1. Prehistoric GA What happened before anyone wrote it down…

2. Where did people come from??  The first people in GA did not just appear here. They traveled by foot from Asia.  During the Ice Age they walked across a land and ice bridge called Beringia. This land bridge connected what is now Russia and Alaska.  Over time they migrated down and across North America to what is now GA.  They were constantly moving in search of food, they were nomads.

3. How long were people in Prehistoric GA?  In North America and GA there are 4 prehistoric periods of people. Paleo, Archaic, Woodland, Mississippians.  The four groups are not separate groups of people, they are the different generations of the same race.  Paleo is the oldest as they evolved they became the Archaic, who evolved to become the Woodland and the final stage was the Mississippians.

4. Why did the Prehistoric Period End?  This period is not like the dinosaurs, the people did not die off, completely.  The prehistoric period ended in 1732 because the Europeans arrived in North America and met the natives.  Prehistoric means “before written history” when the Europeans arrived they brought writing with them and ended ‘prehistoric’ times.

5. Paleo  Lived from 10,000BCE to 8,000BCE.  Paleo means “very old”- “old stone”  Paleo Indians ate large animals such as the mammoths, bison, mastodons, giant sloth.  The were “nomads” who moved around to follow their food. They lived outside in groups.  They used knives and spear points made of rocks and they invented a spear throwing device known as the “atlatl”.

6. Archaic  Lived from 8,000BCE to 1,000BCE.  Archaic means “old”.  Archaic also tried to eat large animals but they were becoming extinct. This forced them to hunt small animals such as deer, bear, turkey, bird and fish.  By the end of this period they were planting crops to eat.  They were also eating a lot of shellfish from the coast.

7. Archaic Continued  The earliest Archaic people moved around and lived in temporary shelters, but by 1000BCE they were starting to live in small “camps” with more permanent shelters.  Archaic Indians used more developed spears and atlatls. They are also the first group to show evidence of axes.  First to use, farming, axes and POTTERY!

8. Woodland  Lived from 1,000 BCE to 1,000 CE.  They ate fish, small game and nuts and berries.  The Woodland Indians lived in actual tribes and villages. They were the first to create actual “homes” or permanent shelters.  The Woodland Indians made highly developed pottery that could be used not just for storage but also for cooking.

9. Woodland Continued  Woodland natives continued to use spears, but also developed the BOW and ARROW, which made hunting a much easier task.  Woodland Indians show many signs of religious rituals. They buried the dead with trinkets indicating a belief in the afterlife.  THEY WERE MOUND BUILDERS.

10. Mississippian  Lived from 1000 CE to the arrival of Europeans (1732 CE in GA)  They ate mostly things they grew, they were farmers.  They lived in large villages with distinct features.  The villages had moats and palisades for defense from other tribes.  They had special homes for their chief and places for religious ceremonies.

11. Mississippian Continued  They built mounds, lots of mounds.  They created farming tools out of bone and stone.  All evidence indicates they had the first organized religious practices.  In 1600 CE they left many of the villages in GA…where did they go??

12. The end of Prehistoric GA  The prehistoric period ended in GA with the arrival of the Europeans.  In GA it was Hernando de Soto, the 1 st European explorer to explore GA’s interior, who first met, wrote about and killed our prehistoric native.