Whether driven by curiosity or the possibility of better prospects, the first people in the Southeast entered a world with a promising future. From mountainous interior to coastal plain, they encountered perhaps the continent’s most abundant plant and animal life.

They came from generations who may have first emerged on the continent around the massive glaciers to the north, although archeologists remain uncertain about the exact route they followed. The earliest southeasterners needed skill and resourcefulness to cross the snow-capped Appalachians to the north or the flood plains inundated with glacial meltwaters to the west. 

Today, the Southeast is critical to understanding early human occupation of America. Many artifacts have been discovered at a wide range of sites. The diversity of projectile points is so great, in fact, the Southeast was almost certainly a center of technological and social innovation. Several areas show evidence of continuous habitation.

By the time of early European contact, the area hosted a number of societies whose similarities were believed due, in part, to the environment, the geography, and shared history. How true this was in the Ice Age is uncertain, but worthy of study.