Prehistoric Indians Jigsaw

Teacher’s Notes: Days Five and Six

Purpose: For students to learn about the four prehistoric American Indian groups of Georgia. Strategy: Jigsaw

Style(s):

Lesson Sequence:

Divide the class into four teams: A, B, C, and D. Team A will study the Paleo Indi- ans, Team B the Archaic Indians, Team C the Woodland Indians, and Team D the Mississippian Indians. Each team receives a letter written by a friend who spent the summer at an archaeological dig. Team members read their letters and respond to the questions asked. At the end of the lesson, each team should have completed an organizer, created a drawing and written a cinquain (five line poem) about one of the four American Indian groups.

At the beginning of Day 6, reorganize the students into groups that contain at least one member from each of the original teams. Have students share with the members of their groups the information they acquired from their letters. By doing this, students will gain information about the three American Indian groups they have not yet stud- ied. Group members should record information on the blank organizers provided.

37 Directions for Jigsaw activity:

You have recieved a letter from a friend of yours who spent the summer taking part in an archaeological dig. Read the letter carefully. Every time you reach a stop sign, stop and respond to the question asked before moving on. Try not to read ahead. At the end of the letter you will be asked to complete an organizer, draw a picture and write a poem. Complete these activities only after having read the entire letter and responded to all the questions at the stop signs. Keep in mind that when you are done you will be asked to share the information you learned with other members of the class.

38 Jigsaw: Group A

Dear , student name

You won’t believe where I am. I’m in Georgia taking part in an archaeological dig. I’m sure you know what an archaeologist is, but just in case you don’t, I’ll tell you. An archaeologist is a scientist who studies the cultures of the past using the things people left behind them as clues. The work is hard, but I’m having a lot of fun. So far it’s been really exciting--kind of like in the movie “Raiders of the Lost Arc.” We are working at an American Indian site that has been determined (using carbon-14 dating) to have belonged to the Paleo Indians, the earliest group of Indians to occupy America. By the way, the word “paleo” means “ancient.” In Georgia, these Indians were around from approximately 10,000 B.C. to 8,000 B.C. On my first day all we did was measure the site and mark it into a pattern of squares called a grid. Anna, the lead archaeologist, told us why the grid was important. It’s so that we can record the exact location of each artifact found. At dinner, Anna told us about the Paleo Indians. First of all, she informed us that they were hunter-gatherers. She was about to explain what this meant when she stopped and asked us what we thought it meant.

What would you have said?

39 Here’s what we came up with: They hunted animals for food and gathered things like leaves, nuts, berries, fruits and seeds to eat. We weren’t able to conclude very much from this about their culture, but Anna explained that this hunter-gatherer lifestyle made it impossible for these people to form permanent settlements. They had to follow their food sources. She told us that people who lead this type of wandering lifestyle are called nomads. According to Anna, the Paleo Indians really knew how to protect themselves from the weather. They cut and sewed clothing from the skins of animals they hunted. They made small shelters that were held up by bones and sticks and were covered with animal skins that kept the warmth in and the cold out. These early Indians even knew how to make fires for warmth, light and cooking. Paleo Indians lived in bands of 25-50 people who were all related to one another. In order to survive, everyone in the band had specific tasks to do. Even the young children had to help out. Each day there was a lot of work. Cooperation between band members was absolutely essential. Anna told us that we were especially lucky to have found a Paleo Indian site because these sites are rare. Just from what I’ve told you about their lifestyle, why do you think they’re so rare?

