food affected

Indian settlement patterns?

How did changes in settlement patterns affect religious practices?

RELIGION

• Proper burial of the dead

• Buried with objects

• afterlife• Religious

ceremonies• Ceremonial

mounds• Burial

mounds• tombs• Priest chiefs

• Nomadic (always moving)

• Semi-permanent huts

• Seasonal movement

• Permanent houses

• Large villages

• Bands of people (25-50)

• Tribes (more than 100)

• Spear• Atalatal• Smaller

spear points

• Grooved axe

• Bow & arrow

• Pottery

• Hunter/ gather

• Large animals (Mammoth)

• Nuts/berries

• Small game (deer/rabbits)

• Agriculture (growing food)

• Farming

• Beans, squash, corn

SETTLEMENTWEAPONS/

TOOLSFOOD

In addition…

• Sample questions: • Which people were 1st to

use the atlatl?• For what purpose were

Georgia villages equipped with guard towers, moats and palisades?

• Most weapons were made of what substance during the Paleo period?