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| Changes in rainfall and temperature always have a profound effect on people's behavior- Think of the Dust Bowl in 1930's or a similar dry period that lasted for thousands of years |
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| A basic trusim is that human populations have increased significantly over thousands of years. This steady increase brought about population pressures and changes in settlement, subsistence, warfare, disease, ect. |
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| Through time people changed from living in portable shelters (lean-tos) to permanent well-built houses as well as constructing a variety of non-dwelling features on the landscape (mounds) |
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| Major changed occurred in the nature of the animals hunted and how they were hunted as well as a change from collecting of wild plants to extensive growing crops |
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| Breakthroughs; The invention of the bow and arrow and pottery was just as profound to prehistoric people as the development of microprocessors has been to the 20th century |
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| The transitions that changed highly mobile egalitarian groups into highly sedentary, structured societies are as great as those between today's societies and those that existed prior to the Civil War |
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| Just as in the modern world, the belief system of prehistoric peoples inspired change, resulted in warfare, and altered the lives of the commoner as well as the elites of society |
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| Early Arrivals: an overview |
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| People who may have been the first inhabitants of North and South America. Highly speculative and controversial- these people may have come to the New World 30,000 - 40,000 yeas ago |
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| Refers to people living in Oklahoma and other parts of the Western hemisphere between 15,000 and 10,000 years ago. They lives in small nomadic groups and hunted extinct animals such as mammoth and giant bison |
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| A term that refers to prehistoric Native Americans following a hunting and gathering way-of-life. Period lasted from 8000 years ago to about 2000 years ago. Lived in simple nomadic societies (30-100 people) and hunted modern day mammals (deer, bison, rabbits, ect) and collected edible wild plants. By the end of this period, Archaic soceties were becoming more sedentary and were involved in long-range trade with other groups and were becoming more complex in their social and economic livlihood |
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| The Woodland period lasted from roughly 2000 years ago to about 1200 years ago. Woodland people lived in larger groups and also in more permanent settlements. During Woodland times, pottery and the bow and arrow were adopted. It is also during the Woodland period that greater efforts were spent on intensively harvesting or growing plants. By Woodland times, it is clear that domesticated plants were being grown with some tropical varieties originating in Mexico |
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| Village Farming : an overview |
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| The last prehistoric period - Village armers lived throughout much of the United States between 1200 and 500 years ago. They lived in settled villages and grew a variety of crops including corn, beans, and squash. Hunting of game also continued to be important. Some of these groups developed elaborate rituals and ceremonies related to their priestly rulers |
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| Protohistoric: an overview |
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| The Protohistoric period refers to the time after Coronado's journey across the Southern Plains in 1541 until roughly A.D. 1800 when we have some detailede accots of historic records. Protohistoric people in Oklahoma include the Wichita, Caddo, Osage, and possibly the Apache. |
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Themes in Early Arrivals
20,000 to 50,000 years ago |
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Environment: very cold and moist period- end of the ice ages
Demograpghy: little info, probably small populations
Subsistence: ice age mammals like bison mammoths
Technology: little info, small chipped stone tools
Social Systems: egalitarian band societies
Settlements: Monte Verde site in Southern Chile may be bes example of hut-like structures
Religious Practices: little info |
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Themes of Specialized Hunters during Paleoindian period
15,000 - 10,000 years ago |
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Environment: Younger Dryas Period (very cold) end of the glacial area with warming and drying
Demography: small groups of maybe 30-50, highly mobile specialized bison hunting- Clovis (west) transitioned into Folsom culture and Clovis (east) turned to Dalton
Technology: Over designed points, highly curated tools (reused and kept for long times), emphasis on high quality stone
Social Systems: bands of 30-50 people
Settlement: few camps, kill sites, highly mobile- especially Folsom who followed bison herds
Religious Practices: some type going on, Shaman- more animalistic religion (Cooper bison site had a drawing on bison skull) |
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| Themes of Hunters & Gatherers during the Altithermal period |
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Definition
Environment: hot and dry from 7,000 to 4,000 years ago
Demography: small size groups
Subsistence: small game and adapted plants
Technology: over designed points, highly curated tools, atilatl, ground stone begins to show up for processing of seeds and heating treatment of chert begins
Social Systems: small group bands and extremely mobile |
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| Themes of Hunters & Gatherers After Altithermal Period |
