Early History of Virginia Indians

By Inez Ramsey

How Do We Know About Pre-Historic People?
Lesson Plans
Bibliography

How Do We Know About Pre-Historic People?

A special group of scientists, called archaeologists, help us find out about human life in the past. Their field of study is called archaeology or archeology. Archaeologists study the remains of past human life, like bones, arrowheads and pottery to learn about life before men and women had writing. The remains of tools, like pottery and arrowheads, are called artifacts. The remains of living things, like bones, are called fossils.

Scientists used a testing method called radiocarbon dating to help us learn about the earliest time when the PaleoIndians were living in different parts of the country. Virginia is in the Southeast United States. Scientists have some evidence that parts of the American Southeast were populated as early as 12,000 years ago. Populated means that people lived there. They have found artifacts left by PaleoIndians in Florida from over 12,000 years ago. Some of Virginia's early Indians may have come here from North Carolina, traveling east from Georgia. Artifacts in the American Northeast have been found which date to 10,600 to 10,200 years ago. The Northeast includes places like New York or Connecticutt.

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What Is Culture?

Lesson Plans

Lesson Plans

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Bibliography

Archeology, fossils...Juvenile Bibliography By Inez Ramsey.

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Button gif courtesy of Rutgers

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