Memphis, Tennessee Culture

When the ice sheets opened up in Canada sometime around the late Pleistocene, humans began flooding in, ushering in the human era of modern day United States. This paper’s main focus is on the pre-history of Memphis, Tennessee, mainly the people and the culture that they create or bring with them. Due to little being known to distinguish the area the size of a modern city from the rest of the pre-historical world, much of the focus of the very early history is on the Middle Mississippi Valley, including the very earliest Paleo-Indians and the slightly later Dalton peoples. Once people become more complex and large populations start to gather in smaller regions, it is possible to distinguish specific groups within a region. The Chucalissians

The men protected the family and wandered the land to hunt and trade with other bands. The women mothered children, prepared food, and gathered resources as necessary. The children learned their roles in the household by helping with their respective work. Any children that were too young for work were taken care of by the grandparents whose wisdom was passed down generation to generation (Morse, Dan and Phyllis, 2009). The next distinct peoples to be identified in the region were the Dalton people. Estimates put their occupation of the region from about 8500-7500BC. What sets them apart in prehistory is there stone technology with “Only Dalton points occur in context in Dalton sites, indicating a temporal distinction from other early points” (Morse, Dan and Phyllis, 2009). The main food sources for these people included deer, fish, birds, and other smaller game animals. For their time period, their society was highly advanced, with cemeteries, adzes, stone grinders, and regional

These points were used as both knife and saw, so they were able to serve many functions for the Dalton people. From field testing, the points were excellent at field-dressing deer, not only for butchering the carcass, but also for sawing the bones. Another key aspect to Dalton points is their ability to be retouched more than a few times if the point is not damaged too badly and the craftsman is adept enough (McNutt, 1996). This provides a huge advantage in that a few points can be carried long distances without worry of running out of