1. The First People of North America 10,000 B.C. – A.D. 1500
Humans develop civilizations across the continent, including what is
now Georgia.
Artist’s rendering of Paleo-Indian artifacts, about 10,000 B.C.–8,000 B.C.
NEXT

2. The First People of North America 10,000 B.C. – A.D. 1500
SECTION 1
The First People in America
SECTION 2
The Development of the Mississippian Culture
SECTION 3
Creek, Cherokee, and Seminole
These are my notes for slide 2
NEXT

3. The First People in America
Section 1
The First People in America
Ancient peoples come from Asia to the Americas
and over time develop complex civilizations.
NEXT

4. The First People in America
SECTION 1
The First People in America
Prehistoric Cultures
Studying the Past
• Archaeologists are scientists who study artifacts
• Artifacts—objects from past that shed light on
prehistoric cultures
• Prehistoric—time before written history
• Culture—shared ways of daily life: arts, beliefs,
customs
• Scientists disagree on dates of prehistoric cultures
• Agree on order of cultures and their characteristics
Image
Continued . . .
NEXT

5. Archaeological Areas in Georgia
SECTION 1
continued Prehistoric Cultures
Archaeological Areas in Georgia
• Three archaeological areas in Georgia help us
study early cultures:
• Ocmulgee National Monument at Macon
• Etowah Mounds Archaeological Area at
Cartersville
• Kolomoki State Park near Blakely
NEXT

6. The Paleo-Indian Period
SECTION 1
The Paleo-Indian Period
Earliest Humans in North America
• Paleo-Indian period 10,000 years ago, Ice Age
glaciers melting
• Paleo-Indians adapt to cooler, wetter climates
• Used spears to hunt big game: woolly mammoths,
bison, moose
• Lead nomadic lives—moving from place to place to
hunt
• Big game becomes extinct; Paleo-Indian way of life
ends
• No settlements found in Georgia, but “Clovis” spear
point found
NEXT

7. The Archaic Period Georgia’s First Culture
SECTION 1
The Archaic Period
Georgia’s First Culture
• 8000 B.C. forests replace open land of Ice Ages, big
game disappears
• Archaic Indians descend from Paleo-Indians
• In eastern U.S B.C.–1000 B.C.; perhaps
Georgia’s first culture
- improve hunting, gathering techniques; grow
some crops
- live in pithouses, rock shelters; build villages,
trade
- did not have bows, arrows, farming, well-
developed pottery
NEXT

8. The Woodland Period Early Agriculture Hunting Settlements
SECTION 1
The Woodland Period
Early Agriculture
• Woodland Indians—1000 B.C.–800 A.D.,
following Archaic Period
• Develop farming, clear fields, plant crops; store
excess food
Hunting
• Develop bows and arrows, single hunter can now
hunt deer
Settlements
• Villages along stream valleys; protective walls
around villages
Continued . . .
NEXT

9. Mounds • Burial sites in shape of objects, animals; artifacts
SECTION 1
continued The Woodland Period
Mounds
• Burial sites in shape of objects, animals; artifacts
buried with dead
• 1500s—Woodland Indians, Mississippians first to
greet explorers
NEXT

10. The Development of the Mississippian Culture
Section 2
The Development of the Mississippian Culture
At the time of Europeans’ arrival, complex cultures occupied the land that became the United States.
NEXT

11. The Development of the Mississippian Culture
SECTION 2
The Development of the Mississippian Culture
Improved Agriculture
Mississippian Culture
• Mississippian culture begins along Mississippi,
Ohio River valleys
- stretches from Georgia north to Minnesota; west
into Great Plains
- many sites along Georgia rivers
• Fertile river soil allows new crops of corn and
beans from Mexico
• Corn, squash, beans main staples
- beans provide protein without hunting animals;
feed more longer
Map
NEXT

12. A More Complex Culture Civilizations Develop
SECTION 2
A More Complex Culture
Civilizations Develop
• Missisippians develop 5 characteristics of
civilization:
- cities as trade centers
- specialized jobs
- organized government, religion
- record keeping
- advanced tools
Continued . . .
NEXT

13. Temple Mounds • Missisippian culture has true towns—social,
SECTION 2
continued A More Complex Culture
Temple Mounds
• Missisippian culture has true towns—social,
political, economic hubs
• Towns have 1–20 flat-topped temple mounds
- earthen, with ramps leading up one side
- ceremonial structures, public buildings built on
top
• Mississippian structures, crops similar to those in
Mexico, Guatemala
- indicates contact with Mexican and
Guatemalan cultures
Continued . . .
NEXT

