Archaic
10,000 to 2,500 years ago
The climate warmed, though it was still cooler and wetter than today. Oak and hickory trees replaced spruce and pine. Native people lived in small bands, moving frequently, they hunted deer and fish and harvested nuts, wild rice, and fruit. They developed hunting tools and mined copper from Lake Superior. They may have even had pet dogs.
During the nearly 7000 year long Archaic period people were still mobile hunter-gatherers, hunting a wide range of big to small game, fishing and collecting an increasing diversity of plant foods. They were making new and various stemmed or notched projectile points and using the atlatl with bannerstones for their spears. Other new technologies were grooved axes and most significantly, tools made of copper.
