by Marvin E. Tong, Jr.

FOR MORE than 15,000 years the land today known as Christian County was in possession of the American Indian. Forced to vacate his homeland shortly after the turn of the nineteenth century, the Indian left behind as his heritage only isolated graves in the valleys and on the bluff tops and a few stone artifacts and fragments of pottery in today's cornfields.

In discussing the American Indian, one of the first questions asked is where did the Indian come from? From all available evidence, it is the firm belief of archaeologists that the American Indian did not originate in the New World, but rather came from Asia by way of Bering Strait. This was some 15,000 to 20,000 years ago during or shortly after the last Ice Age. Coming in small family groups, these early Indians followed water courses and the herds of game down through the Great Plains and eventually to what is now the Ozarks. Still maintaining their family groups, these Paleo-Indians apparently scattered throughout the hill country in search of game and wild food plants. Although no evidence of their skeletons have been found in Christian County, proof of their residence in the area is in the stone tools and weapons they left behind. Because of the unique shape in which they chipped their projectile points and knives, archaeologists are able to trice their ancient village sites with a fair degree of accuracy. A few village sites have been located on the Finley and James Rivers in Christian County.

One of the earliest types of projectile points associated with Paleo-Indians is the Clovis fluted point, first found with

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