1200px capt john smith's map of virginia 1624

Pre-Native American Occupation of North America

By rstephens762
  • PaleoIndian 16,000 - 8,000 BCE
    16,000 BCE

    PaleoIndian 16,000 - 8,000 BCE

    The first people in North America arrived at least 14,000 years ago. Paleoindian are credited with the Clovis Point while some believe their technology was the Bi-Point and that Clovis was a later developed form.
  • Period: 16,000 BCE to 8000 BCE

    Paleoindian Period

  • Early Archaic 8,000 BCE to 6,000 BCE
    8000 BCE

    Early Archaic 8,000 BCE to 6,000 BCE

    This marked the end of the ice age and a significant change in the environment and living conditions of peoples in North America.
    Early Archaic people continued a hunting and gathering way of life.
  • Period: 8000 BCE to 1000 BCE

    Archaic Period

  • Middle Archaic 6,000 BCE to 3,000 BCE
    6000 BCE

    Middle Archaic 6,000 BCE to 3,000 BCE

    This period was marked by continued climate change and a less nomadic lifestyle and the beginning of settling in villages at least part of the year.
  • Late Archaic 3,000 BCE to 1,000 BCE
    3000 BCE

    Late Archaic 3,000 BCE to 1,000 BCE

    Beginning of settlement in permanent communities.
    Tools of the late archaic period include the atlatl, grooved stone axes, metates, and stone drills.
  • Early Woodland Period 1,000 BCE to 1 CE
    1000 BCE

    Early Woodland Period 1,000 BCE to 1 CE

    This period was marked by the creation of extensive mound-building, burial complexes, the trade goods across a large area of North America. This is also the first know period to use clay pots.
  • Period: 1000 BCE to 1 CE

    Woodland Period

  • Middle Woodland Period 1 CE to 500 CE
    1 CE

    Middle Woodland Period 1 CE to 500 CE

    This era was marked by a shift in migration and settlement to the Ohio Valley Area. Mound building increased during this period as well as the development of long distance trading networks.
  • Late Woodland Period 500 CE to 1000 CE
    500

    Late Woodland Period 500 CE to 1000 CE

    The introduction of the bow and arrow along with changes in agricultural practices like planting of the "Three Sisters" of maize, beans and squash. This led to the spread of the culture throughout the Ohio Valley and south east United States.
  • Mississippian Culture 900 CE to 1520 CE
    900

    Mississippian Culture 900 CE to 1520 CE

    This was the last major prehistoric culture in North America prior to the arrival of the first European explorers.
    They built some of the largest mound structures in North America like Monks Mound in Illinois.
  • Period: 900 to 1520

    Mississippian Culture Period

  • Period: 1520 to

    Post Contact America

  • Current Era of Consumerism

    Current Era of Consumerism