Kentucky Early History

First Early Inhabitants

Early history examines the archaeological record that tells the story of the first inhabitants of Kentucky. Learn about the history and culture of the first inhabitants, and what lessons it might teach us about the early history of Kentucky.

• 13,000 BC to 1,650 AD - Modern archaeologists classify Kentucky's prehistoric past into six cultures which spanned from 13,000 BC to 1,650 AD. These cultures were the Paleo-Indian culture; the Archaic culture; the Woodland culture; the Adena culture; the Mississippian culture and the Fort Ancient culture.
• 1,650 AD to 1750 - From the end of the Fort Ancient culture in about 1650 until the arrival of the first white settlers, Shawnee tribes from north of the Ohio river and the Cherokee and Chickasaw tribes from south of the Cumberland river fought for control of the "Great Meadow." During this time, no Indian nation held possession of the land that would eventually become Kentucky.

Kentucky's first human inhabitants were descendants of prehistoric peoples who migrated from Asia over an artic land bridge to North America as long as 30,000 years ago. Even the earliest prehistoric Indians made stone and wooden hunting tools. Archaic people grew squash, and Woodland people expanded by growing corn and beans. The development of pottery in the Woodland Period led to new cooking methods that survived until the arrival of metal cookware.

When Hernando de Soto entered Kentucky on May 10th, 1541, he described one Indian Tribe in Western Kentucky between the Cumberland and Ohio Rivers, calling them by slightly different names, ranging from Quizquiz (influenced by a place name of renown from DeSoto's Conquest of Peru) to Quizqui to Chisca, all sounding about the same in their language. The French would call them Casqui and the English Kashinampo. That tribe shared a unique language with the Casqui of Southern Indiana, the Alabamu of Central Tennessee and the Coste of Eastern Tennessee. They lived next to each other when DeSoto visited each of them, but that entire Indian language group would be scattered well before being described by later Europeans.

Until the arrival of the first white settlers, Shawnee tribes from north of the Ohio river and the Cherokee and Chickasaw tribes from south of the Cumberland river fought for control of the "Great Meadow." During this time, no one Indian nation held possession of the land that would eventually become Kentucky.