Paleoindian Period
Large ice sheets that covered most of North America during the Pleistocene era.
What are glaciers?
This brackish water estuary was created by rising sea levels.
This was an invention that allowed humans to store food and settle permanently.
What is fired clay?
A game where people roll a rock down an earthen mound and throw spears as close as possible to the rock.
What is chunkey?
This term refers to someone or something native to a place.
What is indigenous?
Another name for Ice Age.
What is Pleistocene?
This is a large tusked Pleistocene mammal that went extinct due to changing flora.
What is a mastodon?
This innovation replaced the spear for hunting, and allowed humans to hunt for food with precision and safety.
What is a bow + arrow?
This culture was widespread in the Southeast, but in VA was limited to the Appalachian Plateau in SW VA.
What is Mississippian culture?
This refers to the customs, arts, and social institutions of a particular group of people.
What is culture?
These were lower during the Pleistocene, allowing humans to cross a land bridge from Siberia to North America.
What are sea levels/coastlines?
What is soapstone?
This plant was cultivated for medicinal + spiritual purposes. Humans carved elaborate pipes to smoke this.
What is tobacco?
This culture was found in the northern Piedmont and was notable for building mounds for the deceased.
What is Earthen Burial Mound culture?
One of the three main indigenous language families spoken in VA. This was the language spoken by the Powhatan confederacy in the Coastal Plain.
What is Algonquin?
This refers to people who move with seasons rather than staying in one location year round.
What are nomads?
A metamorphic rock found around the Fall Line that was used to make knives and spears.
What is quartzite?
This is the opposite of a nomadic lifestyle. This lifestyle is characterized by staying in one place year round.
What is Coastal Plain culture.
One of the three main indigenous language families spoken in VA. This was the language spoken by the Monacan and Mannahoac.
What is Siouan?
This term refers to the climate in VA during the Pleistocene.
What is tundra?
The bank of the river that overflows, depositing sediment and nutrients. Humans settled here due to ease of food access, including cultivation of plants + fishing and oyster harvesting.
What is a floodplain?
Humans develop these. They refer to the unspoken rules that govern the way we live. Humans demonstrate this with ritual burial practices, adornment to indicate rank or status.
What are complex societies?
This refers to the intentional cultivation and harvesting of plants. This, alongside oyster cultivation, allowed humans to settle permanently in villages.
What is agriculture?
One of the three main indigenous language families spoken in VA. This was the language spoken by the Cherokee in the Appalachian Plateau and the Merrehin + Nottoway in the Coastal Plain.
What is Iroquioan?