Texas Native Americans - PART 1

Thousands of years ago, Earth’s climate turned very, very cold. Large amounts of water became ice and formed vast sheets, called glaciers, that covered much of the Northern Hemisphere. With so much water trapped in ice, sea levels fell—perhaps by as much as a few hundred feet. Falling sea levels turned the ocean floor in some areas into dry land. One such area was between Alaska and Asia, where a land bridge formed and connected those two masses of land.

Migrating animals moved across that land bridge in their search for food. Nomads who hunted these animals for food followed them. In this way, the first humans came to the Americas. They eventually spread east across North America and south all the way to South America.

The land bridge opened about 36,000 B.C. Over the years, many humans could have made the journey. After about 20,000 years, however, the climate warmed again. Glaciers melted, and sea levels rose once more. A body of water that is now called the Bering Strait covered the land bridge, and it could no longer be used to cross from Asia to the Americas.

Scientists called archaeologists study the past. They have methods for learning about early humans who lived in the time before written records. They collect artifacts, or objects made or used by humans, such as tools, pottery, bones, and shells. Archaeologists study these artifacts for clues about how and why people used them.

Archaeologists also use artifacts to figure out where people came from and moved to. They have seen similarities between stone tools used in Asia and in the Americas in ancient times. They have also found physical similarities between some Asian peoples and Native Americans. This evidence points to Asia as the original home of the first Americans.

. The earliest Texans were hunter-gatherers who moved from place to place to hunt and gather food. They hunted large animals, such as mammoth and giant bison. They used a stick called an atlatl (AHT•lah•tuhl) to throw their spears farther and give them more force. After a few thousand years, the mammoth and giant bison died out. Then people hunted the small bison that survived, as well as deer and smaller animals such as rabbits, squirrels, and birds.

The earliest Texans lived in rock shelters, areas naturally cut open in the side of a canyon. This was especially common in what is today southwest Texas. People cooked and worked toward the front open area of the shelter. They placed beds made of plants toward the back. These rock shelters were found along streams or rivers, so the people had fresh water available.

Around A.D. 600 to 700, Native Americans in Texas began using new kinds of technology. One of these new technologies was the bow and arrow. It let hunters deliver smaller, sharper points with greater force than a hand-thrown spear. Another new technology was pottery. Pots were created by shaping mud into containers and then heating the containers at very high temperatures. The heating makes the shape keep its form. Pottery vessels could be used to cook or store food.

Around A.D. 1200, the practice of agriculture, or the growing of crops, became well established among the early peoples of Texas. Native Americans here began to produce their own supply of plants for food instead of only gathering what they could find in nature. Agriculture had a huge effect on these peoples’ way of life. They could now settle in one place to tend their crops instead of moving around, always in search of food.