settlers of evesham township, new jersey

Settlements formed along banks of rivers and freshwater swamps. Recovered artifacts from this period display more specific function and increased emphasis on ritualized behaviors such as burials. The Transitional Period spans from 2500 BC to 1000 BC. Archaic Indians normally lived in small family groups or bands and were always on the move searching for food and materials for tools, clothing and shelter. Eventually, women learned to make pottery vessels adding greater options to cook and store food. They discovered that vessels carved from soapstone and talc did not crack when placed directly over a fire thus soups and gruels became part of the diet. They perfected spears, traps and nets to hunt and fish more efficiently. The people who stayed here rather than moving north again with the game are known as Archaic Hunters, Fishers and Gatherers. These Paleo-Indians were hunters and gatherers and were proficient with stone implements.ĭuring the Archaic Period, 8,000 to 1,000 BC as the climate gradually warmed and glaciers melted, cold adapted animals became extinct in the area and the tundra was replaced first by pine and spruce forests and eventually by hardwoods. Unlike today, the land was extremely cold and covered only by marshland and tundra grasses and inhabited by mastodon, musk-ox and moose. Over time future generations moved south and east eventually reaching the Atlantic coast between 10,000 – 8,000 BC. Their story, spanning 13,000 years and four archeological periods is an important part of Evesham’s history.Īpproximately 13,000 years ago, ancestors of the people known as the Lenape migrated across what was then a land bridge Siberia to Alaska.

The Native American artifacts pictured above are from one of three such collections found in Evesham Township and displayed at the John Inskeep Homestead.

Settlers of evesham township, new jersey