The Giant Mammal Hunters

As the climate of the Ice Age began to warm, the melting glaciers supported tall, lush grasses that were the food of the giant mammals. The earliest Native American hunters

were nomads who trailed behind the giant animals. As the hunters tracked the animals, they also gathered fruits, nuts, and roots for food

. Some of the earliest Native Americans lived in caves. Others lived in tents

made from animal skins.

The earliest hunters made their tools

and weapons

from sticks, animal horns, and bones. Hunters first used sharp sticks for spears. Then they learned how to sharpen stones into spear points

. In time the atlatl

or spear thrower was invented.

New ways of sharpening stones and trapping animals were also discovered.

About 11,600 years ago, Clovis spear points were invented. Hunters used bone or stone to knock off flakes from flint or stone to shape a spear point. Clovis points were razor sharp and made the best weapons of the time. Clovis points were first discovered in the town of Clovis, New Mexico. Artifacts of the Clovis people have been found from Alaska south to the Andes Mountains in South America.

The wooly mammoth was a huge animal. The kill of one woolly mammoth feed the hunters for two months. No part of the woolly mammoth was wasted. The meat was dried and saved. The hide was used for clothing and shelters. The bones were used for tools and weapons, and to make shelter frames .

As the ice age climate became warmer, the lakes and rivers began to dry up. The tall, lush grasses that were the food of the wooly mammoths began to disappear. By 10,000 years ago, most mammals in the Americas that weighed 100 pounds or more had become extinct. Some of these extinct mammals were mammoths , camels, horses, and saber-toothed tigers .

atlatl - The First Americans invented the atlatl, or spear thrower. It was a wooden handle with a hooked tip. It worked like a missile launcher. The
hunter whipped the atlatl forward, launching the spear

. Atlatls were an
improvement. Hunters no longer had to creep up close to stab or choke the dangerous animals they hunted.

extinct - 100 species of animals became extinct between 6,000 and 10,000 years ago. Mammoths became extinct because they were too big. They could not adjust to the changing climate and the changing food supply.

giant animals - Ice age animals were huge. Mammoths were larger than today's elephants. They had tusks that grew as long as 16 feet. Scientists think they may have used their tusks like snowplows to dig for grass in ice and snow. Beavers were as large as today's bears. Birds were much larger than birds of today. Teratorns were birdlike vultures. They had a wing span of 15 feet. Lions were also huge. Moose had antlers that measured eight feet across.

hunters - Food was plentiful in North America. Prehistoric people gathered grasses, nuts, and berries while they followed the large mammals to hunt.
They followed the large mammoths , mastodons , camels, giant sloths , and the stag moose. They could also hunt the antelope, musk ox , bighorn sheep, deer, moose , fox, otter, beaver, saber-toothed tigers , and bison . The First Americans were very good hunters. They learned how to make animals stampede into deep ditches or watery bogs. Then the animals could be easily speared. Fire allowed prehistoric people to follow the large animals to the colder regions in the north. In Alaska, hunters could also hunt seals, bison with huge curved horns, and birds called ptarmigans .

spear points - Spear points were made of a hard stone called flint. Hunters chipped at the flint until it was sharp and deadly.

tents - Prehistoric people lived in huts and caves. They built their huts using the large bones of the giant mammals for frames . They covered the bone frames with branches and earth.

tools - Prehistoric people made most of their tools out of stone. That is why prehistoric times are also called the "Stone Age." Stones were used to
make spearheads and axes . Stones were hollowed out to make a kind of pot to cook food. Tools were also made from bone. Prehistoric people made a kind of flute from a hollowed out piece of bone.

Credits

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