1200px capt john smith's map of virginia 1624

Pre-Native American Occupation of North America

By rstephens762
  • 16,000 BCE

    PaleoIndian 16,000 - 8,000 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

  • 8000 BCE

    Early Archaic 8,000 BCE to 6,000 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

  • 6000 BCE

    Middle Archaic 6,000 BCE to 3,000 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.
  • 3000 BCE

    Late Archaic 3,000 BCE to 1,000 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.
  • 1000 BCE

    Early Woodland Period 1,000 BCE to 1 CE

    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

  • 1 CE

    Middle Woodland Period 1 CE to 500 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.
  • 500

    Late Woodland Period 500 CE to 1000 CE

    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.
  • 900

    Mississippian Culture 900 CE to 1520 CE

    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