People lived in Louisiana thousands of years before the first Europeans
sailed to the New World. Because of archaeology, the history of even
these early Indians is now being described and understood. All people
leave traces of their activities wherever they cook, build houses, hold
religious ceremonies, make tools, or dump their trash. If these traces
are undisturbed, archaeologists can use them to determine who left them,
when they were left, and what activities were associated with them.
These are a few of the things archaeologists have learned about
Louisiana:
[Illustration: Although many people refer to all stone points as
arrowheads, Indians actually made projectile points for over 10,000
years before they ever used one on an arrow. The point pictured here
would have been used on a spear and could have killed a prehistoric
elephant, called a mastodon.]
[Illustration: In northeastern Louisiana by 1000 B.C., Indians had
built rows of earthen ridges three-quarters of a mile across. As far
as we know, they are the earliest earthworks of their size in North
America. Some archaeologists think they were constructed as an
astronomical observatory because two gaps in the ridges line up with
the winter and summer solstice sunsets.]
[Illustration: Contrary to present day practice, prehistoric
Louisianians preferred marsh clams over crawfish and crabs. They ate
so many clams that large piles of shells can still be found in the
marshes. Over time, the shells have become compressed, and now some
piles are almost rock hard.]
[Illustration: Indians in Louisiana made beautiful and elaborate
pottery without ever using a potter’s wheel. This delicate water
bottle was made in northwestern Louisiana about A.D. 1400.]
[Illustration: European missionaries and explorers who traveled in
Louisiana in the 1600s and 1700s depended on experienced Indian
traders to supply them with food, animal skins, salt, and horses. In
exchange, Europeans gave the Indians beads, crucifixes, guns, metal
pots, knives, and bells like these.]