Summary

The evolution of foodways began with small populations of Paleoindian hunters and gatherers exploiting an ice age landscape. Although the quantity of foods was relatively low, human population was also low and they did not need to develop special tools or organize a labor force to support themselves. The Archaic Period represents a plentiful time and human populations quickly grew by efficiently using all available resources. People developed many new tools to maximize their collection of food from their environment. As human populations increased, they began to exhaust the foods of the temperate forest and were forced to cultivate plants. Native American social organization began to change. Humans became more sedentary and eventually focused on farming to support increasing populations. Social structure changed to a tribal organization in order to better organize the labor force necessary for swidden agriculture.