History of Kentucky

The prehistory and history of Kentucky spans thousands of years, and has been influenced by the state's diverse geography and central location. It was the 15th US state, admitted to the Union on June 1, 1792.

While it is assumed that humans were probably living in Kentucky prior to 10,000BC, "archaeological evidence of their occupation has yet to be documented".

Stone tools, particularly projectile points (arrowheads) and scrapers, are the primary evidence of the earliest human activity in the Americas. Paleoindian bands probably moved their camps many times a year. Their camps were typically small ones, consisting of 20–50 people. Band organization was egalitarian, so there were no formal leaders and no social ranking or classes. Scientific evidence links indigenous Americans to Asian peoples, specifically eastern Siberian populations. Indigenous peoples of the Americas have been linked to Siberian populations by linguistic factors, the distribution of blood types, and in genetic composition as reflected by molecular data, such as DNA.

At the end of the last Ice Age, between 8000–7000 BCE Kentucky's climate stabilized, leading to a rise in population and technology advances, resulting in more sedentary lifestyle. This warming trend killed the big game megafauna, such as the mammoth, mastodon, giant beavers, tapirs, short faced bear, giant ground sloths, saber-toothed tiger, horse, bison, musk ox, stag-moose, and peccary, all of which were native to Kentucky during the Ice Age, became extinct or moved north as the glacial ice retreated.

No skeletal remains of Paleoindians have been discovered in Kentucky, and while many Paleoindian clovis have been discovered, there's scant evidence that the Paleoindians at Big Bone Lick State Park in Kentucky hunted Mastodons.

...
Wikipedia