It turns out that the reason the sites are so rare is that the bands were very small in number and there were never, at any one time, more than a dozen bands living in Georgia. Also, Paleo Indians’ nomadic lifestyle meant that sites were occupied for very short periods of time. So, only a small number of artifacts would be left at a site. Anna told us that we should bear this in mind and not expect too much from tomorrow’s dig. 40 The last thing Anna told us that night related to the religion of the Paleo Indi- ans. Apparently, the Paleo Indians believed in Animism which meant that everything in nature had been given life (animated). Rocks, rivers, the ground, the wind, the sun- -all had spirits or souls. The spirits could bring good or bad fortune to people, but could also be brought under human control. It was believed, for example, that evil spirits caused illness. Each band had a shaman (medicine man) who could go into a trance and communicate with the spirits. Then he could drive away the evil spirits that caused the illness. After hearing about all this, I could hardly sleep. The next day, we woke up early to begin excavation (digging) of the site. After what Anna had told us the day before, we didn’t expect to find any artifacts right away. But, after only two hours of slow, painstaking work, we found a whole bunch of stone spear points called Clovis points. They were made of flint. I’ve enclosed a drawing to show you exactly what they looked like.

Right next to the Clovis points, we found some tools made of bone and stone that appeared to have been used for hammering or chiselling. Anna explained to us that a good archaeologist makes careful observations and uses these observations to generate hypotheses, or educated guesses, about the artifacts he/she finds. She asked us to guess why we thought these tools of bone and stone had been found next to the Clovis points. Can you guess?

41 Here is a diagram that shows how the Paleo Indians made their Clovis points.

At the end of the day, I asked Anna why we hadn’t found any metal tools and she told me that the Paleo Indians had not yet discovered how to use metal. That’s hard to imagine, isn’t it?

42 On the morning of the third day, we came across a really exciting find--the bones of a mammoth! And, not far from that was a long piece of wood (eight feet long) with a place to attach a spear point. Mammoths are extinct today , but Anna told us that they looked like large, woolly elephants and were very slow-moving. She asked us to think about how the Paleo Indians were able to hunt such an animal. What do you think?

We learned that since the spear was long and heavy, it was a perfect thrusting weapon. Also, because the point was joined smoothly to the shaft, there were no barbs to get caught up in the animal. (Barb=a sharp projection extending backward as from the point of an arrow or fishhook). So, the spear could be pulled out easily and then driven in again. Many Paleo Indians took part in the hunting of a single mammoth. Check out the picture below.

43 Anna asked us to speculate on how the Indian hunting methods might have changed after the large, slow-moving animals ike the mammoths became extinct. Do you have any ideas?

I can’t believe how much I have learned in only three days! I made myself an organizer for all this information because I was afraid I would forget. I’ve enclosed a blank copy on the next page for you to use. I also made this sketch of Paleo Indian life. Not too bad for an amateur artist, huh?

44 Paleo Indians

Dates

Social Structure/ Way of Life

Food/ food produc- tion

Clothing

Dwellings

Tools and Weapons

Religion

45 Then, I sat down to write a poem called a cinquain. A cinquain is a five line poem. The first line is just a noun, the subject you are writing about. The next line has two adjectives that describe the subject. The third line contains three action verbs that tell what the subject does. The fourth line is a four word sentence or phrase, and the fifth and last line is a single word again. I wrote one about archaeology.

Archaeology Patient and persistent Digging, finding, explaining How people lived long ago Science

Why don’t you try to compose one of your own about the Paleo Indians.

I’ve got to go now because we wake up at 6 am every morning to start work on the site. I hope you are having as good a summer as I am.

