The first Coloradoans
Prehistoric Indians Paleo Indians Clovis Period Folsom Period Plano Period Pueblo Farmers Overview
Prehistoric Indians Indians that lived on the land before written history existed Historians say these are the Indians that crossed the Bering strait and migrated to the North and South American Continents Archaeologists have discovered tools and artifacts from this era.
Paleo Indians Lived in small family units Continuously searching for food Always on the move They camped near rivers and streams to be close to water The plants and animals that needed water became the main food groups for these people They would sometimes follow large animals into the mountains use the meat and hide
Clovis Most likely the first group of Paleo Indians to live in Colorado Around 15,000 years ago Most common artifacts found for this group of Indians are animal bones and spear points These are some of the oldest artifacts ever found in CO
Folsom/Plano Period Folsom The next group of Paleo Indians to live in CO Similar to the group before they were hunter/gathers and used spear points as their main weapons Are thought to have lived about 10,000 years ago Plano Last group of Paleo Indians The climate change created grasslands where forests use to stand They did not move as much, instead they moved with the seasons not the animals Still hunted animals but were finding better and more effect ways to hunt
River of Bones Plano people learned to kill large number of animals at a time Plano Indians would scare groups of Bison Using spears and dogs Push the group to a cliff The bison would fall to their deaths There are several different sites in CO where these bison jumps have been found James-Miller Bison Kill site Northeast CO
Pueblo Famers Who are they? They lived in CO at the end of the Archaic period The ancestral Puebloans the Anasazi Navajo word for ancient enemy or outsider Puebloans did not like this name Creating a Community The First Puebloans lived on the flat-topped mesas along the Mancos River This area today is called Mesa Verde Mesa Verde means green tableland in Spanish Ancestral Puebloans were farmers Squash beans and corn
Creating a community How could they farm? To water plants/crops during dry periods they dug ditches to move water from the nearby streams They also built dams to create large ponds to have water stored for later use. Where did they live? Ancestral Puebloans live in Pit houses Each house had a large main room with a fire pit in the middle Built close together to form a community Built around a Plaza
Creating a community Where did they live? Villages also had special rooms that were called Kivas Kivas were close to the plaza were round and usually used for important ceremonies or special activities In the middle of the Kiva was a small hole called a sipapu, it was thought to be the passage to from the underworld The belief was this is how people first came to the world Spirits of the dead could go back to the spirit world through this hole
Creating a community Food and Tools New tools = The bow and arrow Improved hunting Bone hooks= weighted fishing hooks Improved fishing Some even raised turkeys Planting and Harvesting= less time than gathering Began to make clay pottery
From Pit Houses to Cliffs Better home builders Used mud and stone to create a new type of home Built them tall so they could hold many families 2-3 stories high
The First Coloradans