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Madeline Black

MW 1:00

Native American Prehistory

The Paleo-Indians were among the first natives here in Arkansas

they date back to sometime between 11,630-9,500 B.C. They had great

organization between several groups of people spread out all over the

state. Groups of about a dozen members but altogether there were around

one hundred to one hundred and fifty for the total population. Their

organization came from the need of exotic resources, kinships, hunting

parties. They made spears for hunting out of materials that were hard to

find so they passed these between tribes in exchange for other resources.

The weapons they used were complex and the spears had a very distinct

shape unique to their era. The Paleo-Indians were very spiritual people

especially when it came to hunting they prepared rituals to show respect to

an animalsd soul when the animal was killed. Having different tribes so to

speak they could marry to others forming strong bonds between tribes. Not

only could they form close bonds for resources, kinships, and hunting parties

they relied on the exchange of information from other tribes to live. These

people were nomads of sorts in the sense that they never had permanent

dwellings mostly lean-tod s and make shift huts made with several differenttypes of wood and grasses. The climates the endured was one of the

major factors in how they hunted for example they killed large animals like

mammoths for fur and meat they used bones as well for make shift needles

to make warm clothing which was a survival skill.

During the Archaeic Era which was between 9,500 and 650 B.C. there was

much change in the technologies of these people. These people started to

develop permanent dwellings and the way the processed food as the climate

also changed to a much warmer environment. They hunted mostly small gameand began to fish as the water began to maintain marine life and they

fashioned hooks from bones of the game they killed. With the ever change

climate they were able to grow more plants not only food but made clothes

from the fibers of these plants also. In light of these new ways of life

they experienced a big population boom. This population boom led to a

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famous location called poverty point and from here the cultural diversity

boomed. There was an assortment of different types of artworks that

highlighted the relationships and spiritual beliefs of different communities.

This led to the cultural diversities in the Woodland Era.

The Woodland Era dated from 650 B.C. to 950 A.D. The woodland era was

a more domesticated area they used containers and hunted by bow and

arrow. Gardening led to new plow tools and a variety of simple grains used

to cook into porridges and stews. Farming also influenced where these

people settled to make use of fertile soil and animal population. As the

population grew it lead to social hierarchy. During this time period the

spiritual aspects of this culture evolved into specialized rituals for their

dead mainly leaders or the high status members of the community. The

leaders of the community would be buried in big earthen mounds followed by

showers of gifts like artifacts, jewelry, and artworks. All of these

progressions over time led up to the late prehistoric era the Mississippian.

The Mississippian Area dated A.D. 950-1541 was a melting pot of skills and

fruition of so many decades. Written documentation, complex well built

garden tools, social hierarchy, and spirituality were some of the things that

have come from the earliest settlers finely tuned. At this point pottery has

had many functions as well as many forms of art and jewelry. Leaders and

high status members of these communities are no longer buried in mounds but

in sanctuaries and the dead buried under ground. By now all the regions of

Arkansas have very different regions and each have their own way of life

and culture.