Your friend, Darlene

46 Jigsaw: Group B

Dear , student name

You won’t believe where I am. I’m in the Piedmont Region of Georgia taking part in an archaeological dig. I’m sure you know what an archaeologist is, but just in case you don’t, I’ll tell you. An archaeologist is a scientist who studies the cultures of the past using the things people left behind them as clues. The work is hard, but I’m having a lot of fun. So far it’s been really exciting--kind of like in the movie “Raiders of the Lost Arc.” We are working at an American Indian site that has been determined (using carbon-14 dating) to have belonged to the Archaic Indians, the direct descendents of the earliest group of Indians to occupy America, the Paleo Indians. The Archaic Indi- ans occupied Georgia from approximately 8,000 B.C. to 1,000 B.C. On my first day all we did was measure the site and mark it into a pattern of squares called a grid. Brian, the lead archaeologist, told us why the grid was important. It’s so that we can record the exact location of each artifact found. At dinner, Brian told us some interesting things about the Archaic Indians. For example, they cut and sewed clothing from the skins of animals they hunted. They made small shelters that were held up by bones and sticks and were covered with animal skins that kept the warmth in and the cold out. Fires were built for warmth, light and cooking. Brian also told us that the religion of the Archaic Indians was Animism-- a belief that everything in nature was given life (animated). Rocks, rivers, the ground, the wind, the sun--all had spirits or souls. The spirits could bring good or bad fortune to people, but could also be brought under human control. The next day we woke up early and began excavation (digging) of the site. After a whole hour of work the only thing we had uncovered were deposits of a rock called soapstone. I was a little disappointed until Brian explained that soapstone has some very unusual qualities. It is soft, easy to carve, and does not break when heated. What do you think the Archaic Indians used soapstone for?

47 Did you guess? They used it to make cooking pots. A little while later we found the remains of one of these pots. After looking at the rock deposits and then looking at the pots, we wondered how the Archaic Indians had been able to turn the rock into pots. How do you think they did it?

I’ve enclosed a diagram that Brian gave us that shows how Archaic Indians made soapstone pots.

Brian told us that at the same time the people of the Piedmont region began using soapstone bowls, Indians on the coastal plain, where there was no soapstone, also began to make cooking pots. What material do you think they used for the pots?

48 They used clay! Brian explained that when people start to make cooking pots, they are telling us some very important things about their culture. Can you guess what these things are?

Well, it turns out that the existence of cooking pots tells us two things. The most obvious is that people were using containers to either hold or cook their food. Containers suggest different cooking methods such as boiling or frying. Second, people who used cooking pots probably lived a more settled existence, because it isn’t practical for wandering bands to carry too much with them. But, Brian explained something very important at dinner that day. Since the pots that we found were in the top layers of soil, they can be attributed to a later time period than artifacts we may find in deeper layers. In fact, archaeologists know that the pottery we found almost definitely dates our site at between 3000 B.C. and 2500 B.C. Earlier Archaic Indians had lived as nomads--wandering bands who travelled in search of food. On the next day, we found what looked like a pit covered with animal skins. Brian told us that this pit confirmed our original hypothesis that the late Archaic Indi- ans were cooking their food. How do you think they cooked in a pit lined with animal skins?

49 The pits indicated a cooking technique called “stone boiling.” All it takes to stone boil are a fire, rocks, two forked sticks, and a pit lined with an animal skin which is filled with water. Rocks were heated in a fire until they became red hot. Then they were picked up using forked sticks and dropped into an animal skin filled with water. The heat from the rocks quickly brought the water to a boil. Indians cooked the leaves of many wild plants just as we cook turnip, greens or spinach. Wild greens were flavored with bear meat and salt to make what was probably a tasty dish. That same day we also uncovered some interesting tools used by Indians of the late Archaic period. We found both a grinding stone and a stone pestle. The grinding stone was a tool often used by the Indians. They placed the acorns, nuts and seeds that they wanted to crush into the grinding stone. Then they used a stone pestle to actually crush the nuts and seeds and grind them into flour or meal. I’ve enclosed a drawing to show you.

On the morning of the third day, we discovered a large pile of shellfish remains. “No big deal,” I thought. Boy, was I wrong. According to Brian, this was one of our most important finds. Can you guess why?

50 Large mounds of shellfish are clear evidence of their frequent use as food. Additionally. a garbage pile this large indicates that the Indians returned to this area year after year. Brian felt that his pile probably pre-dated the soapstone pottery we had found, but we would have to wait for the carbon-14 dating to come back from the lab to be sure. We only discovered one other thing that day, but it was something really important. It was a stone axe of tough, crystalline stone which had a groove cut into it. Brian told us that the Indians used a pebble to peck the axe head into shape. Then, they smoothed out most of the peck marks with sand-stone. This process took several hours. The product which resulted, the grooved axe, became a common tool of the Archaic Indians after 4,000 B.C. Below is a drawing of the stone we found.

