The First Inhabitants of Alabama and the

New World

Paleo Period11,500 B.C. – 7,000 B.C..

The word “Paleo” means old

Bering Strait Land Bridge and the Migration of Early Indians - Jose Arredondo

Bering Strait TheoryAnthropologists believe ancestors of American Indians immigrated from northeastern Asia across the Bering Strait land bridge during the Ice Age.

Paleo-Indian sites are throughout the U.S.The migration of people (that eventually populated the Americas) occurred in three separate migrations. The Amerind (indigenous peoples of the Americas) includes most Native Americans south of the Canadian border.

Paleo-Indians lived in temporary, open-air camps that followed migratory animals. In small hunter-gatherer groups (15 to 20 people), they followed herds of mammoth and mastodon southward into the Americas. This lifestyle limited their group size and possessions.

Paleo Sites in Alabama

Around 11,000 B.C., Paleo-Indians are believed to be the first humans to live in Alabama.

Paleo Sites in Alabama

• The most consistent trait of all Native American cultures is their knowledge and use of lithic (stone) technology. This understanding is important when studying Paleo-Indians because it is one of the few ways for interpreting Paleo artifacts.

Paleo Sites in Alabama

The Paleo were about survival. They did not waste: the meat was eaten, the hide used for clothing or shelter, and the bones were made into awls, pins, fish hooks, and other tools. 

Artifacts left behind tell the storyPaleo-Indian Artifacts…• Most Paleo-Indian sites are identified by a

presence of projectile points, or arrowheads. Archaeologists use the variation in size and shape to determine the time period a projectile point was made.

• Projectile point types of the Paleo-Indians include Clovis, Beaver Lake, and Cumberland. These projectile points are relatively large and were some of the most time consuming and difficult to produce.

• Other recovered artifacts include tools such as scrapers ,knives, drills, gravers, and hammerstones.

Scraper -http://bama.ua.edu/~alaarch/prehistoricalabama/p

aleoindian.htm

Illustration reproduced from Handbook of Alabama Archaeology: Part 1 Point Types.

Finding arrowheads

Why Is water important?TENNESSEE RIVERThe first inhabitants along the Tennessee Basin were nomadic hunters that used stone-tipped spears. They also gathered nuts, berries, fruits and roots, as well as fish and mussels, and they cooked in open pits.

The Muscle Shoals area was an early settlement for Paelo-Indians.

http://www.riversofalabama.org/Tennessee/TN_History.htm

The Quad Site,An Alabama Paleo-Indian Site

In 1951, the Quad Site was discovered as a group of smaller sites along the Tennessee River that all shared similar characteristics

• Based on projectile points and animal bones, this area was inhabited in late summer to early fall--peak hunting time

• Lithic tools are often one of the few types of artifacts that survive in the archaeological record in Alabama. Lithic artifacts have been recovered, yet there is little evidence for their production on site– Of the tools recovered, most

were used for butchering and working hides, but there is also evidence that wood working and fiber shredding occurred.

• To find out more about how some of these tools were used and how they were made, click the picture of the quarry.

Russell Cave National Monument

http://www.adventure-crew.com/2009/06/russell-cave-national-monument/

The history behind the Paleo-Indians and Russell Cave is one of adaptation and survival. Prehistoric Indians discovered and returned to the Russell Cave area for thousands of years. We know because the Paleo left behind clues as to their way of life. The cave offered shelter, and it was continuously used by Native Americans up until the time of European explorers. The forest provided food, tools, and fuel for their fires. These clues help us to understand the past and the Paleo way of life. In 1958, National Geographic Society donated the land to the American people. May 11, 1961 Russell Cave National Monument was established by President Kennedy .

Skeletal remains at the Russell Cave National Monument in Bridgeport, Alabama.

http://216.226.178.196/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/photo&CISOPTR=5442&CISOBOX=1&REC=1

Alabama Department of Archives and History

One purpose of archaeology… What does it all mean?

• We interpret the history of people based on the objects they leave behind. Artifacts from sites like the Quad and Russell Cave provide clues as to where Paleo-Indians lived and how their communities were structured among an open-air campsite.

• The small bands that moved frequently probably represented family groups, such as grandparents, parents, children, and perhaps aunts, uncles, and cousins. These family groups may have only consisted of eight to fifteen people.

• Paleo-Indians used their environment and the resources it provided. Hunters roamed the land searching for large animals, such as mastodons and bison, with large projectile points attached to spears.

• With the large number of sites in the area, it seems that this area had been visited for many years, and perhaps by several bands at the same time. Possibly the area provided enough food sources for groups of bands to come together and share in each other's company, exchange ideas, and perhaps find a mate.

What does it all mean? Quite simply, the Indians were here first. They are Native Americans.

Timeline of Events in Alabama

11,500 BC- 7,000 BC

9,000 BC – 4,000 BC

1000 BC – 500 AD

500 – 1500 AD 1814

Dinosaurs die out

Present day

Click here to end

PaleoClick here to return to timeline

ArchaicClick here to return to timeline

WoodlandClick here to return to timeline

Mississippian

Click here to return to timeline

Sources and Credits• The Alabama Department of Archives and History

http://www.archives.alabama.gov• The Encyclopedia of Alabama

http://encyclopediaofalabama.org • The University of Alabama

Alabama Archaeology: Prehistoric Alabama http://bama.ua.edu/~alaarch/prehistoricalabama/paleoindian.htm

• National Geographic http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/prehistoric-world/prehistoric-time-line.html

• Alabama Tourism and Travelhttp://www.touralabama.org