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Definition
Environment: not unlike today- eastern woodlands, grasslands in the west and more rainfall occurs
Demography: group size increases to 50-100 members- overall population growth
Subsistence: start of plant husbandry, sunflower, native squash, indigenous plants, hunting of deer and fish in east, bison in the west
Technology: less over design, more groundstone for processing, ornaments begin to appear as well as bone pins, awls, and tool
Social System: out of bands into more sophisticated organization, conflict begins to occur
Religious Practices: evidence of better treatment of deceased, higher mortality rates |
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Themes of Beginning Agriculturalists during Woodland Period
2,000 - 1,200 years ago |
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Definition
Environment: abundance of rainfall, more biomass
Demography: population expands across landscape, group sizes increase
Subsistence: domestication of plants, corn, and hunting of game. In the west there are two groups- one specializing on bison and the other more concerned with general vegetation
Technology: bow and arrow transforms hunting practices, ceramic/potter expediency- less worried about efficiency of points, probably because of increases in agriculture. Ground stone tools for processing plants, ornaments, and bone tools too
Social System: primitive chiefdoms, evidence of conflict
Settlement: increasing levels of sedentism, mostly year round, hamlets an small villages mainly
Religious Practices: mound construction with deceased members buried within them becomes a widespread practice |
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Themes of the Village Farming Period
1,200 - 500 years ago |
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Definition
Environment: becoming drier
Demography: population increase along with population realignments causing larger villages
Subsistence: corn, beans, squash, hunting of bison in west, hunting of deer, fish, and birds in east
Technology: very diverse, ceramics increase, bone agricultural tools, digging sticks, shell and bone tools in east for agriculture, bow and arrow is main weapon, also see evidence of copper and groundstone
Social System: chieffdom/ranked level of societies in east- much more egalitarian in the west
Settlements: mounds, temple mounds, charnel house mounds - mound sites only inhabited by cheifdom elites and visited by others on special occasions. 10-20 houses per village, very permanent. In the west there are stone slab houses constructed in apartment styles
Religious: east Mississippian World, very religious with significant funerary offerings. West- understated religious practices |
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Themes during the Protohistoric Period
500 to 200 years ago (A.D. 1450-1800) |
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Definition
Environment: "Little Ice Age"- major time of cooling with alternating periods of wet and dry
Demography: decline in population due to famine and disease brought by Europeans
Subsistence: return to bison hunting, some abandonment of agricultural practices
Technology: horses, guns, metal tools, and glass beads
Social System: artificial structures to relate to European systems
Settlement: abandonment of village farming way of life- more nomadic bison hunters, larger coalesced sites
Religious: Catholic conversion with a little success. Decline of the Mississippian World |
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Domebo: in Caddo Co, well documented Clovis site where a band of people apparently killed an Imperial Mammoth 11,800 years ago
Jake Bluff: in Harper Co, well documented Clovis site |
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| Harper County in northwest Oklahoma |
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| The Cooper & Waugh Locales: Location of Two Folsom sites which appear to represent a bison kill and a possible camp |
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| Dalton Culture (east): Woodland Period |
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Definition
| lives in large groups, had a more expansive hunting and collecting economy, and may also have had more complex societies. Evidence from Packard Site in Mayes Co, Quince site in Atoka Co, and Billy Ross site in Haskell Co all point to a greater use of local stone resources, suggesting reduced mobility and greater range of tools; including those for plant processing. A trend is the gradual shift towards an emphasis on collecting edible plants |
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| Calf Creek People of the Altithermal period |
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Definition
| More thoroughly studied than other complexes because of their distinctive spear points and peoples adaptation to hot, arid landscapes. Their craftsmanship consisted of large spear points which are reminiscent of Folsom as well as tool kits geared to hunting plains-adapted animals like bison and antelope. Prominent sites include Kubik in Kay Co, Anthony in Caddo Co, and the Arrowhead Ditch in Muskogee Co. Settlement was diverse- some represent temporary camps and bison kill locationsm and others are places with lithic raw material that is cached. All evidence points to a HIGHLY NOMADIC, LOOSELY ORGANIZED SOCIETY |
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| Important Hunter & Gatherer Sites in Western Oklahoma |
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Certain Bison Kill Site in Beckham County
Summers Site in Greer County
Muncie Site in Texas County
-Few settlements reflect differences in subsistence practices, rather than absolute number of people per group |
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| Inhabitants of Northern Oklahoma, closely related to Kansas groups |
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| Cooper Culture: shared relationships with groups occupying Kansas City, Missouri 1500 years ago. Used rock shelters as seasonal camps and demonstrated similar style patterns of spear points, ceramics, and clay figurines as Kansas groups |
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