What do you think they used the grooved axe for?

Well, it was this important tool that made the Archaic Indians “masters of the forest.” They used the axe to cut down trees from the forest to form clearings. As deer and other animals came to the clearings to eat the tender young leaves and shoots that grew there, hunters would be there waiting for them. The hunter no longer had to wander the forest in search of game--the animals now came to his clearings! 51 Today, my fourth day on the site, we uncovered a spear point called a Stanly point. It looked something like this.

Brian was very excited by this find because it was much older than the other artifacts we had found. He explained to us that projectile points had changed over time during the Archaic period and that the Stanly points were mostly found at sites that dated between 5,000 B.C. and 4,000 B.C. Check out the diagram below.

Evolution of the Projectile Point During the Archaic Period

52 The second find we made that day was a wooden shaft with a hook made from deer antler and a stone weight in the center. I’ve enclosed a drawing so that you could see exactly what it looked like.

Brian told us that this was part of a spear thrower, or atlatl. The atlatl allowed the hunter to throw a spear farther and harder than he could have with his arm alone. How do you think the atlatl worked?

Below I’ve enclosed a diagram. of how it worked. Did you guess right?

53 Brian said that finding the atlatl and the Stanly point only reconfirmed what we already knew from the carbon -14 dating, namely, that this indeed was an Archaic Indian site. Both showed the evolution of weaponry toward a spear thrower; the notches on the Stanly point indicated that these points were attached to smaller spears which were thrown like javelins. He explained that by the time the Archaic Indians occupied this site, the Icy Pleistocene Epoch had ended and the environment of Eastern North America was becoming very much like is is today. Because of this climatic change, the large animals like the mastodons, mammoths, ground sloths,and giant bison had become extinct (died out). He then paused and asked us what we thought this had to do with the change from the simple, thrusting spear of the Paleo Indians to a spear thrower. What do you think?

It turns out that the change in weapon was due to the fact that the larger animals were slower moving and therefore easier to approach and thrust a spear into. Once these animals were extinct and people began to hunt deer, bear, and smaller animals, they had to hurl their spears. I can’t believe how much I have learned in only four days. I made myself an organizer for all of this information because I was afraid I would forget. I’ve enclosed a blank copy for you to use.

54 Archaic Indians

Dates

Social Struc- ture/ Way of Life

Food/ food produc- tion

Clothing

Dwellings

Tools and Weapons

Religion

55 I also drew a picture of Archaic Indian life. Not too bad for an amateur artist, huh?

Then, I sat down to write a poem called a cinquain. A cinquain is a five line poem. The first line is just a noun, the subject you are writing about. The next line has two adjectives that describe the subject. The third line contains three action verbs that tell what the subject does. The fourth line is a four word sentence or phrase, and the fifth and last line is a single word again. I wrote one about Archaeology. 56 Archaeology Patient and persistent Digging, finding, explaining How people lived long ago Science

Why don’t you try and write one about the Archaic Indians.

Well, I’ve got to go now because we wake up at 6 am every morning to start work on the site. I hope you are having as good a summer as I am.

