The Paleoindian Period

The Paleoindian period (ca. 13,000 – 7,900 BCE) consists of the occupation areas of the first Indians that crossed the land bridge, that connected Alaska and Siberia, in North America. The land bridge was formed by continent-size glaciers. Glaciers may have prevented the new inhabitants from expanded until after 12,000 BCE. These hunters are characterized by their Clovis points – long, fluted stone projectile points. The Paleoindian period is divided into three subperiods: Early Paleoindian, Middle Paleoindian, and Late Paleoindian.

Possible migration routes, Wikipedia Commons

The Early Paleoindian (9,500 – 9,000 BCE) is believed to be a time of exploration and colonization. This has been deduced by examining the wide distribution of Clovis points that were transported large distances from their quarry sources. Large fluted points characterize this subperiod. There are three inhabited environmental zones for this subperiod: cool climate boreal forests, temperate forests, and subtropical sandy scrub. 

The Middle Paleoindian (9,000 – 8,500 BCE) is characterized by fluted and unfluted points that differ in size, larger and smaller, than traditional Clovis points found in the Southeast such as Cumberland, Redstone, Suwannee, Beaver Lake, Quad, Coldwater, and Simpson. The subperiod is viewed as a time for adaptation the optimal resource zones.

The Late Paleoindian (8,500 – 7,900 BCE) is characterized by Dalton and other side-notched points. The points demonstrate a change in adaptive hunting strategy from Late Pleistocene fauna to smaller game, like deer, in southern pine forests instead of boreal. Archaeologists believe that the settlements in the Southeast were permanent or semipermanent camps. Specific locations may have been inhabited around Chert deposits in order to replenish the manufactured stone tools. Settling down in specific areas may also have led to intensive regional specialization that ensured survival and movement into the Archaic period.

Since 1960, the studies of river basin projects, Paleoindian point finds, and site distributions in the Southeast have refined the sequencing of point types and refined the reconstruction of Paleoindian cultural activities.

Projectile Point Types, National Parks Service

About the Author

I'm Melanie, the founder of BermudaQuest and an archaeology undergraduate at the University of New Mexico. I love writing about ancient and modern cultures. My goal is to make information about our origins available to everyone [in simple English!]