The Earliest Americans
Chapter 3
What happened before
Oklahoma’s history was first
recorded?
First prehistoric people
(those who lived before
recorded history)
reached the Americas
millions of years after the
dinosaurs became extinct
 First people in America
here some 12,000 to
25,000 years ago
 Different theories

How’d they get here? The
first wheel?
Beringia
land
bridge
 archaeologist:
scientist who study
ancient cultures by examining
artifacts (remains) left behind
 midden: ancient garbage dump
useful for studying ancient cultures
What do you
think life will
be like in
1000 years?
The modern day midden ….
How will scientists 1000 years
from now be able to tell how
we lived by the things we
threw away?
The same way current
scientists discover things
about earlier peoples.
 Artifacts
include people-used items such
as – pottery, tools, bone, jewelry, &
paintings
 Petroglyphs: pictures or symbols
conveying an idea
 Artifacts found on the surface of the
ground or near a waterway
How do they do it?
Archaeologists: “dig”, study and document any fragment of an artifact discovered
“Put the puzzle together”
Searching for clues….
 Fossils:
traces or remains of living
things – animals, birds, & people
 Most common fossils: teeth, bones, or
shells
 Carbon dating: isotope carbon 14 –
analyzed to obtain age estimates on
organic matter
Oklahoma reptile..
Paleo Indians (really old)

1961: scientists discover evidence of Paleo
Indian hunters in Oklahoma (Domebo Kill
Site)
1961: Columbian mammoth: bones found at
the Cooperton site in Kiowa County
 Speculation on human involvement


Soil deposits: date to about 30,000 years ago
at Burnham site
Jake Bluff Site
Domebo Kill Site
Cooperton Woolly
Mammoth
Packard Camp
Site
Remember
these are
BIG
DUDES!!!!
14-16 feet tall at the shoulders
The people ….
Folsom People
Sites: Cooper
Bonebed & the
Waugh site as
evidenced by
various spear points
and a painted bison
skull
 Dalton people: lived
some 9,000-10,000
years ago
 Skilled in clothing,
containers, tools, &
covers for shelters

Clovis People
Named after the New Mexico site of first
artifacts
 Known for their spears (spear point usually 34 inches long)
 Important Clovis site near Stecker in Caddo
County
 First hunted mammoths & then switched to
bison

Archaic Culture Foragers
Hunters and harvesters
 Made flour & stored it in baskets
 Pieces of bone & antler: became spear points,
needles, awls, punches, and atlatl hooks
 Ate a variety of wild animals
 Knew how to start a fire with a wood drill

 What
do these skills tell us about their
lifestyle?
Woodland Culture





About 2,000 years ago, Woodland culture emerged
Planted, cultivated, & harvested
First farms: in the Grand River area, the Ouachita
Mts, the Cimarron River area, and along the
Canadian & Washita Rivers
Bow and arrow came in about this time and made
hunting easier
Why along the rivers?
Plains Village Farmers
Lived in Oklahoma from about 1,200 to 500
years ago
 Grew corn, beans, squash, gourds,
sunflowers, & tobacco
 Hunted bison & deer
 Also ate hickory nuts, walnuts, hackberry
seed, wild cherries, plums, persimmons &
others

The Moundbuilders
Built the Spiro Mounds American equivalent
of King Tut’s Tomb.
Grossly pillaged and looted.
 Various historical backgrounds
 Lived in small farming villages
 Fine craftsmen: worked with stone, shell, &
copper

Spiro mounds
artifacts
Cahokia
Cahokia
Cahokia today
Early Plains Indians
Nomads
 Hunted buffalo, deer, antelope, rabbit, or
whatever available
 Foraged for wild plant foods
 Lived in grass houses covered with buffalo
hide
 May be ancestors of Wichitas

Chapter 3:
Early Cultures in Our Land
Section 2:
Historic Indian Cultures
Section 2: Historic Indian
Cultures
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
 What elements of culture were exhibited
by the Indians during first contact with
Europeans?
Section 2:
Historic Indian Cultures
1.
2.
First Encounters
Indian Culture
- The Family
- Food
- Plants
First Encounters




1540: Coronado’s expedition first
recorded contact between Indians &
the Spanish
1542: Spanish monks at Kaw
1601: Juan de Oñate – explored
western Oklahoma
Mid-1700s: French hunters
Indian Culture






Indians: believed in afterlife
Cowards & thieves punished
Life sacred to the Plains tribes
Believed in Mother Earth
Believed all things tied together
Honesty expected
Indian Culture
The Family

Marriages permitted between related
tribes & could have more than one wife

Men: warriors & hunters

Women: kept the home & family
Indian Culture
Food

Women: prepared the food

Meats: eaten raw, roasted, boiled, or
dried

Wild animals were food source

Other foods were wild honey & other
natural foods
Indian Culture
Plants

Used many wildflowers & plants

About 170 used by Indians

Many used for medicine
Much of their time spent in surviving
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