Your friend, Eli

57 Jigsaw: Group C

Dear , student name

You won’t believe where I am. I’m in Georgia taking part in an archaeological dig. I’m sure you know what an archaeologist is, but just in case you don’t, I’ll tell you. An archaeologist is a scientist who studies the cultures of the past using the things people left behind them as clues. The work is hard, but I’m having a lot of fun. So far it’s been really exciting--kind of like “Raiders of the Lost Arc.” We are working at an American Indian site that has been determined (using carbon-14 dating) to have belonged to the Woodland Indians, the direct descendents of the Archaic Indians. The Woodland Indians occupied Georgia from approximately 1,000 B.C. to 800 A.D. On my first day all we did was measure the site and mark it into a pattern of squares called a grid. Carla, the lead archaeologist, told us why the grid was important. It’s so that we can record the exact location of everything we find. The next day we began to slowly and carefully remove the top layer of dust and dirt. The first things we uncovered were postmold patterns. Postmolds are stains in the soil caused by logs used in construction. The patterns at our site are circular with a diameter of about 5 meters (roughly 16 feet). Carla was very excited about this find. Why do you think she was excited and what do you think the postmolds tell us about the Woodland Indians?

Carla was very excited about this find because it clearly indicated that we had discovered a village. The patterns showed us the exact locations of the houses that existed in this village. We could even tell that the houses had fireplaces because in the center of each postmold pattern are rocks with evidence of charring from fire. 58 Carla said it’s probable that the walls of the houses were covered with cane mats or mud and that the roofs were made of grass thatch or tree bark. Why do you suppose that the Woodland Indians are the first prehistoric Ameri- can Indian group for whom postmold patterns have been discovered? Well, it’s because they were the first to form permanent settlements. The Paleo and the Archaic Indians, who came before the Woodland Indians, had lived for thousands of years as nomads, traveling from place to place in search of food. Carla asked us why and how we thought this shift had come about. What do you think?

On the next day, as we were sifting through soil, we discovered some seeds. Carla asked us what we thought these seeds had to do with the move by the Woodland Indians toward a settled existence. Any ideas?

That’s right. Agriculture! In the Archaic period, people cleared the forest to aid in hunting. In the Woodland period, the primary use of these clearings was for agriculture. Woodland people had discovered that the most fertile clearings were those in the floodplains (low land that is flooded during times of heavy rain). This is where they did their planting. Women saved the seeds of their best plants in the autumn and then planted those seeds the following spring. Seeds of the fattest, juiciest squash, and the largest sunflowers were selected. This process of seed selection brought about 59 changes in the plants. Carla explained that she could tell just by the size of the seeds that we had found at the site that the Woodland Indians who occupied this site had been involved in seed selection. That same day we also discovered pieces of a clay pot and part of a knife blade made of obsidian (natural glass). The clay pot had a very complicated checked design on the outside. We all wondered how the Indians made pottery this complicated and durable. The diagram below shows the process that Carla explained to us.

60 The designs on the pottery also help archaeologists date the pottery. For example, look at the drawings below:

Our second find, the obsidian blade, was equally, if not more, interesting. Ob- sidian, it turns out, is not be found naturally in Georgia. How do you think the obsidian got there?

According to Carla, the obsidian is pretty clear evidence of trade. The culture of the Ohio Valley during the Woodland period is called “Hopewell” by archaeologists. Obsidian was obtained from the Rocky Mountains and used by priests of the “Hopewell” culture for ceremonial blades. The appearance of blades of this type in Georgia implies that the Georgian Indians had contact with these Ohio Valley Indians. Archaeologists believe that trade, along with development of agriculture, also resulted in the formation of a new form of social organization called the tribe. In the Paleo Indian period, people lived in small bands of 25-50 people. During the Archaic period, bands living close to one another began to develop strong ties. A member of one band sometimes married someone from a neighboring band. This produced family ties. But with the rise of agriculture during the Woodland period, populations 61 increased because of abundant food and a more settled existence. Ties between the bands were strengthened by trade. In fact, kinship and trade ties became so strong between some bands that they came to think of themselves as one people, and this is how tribes came to formed.

62 Carla seems to think that the Woodland Indians traded not only objects, but ideas. After all, the traders probably explained to the Georgian Indians the religious beliefs that went along with the ceremonial blade that they traded to them. The theory is that the valley of the Ohio River was the center for the development of Woodland religious beliefs, and that from there, the ideas spread to the entire eastern woodlands. Many Woodland religious beliefs revolved around agriculture and the spirits of nature. What do you think is the connection between agriculture and religion?

