Grasslands - History of Occupation ASB368

North & South America

• from Asia

• Early Entry

  • before 15ka

  • by boat down the pacific west coast

• Late Entry

  • after 15ka

  • walked across on ice-free corridor into what is now Alaska

clovis culture

• paleo-indian

• 13.5 - 13ka

• recognized by bifacial clovis point

• hunted wide range of animals, best-known for mammoth and bison kills

• associated with extinct pleistocene animals

folsom culture

• paleo-indian

• 12-11ka

• recognized by the Folsom point

• best known for bison kills

• NOT associated with extinct Pleistocene fauna of North America

fundamentals of great plains culture

• large game focused on buffalo

  • not rlly focused on fish/small game

• not really any agriculture

• lived in tipis for part of the year

• domesticated dogs and horses

• very nomadic

• everything made of skin and high quality

• lots of warfare

• geometric and straight designs in artwork

5 hunting methods

• disguise

• walked to death

• surrounded with horses

• drove animals into stream beds and cliffs

• used built compounds

technology

• ceramics: rare to absent

  • pots replaced with leather and hot rock technology

• basketry: rare to absent

• weaving: rare

• woodworking: rare

• leather working: outstanding

bison as a resource

provided:

• food

• clothing

• raw materials

• fuel for fire

foraging

centered around bison and production of

• fresh meat

• smoked meat

• fat

• pemmican

  • best cuts are dried, held over fire to get soft and oily, pounded on stone, mixed with berries and marrow and fat, stored in sealed leather pouch

  • entire diet when on the move

travois

a type of sledge shaped like a triangle that is used to carry heavy goods. usually pulled by a horse or dog.

hot rock technology

• used to make shields

• also to cook

semi-agricultural mobility

• live in villages late fall-winter in river valleys

• live off stored food

• spring: plant more crops and then most leave to hunt on plains

full hunter-gatherer mobility

• much more mobile than semi-agricultural

• fall-winter: larger camps living off stored bison meat and plants food

• late spring: move to Psoralea grounds

• hunt through summer trying to intercept bison herds

nations/tribes

• usually smaller bands within

• Kiowa: 1800 people in 10-20 bands

• Comanche: 3 bands of hundreds of individuals

• bands had a defined territory that they defended

• long-lasting and shifting alliance

• band membership flexible

clans

• group of people united by real/perceived kinship or descent

• sometimes trace descent back to a fictional ancestor

• clan membership inflexible

• exists sometimes parallel to other forms of descent

• Among Australian Aborigines, each clan has a totem animal