Native Americans of Georgia

1
Native Americans of Georgia

• What was the Influence of Native Americans on the
  History and Development of Georgia?

2
Where Did They Come From?

• Where did the people to be called Native
  Americans come from?
• Scientists believe that they came from Asia and
  crossed the Bering Straits during the last ice
  age. Massive glaciers removed so much water from
  the seas that a land bridge between the Asian
  and North American continents appeared.

www.americanindian.net/ links7.html
3
Prehistoric Indians of Georgia

• There were four time periods of Indian life in
  prehistoric Georgia
• Paleo Period 10,000 BC to 8000 BC
• Archaic Period 8000 BC to 1000 BC
• Woodland Period 1000 BC to 1000 AD
• Mississippian Period 1000 to 1600 AD

4
Paleo Indians10,000 B.C. to 8000 B. C.
http//www.cr.nps.gov/seac/ssteller.htm
5
Weapons of the Paleo Indians

• Made from antlers and rocks
• Knives, spearheads, and axes
• Used cane or tree trunks for shafts
• Clovis Points were the earliest known spear
  points of the Paleo Indians

6
Clovis Point

• These points were made from flint rocks using a
  technique called flint knapping.
• Clovis point found at Ocmulgee site in Georgia

http//www.stlcc.edu/fv/users/mfuller/martens/Pott
ery.html
7
Paleo Food Sources

• Hunted large game such as the mammoth, the
  mastodon, giant bison, giant sloths, and other
  large mammals.
• They hunted in groups and had to get very close
  to their game in order to kill it (they were
  using spears, see picture on page 43).
• Any fruits or vegetables they ate, were ones they
  found while foraging.

8
The Game

• Over 9 feet tall at the shoulder
• Over 15 feet long from tusk to tail
• The longest tusks found were over 17 feet in
  length.
• Heavier than the mastodons.

• Stood from 6 to 9 feet tall at the shoulder.
• Were up to 15 feet long from tusk to tail.
• Evolved from the wooly mammoth.

http//www.unmuseum.org/mastodon.htm
9

• The giant sloths weighed about 100 pounds.
• They became extinct about 10,000 years ago.
• Hunting pressure and environmental changes due to
  climate changes.

• They were about twice as big as our modern day
  buffalo.
• Their horns could be seven feet from tip to tip
  (modern buffalo will reach about 2 feet).

http//www.museum.state.il.us/exhibits/larson/slot
h.html
10
Shelter of the Paleo Indians

• Paleo Indians were nomadic, they moved from place
  to place, following animals they killed for food.
• They did not build permanent houses, but rather
  lived in shallow pits or crude shelters covered
  with animal skins or tree bark.

http//www.cabrillo.cc.ca.us/crsmith/anth7_paleo.
html
11
Religion and the Paleo Indian

• There is only limited evidence of religious
  practices of the Paleo Indians living in Georgia.
• Two skeletons were found buried with several
  artifacts and covered with a red powder.
• This suggested that they practiced some form of
  burial ceremony.

12
Lifestyle of the Paleo Indians

• They lived in small family groups, usually no
  more than 20 to 30 people per group.
• The family groups were small because they could
  not get enough food (animals they killed plus
  nuts and berries they gathered) to support larger
  numbers.
• They usually only lived to be 30 to 40 years old
  due to disease and accidental death (for example
  - being stepped on by a mastodon).
• LIVED DURING THE END OF THE ICE AGE

13
Prehistoric Indians of Georgia

• There were four time periods of Indian life in
  prehistoric Georgia
• Paleo Period 10,000 BC to 8000 BC
• Archaic Period 8000 BC to 1000 BC
• Woodland Period 1000 BC to 1000 AD
• Mississippian Period 1000 to 1600 AD

14
Archaic Period Indians8000 B.C. to 1000 B.C.

• FIRST CULTURE OF GEORGIA
• About 7000 B.C. the climate began to change.
  Large mammals such as the mammoth, mastodon,
  giant sloth, and giant bison died out.
• A new tradition of Native Americans, known as the
  Archaic Indians adapted to the warming climate of
  Georgia. Their most urgent adaptation was one of
  finding food.

15
Archaic Weapons and Tools

• Archaic points were more defined and often had a
  barb on the end. This helped hold the point on
  the spear shaft.
• The stone axe was not just used as a weapon but
  also used to cut down trees, hollow out holes for
  storage, etc.

http//www.crt.state.la.us/crt/ocd/arch/laprehis/p
aleo.htm
16
Weapons/Hunting Tools, Archaic Period

• The atlatl became the weapon of choice for the
  Archaic Period Indians.
• They still used spears to kill their game, but
  since the large mammals had disappeared, the
  spear was not as effective as a hunting tool.

17
Atlatl (pronounced (at/lat/l)

• An atlatl was a stick about two feet long with a
  notch on the back.
• It would throw a spear about six feet long.

http//www.crt.state.la.us/crt/ocd/arch/laprehis/p
aleo.htm
18
Animals Hunted by Archaic Indians
www.bearbiology.com/bbdesc.html
http//www.esf.edu/pubprog/brochure/turkey/turkey.
htm
http//www.bcadventure.com/adventure/wilderness/an
imals/raccoon.htm
http//www.bowhunting.net/Scouting/default.htm
19
Archaic Indians

• Small villages of people living together was
  possible because they used more variety in their
  diet, eating more vegetables.
• They also ate shellfish and used barbed hooks to
  catch fish.
• Grinding stones and large storage pits for food
  were common.

http//archive.ncsa.uiuc.edu/Cyberia/RiverWeb/Hist
ory/Cahokia/archaic/settle.html
20
Archaic Indian Pottery

• The first use of pottery was found at the end of
  the Archaic Period.
• Pottery allowed the people to store food, cook
  with oils, and water.
• Primitive markings and symbols were used to
  decorate the outside of some pottery pieces.

http//www.cr.nps.gov/seac/outline/04- /
21
Evidence of Religion Archaic Indians

• There is evidence that the Archaic Indians
  believed in life after death.
• They buried tools, weapons, body ornaments and
  food with the dead person.

