Mississippi Valley Prehistory

SITE GUIDE
•	Introduction
•	Mississippi Valley Prehistory
•	Historic Native Americans
•	European Explorers
•	Project History & Background
•	Frequently Asked Questions
•	ORDER the CD!

Bluff shelter Archeologists use the term "prehistory" to refer to the long period of antiquity that precedes the origin of writing. In the Americas, prehistory represents the era of indigenous occupation — spanning more than 12,000 years — prior to the arrival of Europeans. For many people today, the resulting distinction between "prehistory" and "history" raises the unsatisfactory implication that the record of Native American cultural achievements is somehow dependent upon European perspectives when that hardly can be the case.

The problem is lessened, if not eliminated, when we use the term simply to refer to the archeologically-known records of all societies that did not produce written accounts of their own. From this perspective, archeologists define four prehistoric eras in the Mississippi Valley:

The Paleo-Indian Era represents the arrival of the first Native Americans, who came into the region around 12,000 years ago equipped to cope with cold, Ice Age conditions.

The Archaic Era, which began about 10,000 years ago and lasted until around 2,500 years ago, represents Native American adaptations to the waning of the Ice Age and the development of modern environmental conditions. Effective means for using an increasingly wide range of natural resources supported continuous population growth and gave rise to sedentary living arrangements. A variety of local plant species were domesticated toward the end of this era, adding gardening to the repertoire of food-getting activities.

The Woodland Era, from 2,500 to about 1,000 years ago, represents the growth of communities with economies based on a mix of hunting and gathering and agriculture. Institutionalized leadership and cultural distinctions recognized among separate communities were hallmarks of this era, and several technological innovations were developed including fired-clay pottery and the bow and arrow.

The region's largest and most complex societies arose during the Mississippi Era, which began about 900 A.D. Temple mound ceremonial centers claimed the allegiance of multi-village communities numbering in the thousands, with economies supported by craft specialization and intensive agricultural production of corn, beans, and squash. These were the groups encountered in the sixteenth century by Hernando de Soto and other European explorers.