Here’s what Carla explained to us.

Planting: People of the Woodland Period believed that spirits within seeds had to be made happy so that seeds would grow into healthy plants. The priest led planting ceremonies in the spring.

Caring for the Crops: Too much rain might wash away the garden and too little rain would dry up the crops. The sun could burn young plants, and a cold wind could blow in a late freeze and kill the crop. This made it important to conduct ceremonies that would please the spirits of nature.

Harvesting the crops: By late summer, crops were ready to be harvested. The spirits again were thanked so that they would cooperate during the next planting and growing season.

On the morning of the third day, we ventured a short distance away from the main site and discovered bones from a human skeleton buried alongside objects like stone pipes, sharks’ teeth and a copper plate. Dan told us that the Woodland Indians

63 were the first Indians to use copper. According to Carla, the objects found alongside the body were ceremonial objects. What do you think the bones and ceremonial objects reveal about Woodland religious beliefs?

Carla thought we had most likely found the body of a priest. When a priest died, it was a very sorrowful event. The body of a priest was usually placed in a small earthen or stone mound. Special objects such as flint blades, pottery figurines, and stone pipes were buried with the body. Woodland Indians also set aside special areas for religious observances and ceremonies. A ceremonial site was a symbol of the unity of the people who used it. One such site in Murray County is called “Fort Mountain” because it looked like a military fort to the early European settlers. Here, a stone wall surrounds the summit of a small mountain. Important ceremonies were conducted within this enclosure between A.D. 100 and A.D. 400. Another site of the Woodland period is located in Putnam County. It is called the “Rock Eagle Mound.” It was constructe around A.D. 200. From above, this construction looks like a large bird, something like an eagle.

64 Today, my fourth day on the site, we uncovered some arrow points. Carla explained that we could tell these were Woodland arrow points based on their size-- much smaller than both Paleo and Archaic arrow points. This puzzled me. Why would arrow points get smaller as a society’s technology progressed? What do you think?

The reason the arrow points got smaller is that the bow and arrow was invented. Paleo and Archaic arrow points were too heavy to be used with a bow and arrow. The picture below shows the Woodland arrow points that we found alongside an Archaic spear point for comparison.

I can’t believe how much I have learned in only four days. I made myself an organizer for all this information because I was afraid I would forget. I’ve enclosed a blank copy for you to use.

65 Woodland Indians

Dates

Social Structure/ Way of Life

Food/ food produc- tion

Clothing

Dwellings/ Buildings

Tools/Weapons/Art

Religion

66 I also drew a picture of Woodland Indian life. Not too bad for an amateur artist, huh?

67 Archaeology Patient and persistent Digging, finding, explaining How people lived long ago Science

Why don’t you try and write one about the Woodland Indians.

Well, I’ve got to go now because we wake up at 6 am every morning to start work on the site. I you are having as good a summer as I am.

Your friend, Andrea

68 Jigsaw: Group D

Dear , student name You won’t believe where I am. I’m in Georgia taking part in an archaeological dig. I’m sure you know what an archaeologist is, but just in case you don’t, I’ll tell you. An archaeologist is a scientist who studies the cultures of the past using the things people left behind them as clues. The work is hard, but I’m having a lot of fun. So far it’s been really exciting--kind of like in the movie “Raiders of the Lost Arc.” We are working at an American Indian site that has been determined (using carbon-14 dating) to have belonged to the Mississippian Indians, the direct descen- dants of the Woodland Indians. The Mississippian Indians occupied Georgia from approximately 800 A.D. to 1540 A.D. On my first day we began by measuring the site and marking it into a pattern of squares called a grid. Dan, the lead archaeologist, told us why the grid was important. It’s so that we can record the exact location of everything we find. At dinner, Dan began to tell us a little more about the culture of the Mississip- pian Indians. He started out by asking us to guess how this Indian group had gotten their name. Can you guess?

