Montana Prehistoric Eras: Paleo-Indian to Bone and Arrow Era (Notes)

Paleo-Indian Period: Clovis People and Anzik Site

• First inhabitants of Montana: Clovis people.

• Anzik Site (north of Livingston, MT): Crucial for Clovis artifacts and human remains in Americas.

  • 112 Clovis artifacts, including projectile points and bone rods.

  • Anzik Boy (an 18-year-old): Only verified Clovis human remains; DNA links Clovis directly to contemporary Native Americans and ancient Siberian populations (24{,}000 years ago). Ancestors migrated from Asia.

  • Dietary insight: Anzik Boy’s mother heavily relied on woolly mammoth meat.

• Clovis lifestyle: Small kinship-based nomadic hunter-gatherer groups (10-24 individuals); predominantly hunted woolly mammoths and mastodons using long Clovis points (8\text{ to }12\text{ inches}) on spears.

• Post-Clovis: Artifact styles evolved (Folsom, Goshen, Cody); these groups occupied all Montana regions.

• Megafauna extinctions: Occurred 13{,}200 and 12{,}700 years ago (a ~500-year window); included woolly mammoths, mastodons. Consensus: combination of climate change and human colonization, with human influence often dominant.

• Indigenous-Nature relationship: Megafauna extinctions highlight early human-caused environmental impacts, challenging simplistic views of constant Indigenous harmony with nature.

Archaic Era (8,500 years ago to 1,800 years ago)

• Era of climatic/environmental changes driving human adaptation.

• Two sub-periods:

  • Altithermal (8{,}500 to 5{,}500 years ago):

    • Climate: Hotter (2!-!3\,^{\circ}\text{F} up), drier (2!-!3\,\text{inches} precip. down), especially summers.

    • Impact: Plains grasslands contracted, less forage/water.

    • Human response: Migration to river valleys/hills.

    • Innovation: Atlatl (spearthrower) developed for enhanced hunting.

  • Plains Revival (5{,}500 to 1{,}800 years ago):

    • Climate: Cooler, wetter conditions restored grasslands, bison populations surged.

    • Human relocation: Populations returned to the Plains.

    • Three major cultural innovations:

      1. Expansive trade networks: Eastern Montana a hub for bison products and lithic materials (chert/obsidian); traded for marine shells, copper axes.

      2. Use of fire as ecological management: Fall burns for lush growth, manipulate bison, suppress woodlands, promote useful botanicals. Western Montana managed forest underbrush.

      3. Buffalo jumps: First evidence around 5{,}700 years ago. Coordinated method to harvest large numbers of bison efficiently for winter provisioning.

         • How: Bison guided by drivelines (V-shaped funnels using cairns) toward a cliff; stampeded over edge. Mass of meat processed by community.

         • Examples: Oompishkin Jump, Madison Jump (Montana); Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump (Alberta).

Bone Marrow Era (Bow and Arrow Introduction)

• Timeframe: Approximately 1{,}800 years ago.

• Key development: Introduction of the bow and arrow (adopted from outside groups).

• Advantages over atlatl: Faster projectile velocity, greater range, higher accuracy, enabled stealth hunting.

• Significance: Made Indigenous peoples more effective hunters, impacted subsistence and social organization.

Cross-cutting Themes and Exam Focus

• Clovis foundation: Earliest inhabitants (Anzik Site, Anzik Boy, DNA link to Asia, Native Americans).

• Megafauna extinctions: 13{,}200-12{,}700 years ago, combination of human and climate factors.

• Indigenous-human-environment relationships: Complex, involving exploitation, management, and conservation, not just harmony.

• Archaic adaptations: Altithermal (migration, atlatl) vs. Plains Revival (return to plains, trade, fire, buffalo jumps).

• Mobility and technology diffusion: New technologies (atlatl, bow and arrow) influencing hunting.

Quick Reference: Key Terms and Numbers

• Clovis points: 8\text{ to }12\text{ inches} long projectile points.

• Anzik Site/Boy: Verified Clovis human remains (18-month-old), DNA links to Siberia (24{,}000 years ago), ancestral to Native Americans.

• Megafauna extinctions: 13{,}200 and 12{,}700 years ago.

• Altithermal: 8{,}500-5,500 years ago; hot/dry; atlatl.

• Plains Revival: 5{,}500-1,800 years ago; cooler/wetter; bison surge; trade, fire, buffalo jumps.

• Drivelines/cairns: Buffalo jump infrastructure.

• Oompishkin/Madison/Head Smashed In: Major buffalo jump sites.

• Bow and arrow: Introduced 1,800 years ago; improved hunting.

Exam Preparation Tips

• Identify Anzik Site/Boy and DNA implications.

• Explain three Plains Revival innovations.

• Distinguish Altithermal/Plains Revival (climate, adaptations).

• Describe buffalo jumps (setup, effectiveness, example).

• Understand atlatl to bow and arrow shift.

• Discuss nuanced Indigenous-nature