Prehistoric Peoples

              Pleistocene              Clovis People      Folsom People    Plano People     Archaic/Woodland Hunters

                                                                 ______________/____________ _ /_____________/_____________/_________________

                                                                  12,000 years       10,000-9,000BC   9,000-8,000 BC   8,000-6,000 BC     6,000-1,000 BC

                                                                 

The first people in North America arrived in during the Pleistocene Epoch. Low sea levels exposed the land between Asia and Alaska.   This occurred over 12,000 years ago.

The Clovis people lived at the end of the Pleistocene; about 10,000 to 9.000 B.C. They hunted mammoths and other Ice Age animals.   The Clovis were tied to the land by the resources they used, which included water, plants, animals, and shelter.

Folsom people existed between 9,000 and 8,000 B.C. They lived in small groups or bands. The Folsom people hunted deer and antelope and gathered wild plants. Folsom hunters used spears and darts tipped with thin leaf-shaped stone points.

The Plano (or late Paleoindian) people lived between 8,000 and 6,000 B.C. The presence of Plano people is indicated by finds of various types of stone tools, primarily spear and dart points.

Archaic is a period of human history about 8,000 to 2,000 years ago. These people continued to hunt bison and other animals with spears and darts. Very dry conditions during this and later periods resulted in the destruction or deep burial of many remains of these people.

As the environment of Western Kansas changed after the Ice Ages, its native people adjusted their ways of living. Hunting continued to provide much of the food for the people. Streams fed by rainwater and springs cut valleys through the nearly level plains. Shallow depressions dot the rolling uplands. Occasional pools form after heavy or continuous rains. The water was provided for animals and humans.

The Plains Woodland period was a time of transition from hunting and gathering wild plants and animals to farming. The Plains Woodland people used seeds from plants to supplement wild foods.

 

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