to A.D. 1200) of the Post-Archaic Period, people lived in villages, developed a rich ritual and artistic life, began building earthworks and mounds, some of which were used for burial.

The population of Woodland people expanded dramatically and groups lived in larger villages with defensive walls or ditches built for protection.

During the late prehistoric period (A.D. 900 to 1650), villages were larger, often built on high ground, near a river, and often surrounded by a wooden stockade.

During the time of the migration and until about 7,500 years ago, the Great Lakes extended south as far as Allen County, Ohio.

The Glaciated Allegheny Plateau southeast of Cleveland included steep Appalachian Mountains foothills that thousands of years ago had a dense Beech-Maple forest.

By the time that Europeans made contact with Native Americans, the Erie Plain had wide river estuaries, coastal marshes, small prairies, and a mixed oak forest.

The Central Till Plain had areas of native beech-oak-hickory woodland and "rolling terrain of glacial soils".

The native people of Ohio descended from those who crossed the Bering Strait land bridge from Asia to North America.

[5] They ranged across the land for food and lived in shelters made of wooden pole covered with hides or tree bark.

Their diet consisted of small and large game animals that they hunted, fish, berries and nuts.

[7] Clovis artifacts dated to 13,000 years ago were found at the Paleo Crossing site in Medina County provides evidence of Paleo-Indians in northern Ohio and may be the area's oldest residents and archaeologist Dr. David Brose believes that they may be "some of the oldest certain examples of human activity in the New World.

"[7] Small bands of hunters used the four acre site as a place to meet up with one another and exchange information, perform ceremonial rituals, and plan hunts for big game.

There were also two post holes and tools that were made from flint from the Ohio River Valley in Indiana, 500 miles from Paleo Crossing, which indicates that the hunter-gatherers had a widespread social network and traveled across distances relatively quickly.

[7] The 22-acre Nobles Pond site in Stark County was a larger meeting place for bands of hunters, with a large collection of tools made from Ohio flint.

[10] Later in the Archaic period, people developed trade routes which introduced new goods and ideas and bands became more culturally diverse.

[10] Mortars and pestles were used to grind food, like acorns, hickory nuts, walnuts, seeds, tubers, and rootes.

[10] A day in the life of an Archaic family member could include building a fire, fishing, grinding nuts for storage, and carving out a dugout canoe.

[13] They embraced artistic and ritual endeavors, creating works with materials obtained due to larger trade networks.

[15] Except for the Hopewell, people of the Early and Middle Woodland periods did not have a dramatic change in their lifestyles, but they all had a richer cultural, architectural, and artistic life.

[15] Small villages or substantial campsites were established in northeast Ohio the Middle Woodland period, about 2,000 years ago.

The traces of fabric left in the pottery shows that people were creating textiles, and likely mats, cordage, and woven baskets.

[14] There were also people in northern Ohio who lived similarly to the Adena culture, but their earthworks were oval enclosures called forts and walls along bluffs.

They are known for their architectural and artistic endeavors, as well as having a "complex ceremonial life unrivaled in North America at the time."

They created a wide range of artistic artifacts, including figurines, decorated pottery, effigy pipes, copper plates, mica cut-outs, and bone adornments.

[15] During the late prehistoric period (A.D. 900 to 1650), villages were larger, often built on high ground, and often surrounded by a wooden stockade.

[21] The Whittlesey culture has been studied most extensively due to number of sites, such as Fairport Harbor, Reeves, South Park, and Tuttle Hill.

The Whittlesey sites were selected with defense in mind, set on hilltops and with stockades, ditches, or earthen walls to surround the village.

Stone tools were made in shapes particular to their culture, like triangular arrow points and pentagonal flint knives.

[22] The Early Contact period (1600–1750) began when Ohio tribes met Europeans, but they had begun to acquire European trade items in as much as a hundred years before they met through trade with other Native American groups, perhaps from the Appalachian Mountains or the southern shore of the Great Lakes.

The Native American groups later in Ohio included the Huron, Wyandot, Miami, Delaware, Ottawa, Shawnee, Mingo, and Erie people.