Paleo and Archaic People

​Archaeologists are the people who study the past, primarily through the study of artifacts.

Archeologists believe that the first people in North America came across a land bridge from Asia.​

Archeologists refer to these people as PALEO, or ancient people.

Known as nomads, these people did not have a permanent home, instead following large game over land

Improved hunting techniques and tools may have led to the extinction of many large animals, along with climate change

The oldest documented cemetery discovered in the US was discovered in Sloan.

​Archaic Period

​(8000-500 BC)

Warming climates, and the melting glaciers helped make the Arkansas we see today.​

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As large game died off, Native Americans had to switch from nomads to hunter-gatherers.​

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While communities settled in one area for larger periods, they also began to trade with other groups and grow crops for food.

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Arkansas' many rivers and streams allowed the Archaic people to fish, evidenced by artifacts found at dig sites. ​

Archaic Indians can be characterized by their increase in tool use, including the atlatl.

Woodland Period

​( 500 BC - 900AD)

​During this time period, the principle source of food was agriculture, not hunting.

An important trademark became their production of clay vessels, or pottery.

​These were then then used in part to store and prepare food.

​From the Hopewell group in Ohio, these groups learned about building burial mounds.

​One of Arkansas' mound building sites in Plum Bayou suggests these people might have also been astronomers.

Mississippian Period

​( 900-1541 AD)

​By this point, Arkansas' Indian cultures had become almost entirely dependent on agriculture and trade with other groups.

​Shelters were created using wattle and daub.

Potentially the largest settlement in Arkansas during the time period is located at Parkin, possibly home to thousands of people.

Sometime during this time period, the group probably encountered Hernando de Soto.

After this, populations began to mysteriously decline, possibly as a result of drought as well.