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PREHISTORIC PEOPLE
The first people
to inhabit both
North and South
America were the
ancient ancestors
of many of
today’s Indians.
They came in
small hunting
groups, possibly
as far back as
35,000 to 50,000
years ago during
the Ice Age, in a
series of waves
of migration over
an extended
length of time.
The
Ice Age was a
period of
dramatic weather
changes. When
the weather was
colder, a land
bridge linking
Asia to Alaska
would appear,
making travel to
North America
possible. As the
weather grew
warmer, ice
melted and the
land would be
covered with
water preventing
travel. This
Siberian-Alaskan
land bridge last
made migration
possible 10,000
to 15,000 years
ago. Since then,
it has been
covered by water
now called the
Bering and
Chukchi Seas
About 3,000 years ago, in what is now the southwestern part of the United States, prehistoric people began to develop agriculture to augment hunting. The Anasazi, a Navaho word meaning “ancient ones,” created a successful culture in the “Four Corners” area of Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona. In about 650 AD, a peripheral culture formed north of them around the Fremont River in Utah. The Fremont culture emphasized hunting and gathering more than the Anasazi did. Fremont sites tend to be small and widely scattered; where villages exist, they generally have only a few houses. Like the Anasazi, they used pit houses for shelter, made pottery, farmed maize, beans, and squash, and made pictographs and petroglyphs on rock faces. Their pottery was a grayware constructed by a coil-and-scrape technique. While usually plain, it was sometimes scored, incised, and appliquéd. Unlike the Anasazi, the Fremont culture made leather moccasins rather than fiber sandals.
Fragments of Fremont pottery have been found near tipi rings in southwest Wyoming. Some historians think this shows that elements of the group passed through here on their way east to the Great Plains where they became the Plains Apache people. Other experts disagree and think the Fremont moved south and west. What happened to the Fremont people may never be known for sure. However, they had completely disappeared by 1300 AD.
The Spear Thrower
The
Fremont People
did not use bows
and arrows. They
used a stick
called an atlatl
to throw javelins
or spears. An
Atlatl was a
shaped stick
about two feet
long, and inch or
so wide, and
about half that
thick. One was
formed into a
handle and was
sometimes wrapped
with cord. At
the top of the
handle two
notches, or
sometimes two
loops, provided
finger grips. At
the upper end of
the stick a
recess made a
purchase for the
butt of the
spear; sometimes
the same
objective was
served by a spur,
usually an animal
tooth set in the
wood.
A
stone weight was
attached to the
atlatl near its
upper end as a
help in
throwing.
Stones for this
purpose were
carefully shaped
so that one side
would not be
heavier than the
other. Such
stones,
called banner or
butterfly stones,
are found at
archaeological
sites. Until
several atlatls
with their stones
intact were found
in caves in
Kentucky and
Alabama,
archaeologists
could only guess
as to what
purpose the
butterfly-shaped
stones originally
had.
The atlatl
spear, or
javelin, was
quite long, from
six to nine
feet. It was
headed with
either a sharp
flint point or a
rounded “bunt” of
bone or wood,
that was better
for killing birds
and small animals
because it did
not tear the
flesh. Either
kind was usually
attached to a
short foreshaft
that fitted into
a socket in the
main shaft.
Streamers were
often tied to the
butt of such a
spear to help its
flight and to aid
in recovery.
In
throwing,
the javelin was
supported by the
left hand while
the right,
holding the
atlatl, reached
back
until throwing
stick and spear
were parallel.
The spear lay
above the stick
and between the
first and seconds
of the hunter’s
right hand where
they held the
throwing grips.
Launching was
done with a
straight overhand
swing, the left
hand letting go
of the spear as
soon as there was
thrust behind
it.
Tullis, Edwin.
Indians
Cleveland, World.
1959
Dioramas funded
by EXXON Co. USA
Debbie Mandros
Braden—foreground
construction
Harold
Chase—diorama
background
paintings
Leslie
Willingham—figure
sculptor
Richard Tolman—case
construction