Archaic Era (8,000 - 500 B.C.)

Archaic lifeways. Image courtesy of the University of Arkansas Museum.

Changes in climate following the end of the Ice Age brought warmer conditions after 7,900 B.C. Many groups moved into resource-rich river valleys where populations continued to increase. Small, settled communities developed and a wide variety of forest and riverine resources were used for food, including deer, raccoon, opossum, turkey; nuts, fruits, and seeds; and fish and shellfish.

Gathering seeds. Image courtesy of the University of Arkansas Museum.

Forest cutting and soil disturbance around Indian settlements created environments by 4,500 B.C. that attracted a variety of weeds and grasses. These plants produced an abundance of nutritious seeds. The use of these plants as food sources along with attempts to manage their growth led to the development of cultivation techniques and, by 2,000 B.C., to the domestication of several species, including lambsquarters, knotweed, sumpweed, sunflower, maygrass, little barley, and several varieties of squashes.

Poverty Point figurine.

Indians of the Poverty Point culture (2,000-500 B.C.) built the first town and monumental earthworks in North America near present-day Epps, Louisiana. Extensive trade networks brought exotic materials from across Eastern North America to Poverty Point sites. The wide distribution of artifacts like this stone figurine and these finely-carved "locust effigy" beads indicate that groups living throughout the lower Mississippi Valley participated in these exchanges. The decline of Poverty Point culture around 500 B.C. remains a mystery.

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Copyright ©2001, Arkansas Archeological Survey (except where noted).
Revised - August 2001
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