Introduction

It’s hard for the ordinary individual to imagine the lives of the primitive ancestors of Native America in the technological age of the twenty first century. Modern convenience has made our lives simplistic compared to the necessity the Indians faced daily: fresh water, food, and shelter. North Alabama was full of life in the previous centuries. Thousands of Indians inhabited the areas close to the Tennessee River, Indian Creek, Dry Creek, Briar Fork Creek, Limestone Creek, Beaver Dam Creek, the Elk, the Paint Rock and the Flint rivers. Their encampments were usually located on a high flat region within close proximity of their source of water. In more recent history, the Chickasaw and Cherokee tribes occupied, farmed, hunted and gathered in this place known to them for its extreme tranquility and beauty.

Over the course of recent history, many of the facts of American Indians in North Alabama are becoming known. Recorded history dictates the habits and patterns of the first inhabitants of North America. Artifacts have been recovered that depict the day-to-day living of the American Indians. From the researchers' discoveries, scientist have been able to determine the daily eating habits, recover tools used to scrape animal hides, axes, plummets, drills, beads, symbolic representations of life. Trade routes were evident, migratory paths the Natives followed to hunt and fish became the roads of today. Weapons were extensively used to hunt and may have provided protection from rival tribes. Spears, knives, and arrowheads dot the land. This book will depict a number of Indian sites throughout North Alabama and will assist in shedding light on the unknowns. This book will give you an illustration of the settling patterns, the weapons used for hunting, and the tools used for various activities of daily life thousands of years before De Soto arrived in America.

Approximately 1000 to 2000 Native Americans lived in this area 12,000 - 8000 B.C. From this population sprouted other culture termed in chronological sequence. The Paleo Period 11000 - 8000 BC, the Archaic Period 6000 - 2000 BC, the Woodland Period 2000BC – 1200AD, and the Mississippian Period 700BC – 1200AD. After the Mississippian Period, the Indian culture suddenly deteriorated into individual tribes with individually defined characteristics.