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Chapter 4
North America. Today, we call the first
peoples to live hereNative Americans.
It is hard to describe how the Native
American tribes of our state lived. Theyhad
nowritten language, so theyhadnowritten
records. However, they did leave some
pictures and other forms of evidence.
People who study the past by digging up
evidence, such as tools and pottery from
locations of past cultures, are called
archeologists
. Through many years of
studying old remains, archeologists have
put together a puzzle of what life was like
for these tribes.
The Native Americans were in the
Stone
Age
before the European settlers arrived.
Most of their tools and weapons were made
from stone. Stoneswere attached tohatchets.
Flint, another type of stone, was used on
spears and arrows. They hadno alphabet, no
wheels, and no guns.
Locating the First
Peoples of Pennsylvania
B
efore European settlers arrived from
Europe, there were two main groups
of Native Americans living in
Pennsylvania. These tribes were grouped
according to the language they spoke. One
large group of tribes was called the
Algonquins
. Theother largegroupof tribes
was called the
Iroquois
. Both of these
groups living in the Northeast region were
made upofmany tribeswith specificnames.
The Native American tribes of Pennsyl-
vania had the same kinds of needs that all
humans have. Theyneeded air, water, food,
clothing, and shelter. To meet their basic
needs, they used their environment wisely.
From the forests came springs of fresh
water, animals that gave them food and
skins for clothing, and young trees for their
B
NORTHAMERICA
ASIA
ARCTICOCEAN
BERING STRAIT
Many historians believe
Native Americans
crossed a land bridge
from Asia intoNorth
Americamore than
12,000 years ago.