14. Mississippian Societies
SECTION 2
continued A More Complex Culture
Mississippian Societies
• Divided into social hierarchies, or levels of
importance
- heredity and bravery in war may increase
• Used war to gain, defend territory
• Artifacts: stone axes, bowls, pipes; pottery shows
Mexican influence
• Common designs: sunburst, weeping eye,
arrows, cross, eye in hand
- designs are records of Mississippian beliefs,
practices
NEXT

15. The End of the Mississippian Culture
SECTION 2
The End of the Mississippian Culture
Sites Abandoned
• Europeans meet Mississippians upon landing in
North America
• Entire towns abandoned as early as 1540;
several theories why:
- overcrowding, disease
- rulers lost power, tightly organized societies
unraveled
• Anthropologists study humans via culture,
environment, human remains
- human bones at Mississippian sites suggest
tuberculosis, parasites
NEXT

16. Creek, Cherokee, and Seminole
Section 3
Creek, Cherokee, and Seminole
The Creek culture is the dominant culture when Europeans arrive in what is now Georgia.
NEXT

17. Creek, Cherokee, and Seminole
SECTION 3
Creek, Cherokee, and Seminole
From Mississippian to Creek
Creek Ancestry
• “Five Civilized Tribes” descend from Mississippian
Culture:
• Creek, Cherokee, Seminole, Choctaw, Chickasaw
• A.D. 100–1000 Creek migrate from Mississippi
Valley to Chattahoochee
• Most Georgia groups from same culture, speak
Muskhogean
• Mississippian chiefdoms band together to form a
confederacy
• Creek Confederacy—Southeast’s largest group;
occupy most of Georgia
NEXT

18. Creek Culture Creek Towns
SECTION 3
Creek Culture
Creek Towns
• 7,000–8,000 Creek in 50–80 towns; divided into
Upper, Lower Creek
- twice as many Upper Creek as Lower Creek
• “Creek” is English name for group on Ochese
Creek (Ocmulgee River)
• Town centers used for political, ceremonial
functions
• Chakofa community houses contain ceremonial
fires
- Creek leaders meet here in cold months
Map
Continued . . .
NEXT

19. Creek Towns • Most Creek live in large family compounds
SECTION 3
continued Creek Culture
Creek Towns
• Most Creek live in large family compounds
- near town center or along waterways
- have clusters of gardens, fields, buildings
• Compounds owned by family, including all
members of a clan
• Clan—group of people with common ancestor
• Creek are matrilineal—ancestry traced through
mother’s family
Continued . . .
NEXT

20. Creek Government Creek Religion
SECTION 3
continued Creek Culture
Creek Government
• Creek towns are groups of farming communities
• Chief governs; position usually inherited, always
from specific clan
• Group of town council elders advise chief
Creek Religion
• Green Corn ceremony is most significant festival
- thanks for new crop; celebration of town
history, light council fire
• Fire, corn symbols of life, health, happiness,
friendship, kinship
NEXT

21. The Cherokee Cherokee Culture Maintaining Balance
SECTION 3
The Cherokee
Cherokee Culture
• Cherokee migrate to Georgia from North
Carolina in 1700s
• Similar to Creek culture: matrilineal, Green Corn
ceremony, towns
Maintaining Balance
• Believe world must remain in balance, otherwise
disasters occur
• Green Corn rituals focus on harmony, order,
cleansing
- broken items discarded, unhappy marriages
dissolved, wrongs forgiven
• Women farm, make goods; men hunt; deer most
important game
Image
Continued . . .
NEXT

22. Cherokee Government • Differs from Creek; no chiefs, national council
SECTION 3
continued The Cherokee
Cherokee Government
• Differs from Creek; no chiefs, national council
until 1700s
• Town council meetings run democratically
- people debate issues, reach agreement
- women, men both have say
• War most important issue debated
- wage war only to pay back enemies, not for
land
NEXT

23. The Seminole Seminole Culture
SECTION 3
The Seminole
Seminole Culture
• Another descendent of Mississippian culture
• Most live in what is now Florida, some in Georgia
• Seminole culture similar to Creek, speak
Muskhogean language
• Europeans called them Seminole—from native
word for “free people”
NEXT

24. This is the end of the chapter presentation of lecture notes
This is the end of the chapter presentation of lecture notes. Click the HOME or EXIT button.

25. Print Slide Show Print Text Version 1. On the File menu, select Print
2. In the pop-up menu, select Microsoft PowerPoint If the dialog box does not include this pop-up, continue to step 4
3. In the Print what box, choose the presentation format you want to print: slides, notes, handouts, or outline
4. Click the Print button to print the PowerPoint presentation
Print Text Version
1. Click the Print Text button below; a text file will open in Adobe Acrobat
2. On the File menu, select Print
3. Click the Print button to print the entire document, or select the pages you want to print
Print Text
Print Text
BACK