They were named Mississippian Indians because their culture originated around the Mississippi River somewhere between what is now modern- day St. Louis, Missouri and Memphis, Tennessee began to develop. This group was the most advanced Indian group yet to inhabit Georgia. The people began to build much larger and more permanent villages than the Woodland Indians had produced. Their dress became more elaborate-- they wore beads, tatoos, feathers, ear ornaments and elaborate hairdos. They farmed in the river 69 floodplains and were the first group to develop “shifting agriculture” which meant they shifted the locations of their fields from year to year to keep from using up the natural fertility of the soil. They were also the first group to store surplus food in community storehouses. The next morning, we woke up very early to begin the excavation (digging) of the site. The first things we uncovered were some pumpkin seeds. They didn’t seem terribly important to me until Dan explained why they were. He said that he could tell by the size of the seed that they belonged to Mississippian Indians. How do you think he could tell?

Well, it seems that Mississippian Indian women saved the seeds of their best plants in the autumn and then planted those seeds the next spring. They chose seeds from the fattest, juiciest squash, and the largest sunflowers. This process of seed selection made plants more “productive,” which menat they were larger and easier to grow. Plants such as these are called domesticated plants, or, plants under the control of people, and they have larger seeds than undomesticated plants. Some of the most important domesticated plants were corn (maize), beans, squash and pumpkins. Mississippian Indians discovered that corn, beans, squash and pumpkins grew well together. The corn stalk provided a pole for the bean vines to grow on, the corn leaves made shade for the squash and pumpkins, and the squash and pumpkin vines crowded out many weeds. They grew all four plants together in “hills” rather than separating them into rows as modern farmers do now. Recent scientific investigation shows that growing the plants together as the Mississippian Indians did 70 reduces the amount of destruction caused by insects and so increases crop yields. Next, we found part of an old wall with a large ditch just outside it. Dan thought this was probably a “palisade.” Palisades (walls built of large posts) were built around many Mississippian villages to protect the villagers and their storehouses of food from hostile neighboring groups. From what we could tell, the palisade had probably stood about 14-20 feet! We also found some pieces that had been part of a bastion (guard tower). Dan said that these bastions had usually been placed at 30 meter (100 feet) intervals around the palisade. Later that same day we also uncovered many pieces of pottery in all shapes and sizes. Dan told us that some of the more decorative pieces had probably been used for special occasions. We also discovered an artifact called a “gorget.” It is made of a conch shell which was a kind of shell highly valued by the Mississippian people. These shells were traded over long distances. The design of the one we found was of a coiled rattlesnake with an eagle’s eye. Can you find the mouth, eye, scales and rattles of the snake?

On the second day our findings were equally exciting. The first thing we discovered was a charred roof beam. Since we found no other remains of the building that this belonged to, Dan believes that this building was an “earthlodge.” Earthlodges

71 were dirt-covered buildings where special ceremonies were held. For example, the “busk” would have been held here. The busk was observed every summer when the corn was ripening. A sacred fire was lit using the ears of the green corn. This sym- bolized the coming of a new year. In the picture you can see the reconstructed earth lodge at Ocmulgee National Monument in Macon, Bibb County.

We also found some delicate arrow points made of stone and wood and even from deer antlers. Dan told us that a common mistake is to call these “bird points.” Actually, all Mississippian arrow points were very small in comparison to points of the Paleo and Archaic periods. This puzzled me. Why would arrow points get smaller as a society’s technology progressed. What do you think?

The reason the arrow points got smaller is that Mississippian Indians used the bow and arrow. Paleo and Archaic arrow points would have been too heavy for a bow and arrow. On the third day, we uncovered part of a “litter.” A litter is a seat carried on poles. What do you think this artifact tells us about the Mississippian culture?

