The document provides information on the early peoples and cultures of North America prior to European contact. It discusses the evolution of Native American cultures from the Paleo period to the Mississippian period. The Paleo-Indians migrated to North America across the Bering Land Bridge around 12,000 years ago following animal herds. As the climate changed, later Archaic cultures adapted to focus more on fishing, hunting, and gathering local resources. Archaeological artifacts provide clues about these prehistoric cultures and how they survived and advanced.

1. The First People of
North America
Unit 2

2. SS8H1 The student will evaluate the
development of Native American cultures
and the impact of European exploration
and settlement on the Native American
cultures in Georgia.
a. Describe the evolution of Native
American cultures (Paleo, Archaic,
Woodland and Mississippian) prior
to European contact.

3. EQ: What do we
know about
ancient
Americans?

4. EQ: How did we
find out about
them?

5. EQ: How did the
ancient Americans
survive?

6. EQ: What
happened to the
ancient
Americans?

7. EQ: How did the
environment impact the
development of each
prehistoric Native
American culture?

8. EQ: How did the
various improvements
of inventions assist the
advancement of early
Native Americans?

9. Where did they come from?
• The first theory is that they came
from Asia during the last ice age.
(12,000 years ago)
• During the last ice age the ocean
levels dropped and created a land
bridge between Asia and America.
• This land bridge is known as
BERINGIA.

10. ASIA North America
Beringia Land Bridge

11. Humans migrated across
a land bridge known as
Beringia, now The Bering
Strait, following prey.
Prehistoric man
reached
the Southeast about
12,000 years ago

12. Where did they come from?
• Some scientists also
believe that early man
might have come to
America much earlier
and by other routes,
including by boat.

13. How do we learn about them?
• Scientists called
ARCHAEOLOGISTS study
the first people of America.
• They study them through
ARTIFACTS.

14. How do we learn about the Native
Americans?
• Artifacts - objects that are left by
prehistoric cultures that help
archaeologists understand them.
• Prehistoric - is the time before written
history.
• Culture - a way of life shared by
people with similar arts, beliefs, and
customs.

15. The Paleo-Indians
• This is the earliest inhabitants of North
America.
• They are thought to have come to
America across Beringia.
• This period began as the glaciers from
the last ice age started to melt.

16. The Paleo Indians
• The Paleo Indians were nomadic.
Nomadic - moving from place to place
following the animal herds.
1. They used spears to hunt the animals.
2. The animals that they hunted were
wooly mammoths, large bison
(buffalos), and elk.
3. They used the animals they killed for
food, clothing, and tools. (their form of Wal-
Mart)

17. Clovis Point
First known type of spear point
found in North America

18. Paleo Indians
• The group is rarest of the prehistoric
Native Americans
– They traveled in very small groups.
– They were nomadic.
– There are very few sites that archeologists can
use to learn about their everyday lives.

19. ATLATL

20. Tools that the Paleo Indians Used

21. Animals of the Paleo-Indian
Period.
Columbian Mammoth

22. Animals of the Paleo-Indian
Period.
Wooly Mammoth

23. Animals of the Paleo-Indian
Period.
Mastodon

24. Animals of the Paleo-Indian
Period.
Saber Tooth Tiger

25. The Paleo Indians
• As the ice age ended, the herds
began to shrink.
• The extinction of the large animals
changed the lives of the Paleo
Indians.
• There have been no settlements from
the Paleo-Indian period found in
Georgia, but there have been a few
artifacts found in GA.

26. The Archaic Period
• As the ice age ended forests began
to replace the open plains from the
ice ages.
• During this time the Paleo-Indians
were slowly replaced by the
Archaic Indians.
• This new time period lasted from
8000B.C.E to around 1000B.C.E

27. The Archaic Indians
1. They adapted to their changing
environment by improving
techniques in fishing, hunting, and
gathering.
2. They started making tools and bowls
from stone.
3. They also began trading with other
regions.

28. Types of Shellfish that the Archaic
Indians would have eaten.

29. The Archaic Indians
• During this period the early
humans began to settle into small
groups of people.
• They lived in rock shelters and pit
houses.
• They also started hunting small
animals and the beginning stages
of agriculture can be seen.

30. Grooved Axe