This text was obtained via automated optical character recognition.
It has not been edited and may therefore contain several errors.

---

,'V.' '~***
Hunter-gatherers characteristically lived in small social groups, or bands. These bands probably included one or two extended families, who cooperated in hunting, gathering, and other tasks. Specific families making up a band changed slightly from year to year and its size changed as well, again responding to the changing abundance of available resources. During most times of the year, different bands acted independently of one another in their hunting and gathering activities. But when there were fish runs or deer drives several bands would camp together. These larger gatherings afforded a variety of opportunities. Goods were traded, information about resources in different parts of the region was shared, religious or ritual activities took place, and decisions were made about what families would band together for the coming year.
Archeological information and early historical accounts provide us with an idea of the wide range of plants and animals used by prehistoric Indians and the seasonally changing emphases of hunting-gather-ing activities. The fall was a season of plenty. Deer hunting was the primary occupation; the deer were fattest then and the rutting season allowed the hunter greater success. Turkeys and squirrels, attracted to areas with acorn crops, were also important in the fall. A variety of nuts, including walnuts, hickory nuts, acorns, and pecans, became available in the fall and were stored through the winter. Persimmons became available in the late summer and fall as well. Wild plants we consider to be weeds — goosefoot, marshelder or sumpweed, giant ragweed, pigweed, knotweed, and sunflower—provided starchy or oily seeds that were collected by the Indians in the fall. Several of these plants were eventually domesticated by the Indians, but today we continue to use only the sunflower seed.
The products of fall hunting and collecting were important throughout the winter and well into the spring. Nuts could be stored in their shells or shelled and dried. Oils were rendered by pounding nuts on nutting stones—rocks with small depressions—and then soaking the crushed nuts in water. Shell frag-
ments sank and the oil floated to the top. The oil was then skimmed off and stored in wood or basketry. Fruits were dried in the sun. Persimmons were pounded into a pulp and then spread into loaves. Once dried, these loaves would keep several months. Venison and other meats were also preserved by cutting the meat into thin strips and hanging the strips over a fire to dry.
During the winter, plant foods consisted primarily of those that were collected during the fall. However, several roots, such as Jerusalem artichoke, greenbrier, and ground nut, were dug up and eaten. Deer and small mammals like the raccoon continued to be hunted and occasionally hibernating bears were killed.
Early spring was a lean season for hunters and gatherers. Stored food dwindled and animals were often in poor condition after the winter. Young shoots and leaves of some plants provided welcome variety to a diet composed largely of dried meat and nuts. As spring turned into summer, an increasing number of fruits and berries, along with the seeds of maygrass, began to ripen. On the floodplains of large rivers, summer was also a time for fishing. Turtles and other aquatic animals were captured as well.
Many of the Indian hunting and gathering practices noted by the early European explorers had their origins thousands of years earlier. Archeologists are still studying the many changes that have occurred in the prehistoric use of the natural environment during the 12,000 years that people have lived in Arkansas. We know that the earliest inhabitants of the state depended entirely on wild plants and animals, but by about 3,000 years ago, Indians began to plant small gardens to supplement their wild plant food diet. Later, com, along with beans and squashes, became plant food staples. However, until the arrival of the Europeans, hunting and fishing provided all the meat because the Indians had no domesticated animals other than dogs.
ARKANSAS ARCHEOLOGICAL SURVEY Coordinating Office P.O. Box 1249 Fayetteville, Arkansas 72702-1249