Archaic People

Native people in the Great Plains would hunt bison mostly with Folsom points. Great plain hunters often stampeded bison herds over cliffs and then slaughtered the animals that plunged to their deaths. They used bows and arrows to hunt, which replaced spears. Archaic peoples in the Great Basin between the Rocky Mountains and Sierra Nevada inhabited a region of replaced spears. Archaic peoples in the Great Basin between the Rocky Mountains and Sierra Nevada inhabited a region of great environment diversity defined largely by the amount of rain. They hunted fish, deer, antelope, bison, and smaller game. To make sure they did not have shortages of fish they relied on plants for food. Archaic peoples in the Pacific Coast lived within the richness

of the natural environment that made present-day California the most densely settled area in all of ancient North America. The land and ocean provided such a large quantity of food that California peoples settled there.

The mosaic of archaic settlements included about fived hundred separate tribes speaking ninety languages, each with local dialects. The Chumash established permanent villages and had a giant supply of acorns. Northwest people concentrated on catching fish and whales. They also traded with people who lived hundreds of miles from the coast. Eastern Woodland cultures lived east of the Mississippi River. The Eastern Woodland cultured adapted forest environment that included the major river valleys of the Mississippi, Ohio, Tennessee, and Cumberland; the Great Lakes region; and the Atlantic Coast. Woodland hunters stalked deer as their most important prey. Deer supplied Woodland peoples with food as well as hides and bones that they crafted into clothing, weapons, and many other tools. Woodland peoples with food as well as hides and bones that they crafted into clothing, weapons, and many other tools. Woodland Indians gathered edible plants, seeds, and nuts. The Woodland people established more or less permanent settlements. Woodland burial sites suggested life expectancy was 18

years. Trade and migration from Mexico brought pumpkins and gourds.

They also began to cultivate sunflowers and small quantities of tobacco. They depended on gathering wild plants, seeds, and nuts. They made pots for cooking and the storage of food and water, but they were also much heavier and therefore were shunned by nomadic peoples. Southwestern cultures were Ancient Americans in present-day Arizona, New Mexico, and the Southern portion of Utah. Colorado developed cultures characterized by agricultural settlements and multiunit dwelling called pueblos. All southwestern people confronted the challenge of dry climate and fluctuating rainfall that made the supply of wild food very unreliable. Hunters and gatherers began to cultivate corn. They became irrigation experts and small farming settlements appeared around New Mexico known as the Mogollon culture. The settlement included a dozen pit houses fifteen feet in diameter and two feet deep. Some ancient people migrated from Mexico to Southern Arizona and established the Hohokam culture. They brought Mexican cultural practices that northbound migrants brought with them, including the building of sizable platform mounds and ball

courts. North of the Hohokam and Mogollon cultures, in a region that encompassed Southern Utah, Colorado, Northern Arizona, and New Mexico, the Anasazi culture began to flourish. The early Anasazi built pit houses on mesa tops and used irrigation much as their neighbors did to the south. Other Anasazi communities like the one knows as Pueblo Bonito erected huge stone walled pueblos with enough rooms to house everyone in the settlement. All the cultures hunted in the environment around them and had developments of agriculture. Some cultures were different in the fact that some were more developed with agriculture or hunting. Also, some had a lower life expectancy than others and some were more technologically advanced.