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The
term Archaic, meaning old, signals a series of new adaptations
by the early people that occurred between 8,000 and 1,200 B.C.
As the cold, moist climate of the Pleistocene Age changed
to a warmer, drier one, the warming winds melted the glaciers
to the north and warmed the ocean water.
The sea level rose, spreading water across the Coastal
Plain of Virginia and creating the Chesapeake Bay.
Many of the places where early humans lived were eroded and
covered by the rising water. Grassland and open forests of conifers
gave way to thick forests of pine, oak, and hickory.
As the flora changed, the mastodon, the last of the large
Pleistocene animals, became extinct and other animals
such as bison, caribou, and moose moved away.
People now hunted widely the abundant deer, elk, bear,
turkey, and small game such as rabbit and fox.
As the vegetation became profuse, they gathered more plant
foods such as fruit, acorns, and hickory nuts.
The
people of the Archaic period began to vary the size and shape
of their lithic (stone) points.
Stone spear points, knives, scrapers, gravers, and drills
were still used; however, the hunter-gatherers fashioned them
differently, with side or corner notches.
Notching tells us how the points were attached to the spear
or knife handle.
In
general, the Early Archaic population grew, nurtured by a more
inviting environment.
Families lived in larger bands and
remained mobile, but within a more limited fertile area.
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Click
image to enlarge
Early
hunters lived in small bands and set up camps along rivers. (Credit:
Thomas R. Whyte, F.H. McClung Museum Archives, Knoxville)
Projectile
points crafted by people of the Early Archaic
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