PREHISTORIC IDAHO PALEOARCHAICLATE PERIOD Idaho History Mr B
PREHISTORIC IDAHO PALEO/ARCHAIC/LATE PERIOD Idaho History Mr. B
Paleo Indians (15, 000 – 6, 000 B. C. ) North American climate change – End of Ice Age (11, 000 years ago) – Explanations vary – Coincides with catastrophic extinction of big-game ■ Ice sheets melting filling valleys and basins ■ Shorelines of continents changing at same time – Rising sea levels ■ Rapidly warming world climate ■ Drastically changing environments ■ Size and distribution of woodlands, prairies, river floodplains, deserts, forests ■ Local environments diversified
End of Ice Age continued…. . ■ New climate and geographic conditions – Altered plant and animal life ■ Sudden disappearance of many types of animals – Most were large mammals (megafauna) ■ Mastodons, mammoths, giant ground sloths, and other large herbivores – Many carnivores which preyed upon them become extinct at same time ■ Alaskan lion, saber-toothed cats, dire wolf – Other specifics evolved into smaller forms and survived ■ Giant bison to modern bison ancestors
End of Ice Age Reasons for extinctions are up for debate – Scientists had theory ■ American Indians of the Paleo-Indian period – Hunted animals into extinction – Not widely supported today – Modern scientists ■ Rapid global warming at end of Ice Age culprit – As climate changed, sea levels rose, growing seasons longer, snow and rainfall decreased – Smaller animals could adapt by modifying ranges – Larger could not cope with greater environmental demands
End of Ice Age Ancestral American Indians Adapt – Change subsistence patterns ■ Leads to more efficient ways to exploit resources ■ People still migrated seasonally ■ Depended on gathering and hunting – Cultures became richer ■ Tech advanced and more versatile than most Paleo-Indian period societies ■ This period of adaptive strategies to handle end of Ice Age is known as the Archaic Period (6, 000 B. C. – 500 A. D. )
Archaic Period Evolved from Paleo-Indian cultures ■ Often impossible to draw sharp boundary between the two periods – Cultural practices remained same – Seasonal migration – Hunting and gathering ■ Differences between two periods – New tools ■ ■ ■ Processing hard seeds/nuts Baskets Nets Fishing and birding tools New techniques for making and using existing tools
Archaic Period ■ Differences between Paleo and Archaic Periods continued…. – Articulating with varied environments (natural and social) – Cultural developments – Far-reaching regional trade networks ■ Allowed trading raw materials, food, exotic goods – Invention of new subsistence technologies/tools ■ ■ ■ Rise of part-time (and later full-time) occupational specializations Exploited the environment whether desert or lush mountain or coasts In each region people developed specialized knowledge of resources and their use Tools and cultures diversified for varied purposes Some areas have relatively minor change/some dramatic
Archaic Period ■ Some areas simply built upon already existing subsistence practices ■ Other areas had to adapt to no longer having large game – Now had to hunt medium to small game – Inland - wider range of plant foods – seeds, roots, insects, reptiles – Coastal - fish and shellfish – sea mammals ■ This hunter gathering way of life lasted into the late 19 th century in some regions – Reduction is size of territory specific groups could range also became factor – Led to cultural changes ■ ■ ■ People became different based on region in which they lived More complex hunter gathering societies No cultural pattern predominate
Late Period (500 A. D. – 1805) Last prehistoric period of Idaho’s natives ■ Descendants of Archaic tribes ■ Mixed with in-migration of desert people ■ Formed what is known as modern tribes of Idaho – Ancestors of tribes existing during Lewis and Clark Expedition 1805 ■ Drought from Archaic Period continued – Many natives moved to Snake River Plain ■ Became Shoshone – Cascade group of Archaic people ■ Became Nez Perce – Desert Archaic ■ Became Western Shoshone and Nothern Paiute
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