72 Dan explained how litter tells us that the Mississippian Indians had developed a new type of society called a “chiefdom.” In a chiefdom, families were ranked (given a level of importance) based on how closely they were related to the ruling fanily. At the head of the ruling family was a powerful priest chief. The family took special care of the priest-chief. He was dressed, fed, and carried wherever he went on a litter like the one we found. See the picture below.

The people thought that the priest chief could talk to the spirits of nature and influence the spirits. They even thought he was related to certain animal spirits. Dur- ing ceremonies, the priest chief and his assistants would dress up in animal costumes, appearing as half men and half beasts. The priest chief always asked the spirits to give his people a good harvest. The position of priest chief was inherited, just like kings inherited thrones in Europe. But when a priest chief died, his position was inherited by his sister’s son, not his own son. This was because Mississippian people traced their family trees through the women rather than through men as we do. Women also controlled the property of each family. 73 The next thing we discovered appeared to have been a burial site. We found the bones of several human bodies along with many elaborate objects. One of the objects was an embossed copper plate showing a dancer in an eagle costume. I have enclosed a picture of the details of the plate for you to see.

Dan thinks that this burial site was a “ceremonial center.” The priest cheif and his noble family lived at the ceremonial centers and they ruled an area that might include several hundred square kilometers. Each ceremonial center had one or more large, flat-topped earth mounds. These mounds served as platforms for important buildings such as the houses of the priest chief and his family, buildings for religious and political activities and buildings where the remains of nobility were buried (mortuary houses.) Dan believes we have uncovered one of these mortuary houses. Today, my fourth day on the site, we discovered some clay pipes. See the picture below.

74 According to Dan, the Indians of the Mississippian period were the first to use plants for things other than food. For example, they mixed the leaves of the tobacco plant (nicotiana rustica) with other plants and smoked it in pipes of clay and stone. They also dried and boiled the leaves of another wild plant, ilex vomitoria, to make a strong tea called “black drink.” When swallowed in large amounts, black drink caused vomiting. A Frenchman, Louis Milfort, lived with the Creek Indians, the Indian society that followed the Mississippian culture in Georgia. He said:

“They have the habit, before entering into any matter of beginning by smoking their pipe, and by taking drink which they make from the leaves of a tree which is very common to their country, and which is claimed to be a wild tea tree. It has been seen that Indians threw up the drink, with a great deal of ease. the purpose of this disgust- ing ceremony is to assure the chief of the assembly that each of the members who compose it has a stomach free of food and consequently, a clear head.”

We also found parts of wooden canoes. Dan showed us how these canoes were made. Apparently, large trees were cut down and hollowed out using stone tools. In the picture I have sketched below, the man is using an “adze.”

And last of all, we found stone disks and wooden spears that Dan thinks were used to play “chunkey,” a game that Mississippian Indians liked to play. In this game, a player tried to toss his spear close to where he thought the disk would stop rolling. I can’t believe how much I’ve learned in just four days. I made myself an organizer for all this information because I was afraid I would forget. I’ve enclosed a blank copy for you to use. 75 Mississippian Indians

Dates

Social Struc- ture/ Way of Life

Food/ food produc- tion

Clothing

Dwellings /Buildings

Tools/Weapons/Art

Entertainment

Religion

76 I then drew a picture of Mississippian Indian life. Not too bad for an amateur artist, huh?

77 Archaeology Patient and persistent Digging, Finding, Explaining How people lived long ago Science

Why don’t you try and write one about the Mississippian Indians.

Well, I’ve got to go now because we wake up at 6 am every morning to start work on the site. I hope you are having as good a summer. as I am.

Your friend, Anthony

78 Paleo Indians

Dates

Social Struc- ture/ Way of Life

Food/ food produc- tion

Clothing

Dwellings

Tools and Weapons

Religion

79 Archaic Indians

Dates

Social Struc- ture/ Way of Life

Food/ food produc- tion

Clothing

Dwellings

Tools and Weapons

Religion