22
Lifestyles of the Archaic Indians

• They were the first to make fiber tempered
  pottery.
• There is evidence that they traded with other
  native peoples
• Traded bowls for utensils and tools

• They moved in limited areas, often spending a
  lifetime within a small area.
• They invented new ways of hunting and fishing,
  using barbed fishhooks and fish traps.
• Lived in rock shelters and pithouses

23
Prehistoric Indians of Georgia

• There were four time periods of Indian life in
  prehistoric Georgia
• Paleo Period 10,000 BC to 8000 BC
• Archaic Period 8000 BC to 1000 BC
• Woodland Period 1000 BC to 1000 AD
• Mississippian Period 1000 to 1600 AD

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Woodland/Mississippian Foods

• http//www.cr.nps.gov/seac/woodland.htm

http//free-stock-photos.com/food/beans.html
http//www.funnytummy.com/posters_asst_vegetables.
html
25
Woodland Period Shelter

• Sometimes referred to as longhouses these were
  often permanent locations.
• Covered with tree bark or often animal skins.
• In the later part of the period they also used
  wattle and daub constructed houses.
• Wattle and daub houses were constructed from
  interwoven sticks and twigs and covered with mud
  and allowed to dry.

http//www.germantown.k12.il.us/html/homes.html
26
Woodland

• Woodland Indians began to build permanent
  settlements.
• Along stream valleys (soil soft and moist)
• BUILT PROTECTIVE WALLS AROUND VILLAGES AND
  STORAGE FACILITIES
• DEVELOPED AGRICULTURE they would harvest grains,
  beans, maize (corn) and squash/gourds
• Stored foods for winter and early spring

http//archive.ncsa.uiuc.edu/Cyberia/RiverWeb/Hist
ory/Cahokia/woodland/settle.html
27
Woodland Period Pottery

• The early Woodland pottery had markings and
  designs which varied from area to area

http//archive.ncsa.uiuc.edu/Cyberia/RiverWeb/Hist
ory/Cahokia/woodland/tech.html
28
Woodland Hunting

• The Woodland Indians developed the bow and arrow.
  
• It replaced the spear and atlatl as the primary
  hunting weapon.

http//www.cr.nps.gov/seac/outline/04-woodland/
29
WOODLAND MOUNDS

• Best know structures left by Woodland Indians
• Contain skeletons, jewelry, pottery, beads
• Several mounds in Georgia
• Kolomoki Mounds
• Rock Eagle

30
Mounds and Indian Religious Beliefs

• Both Woodland Indians and Mississippian Indians
  believed in life after death.
• This was demonstrated by the great mounds they
  built.
• The effigy mound at Rock Eagle and the seven
  mounds built near the present city of
  Cartersville are examples of their skills.

http//roadsidegeorgia.com/site/rock_eagle.html
http//ngeorgia.com/history/early.html
31
Prehistoric Indians of Georgia

• There were four time periods of Indian life in
  prehistoric Georgia
• Paleo Period 10,000 BC to 8000 BC
• Archaic Period 8000 BC to 1000 BC
• Woodland Period 1000 BC to 1000 AD
• Mississippian Period 1000 to 1600 AD

32
Mississippian Period Warrior

• The Mississippian warrior presented a very
  interesting figure.
• Notice the tattos on his body, meant to scare his
  opponents.
• The bow and arrow became the weapon of choice, it
  was accurate and could kill at great distances.
• The warrior would carry 15 to 20 arrows in a
  quaver on his back.
• He could fire about 4 to 5 arrows per minute in a
  battle situation.

33
Mississippian Village/Mounds

• The Mississippian Period Indians were prolific
  mound builders.
• The mounds were generally used for worship or for
  an elevated area for the chief-priest to live on.

http//www.mississippian-artifacts.com/html/main.h
tml
34
Mississippian Culture

• Had true towns which were social, political, and
  economic activity centers
• Towns had 1 to 2- flat-topped temple mounds with
  ceremonial buildings/public structures on top

35
Mississippian Indian Village

• Mississippian Indians became permanent residents
  of the areas due to improved agriculture
• Beans, corn, squash
• Hunted turkey, deer, etc
• Warm climate and longer growing seasons made
  permanent settlements possible.
• Villages often surrounded by wooden palisade and
  a moat on the outside.

http//www.cr.nps.gov/seac/outline/05-mississippia
n/index.htm
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COMPLEX CULTURE

• DEVELOPED CIVILIZATIONS
• politicial, social, religious structures
• 1. cities were centers of trade
• 2. specialized jobs for different people
• 3. organized forms of government and religion
• 4. system of record keeping
• 5. advanced tools

37
Mississippian Indians

• Developed highly structured societies, taking
  care of elderly and ones unable to care for
  themselves.
• Traded widely with other Indian cultures from
  Tennessee, Florida, and other distant states.
• Indians that Hernando de Soto encountered when he
  began to explore Georgia in 1540. FIRST GROUP TO
  BE DEVASTATED BY DISEASED BROUGHT BY EUROPEANS
  (TUBERCULOSIS)
• Became the Creek and Cherokee Indian tribes-
  played such an influential role in development of
  Georgia history.

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The European Explorers