Settlement of the Southeast falls into three intervals: an apparently sparse colonization, followed by widespread exploration and settlement, and finally the development of distinct local traditions as people settled into territories.

The few sites that appear more than 13,500 years old—such as Virginia’s Cactus Hill and Florida’s Little Salt Spring—are something of an enigma. Such sites are called “pre-Clovis,” meaning older than the fluted projectile points discovered in Clovis, New Mexico (for many years the earliest clues of human presence in the New World). The evidence at Cactus Hill, though tentative, suggests that small blades and triangular points may become signature tools of the pre-Clovis period. 

Between 11,500 to 10,800 years ago, Clovis points appear widely over the Southeast. Populations seem to have expanded rapidly, settling permanently in a number of places. These people were highly mobile, exploiting a range of plants and animals. They favored areas that were probably rich in game, plants, and other resources, particularly parts of Florida, the Atlantic coast, and along the major rivers of the Midsouth and Midwest, such as the Mississippi, Ohio, Cumberland, and Tennessee.

The environment was very different from the Southeast of today, says National Park Service archeologist David Anderson. That said, some current-day sites–such as the Thunderbird Archeological District–still give an idea of the environment during Paleoindian times. 

Where the people settled appears to have been influenced, to some extent, by outcrops of high quality chert, which they preferred for their tools. Finds at these sites are characterized by fluted Clovis and Clovis-like points, blades, and blade cores, along with worked animal bone and ivory.

Between 10,800 and 9,200 years ago, the population grew dramatically as cultures evolved to accommodate essentially modern-era climate and resources, which had developed by this time. Sites from the period are spread widely over the landscape, including rock shelters. Well-made tools continued to be produced, though increasingly made of local, lower grade materials.