Early History of Virginia Indians

By Inez Ramsey

Virginia Indians To 10,000 Years Ago

After the last ice age came to an end about 15,000 years ago, the food supply of the PaleoIndians increased and became more stable. With milder weather more animals and plants survived. The PaleoIndians were "hunters-foragers." This means the people lived by hunting animals and gathering wild plants and seeds for their food. Some people use the term, "hunters-gatherers." The people lived in small family bands whose numbers would increase or decrease through marriage, death and other factors. These bands would be scattered over the land with small numbers of people living in a geographic area. The people who live in a geographic area are called "the population." Scientists would say that the country had a "low population density" since there were not many people living in a given area.

The small bands lived in some fixed place during some seasons of the year. The band would move to other places to take advantage of food resources. We use the term, semi-nomadic to describe this way of life. Nomads are people who move from place to place in search of food or water. "Semi-" means part of something. This is how we get the word, "semi-nomadic."

The PaleoIndians were what we call a Stone Age people. They did not know how to make tools from copper or steel. They made their tools from stone. The PaleoIndians made tools, like scrapers and drills, of chipped stone. Most tools were used for hunting and preparing animals. Their stone tool making ability was crude but improved over time. Hunting was the major source of food.

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Virginia's Indians to 3,000 Years Ago

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