Archaic Era

Temperatures changed after the glaciers melted. The Mississippi River made its transition from a glacial outwash braided stream of converging and diverging waterways to a broad, meandering river building up a wide and rich floodplain.

As the climate changed, some of the large animals we depended on disappeared. As Native peoples, we settled into our changing environments as we became more stable. Plant foods and smaller animals such as whitetail deer became important in the foodways.

Ground stone tools for processing nuts and seeds were invented, as were polished stone axes for working wood.

During the end of this era, the weather became cooler and wetter, giving us greater access to fish, waterfowl and shellfish. Dugout canoes transformed our world.