Many groups of prehistoric Indians chose the Big Eddy site as a place to camp over thousands of years. The adjacent, slow-moving Sac River provided foods such as fish, mussels, water fowl, and edible plants, while the surrounding forests and prairies contained other useful plants and animals such as deer and turkey. Archaeologists divide prehistoric time into a series of periods based on general changes in how Indians lived, such as the invention of pottery or the use of agriculture. Within each period, there are numerous subperiods, cultures, and phases based on common features such as tool types or pottery decoration. At Big Eddy, every major period is represented in the river terrace, with the more recent material near the top and the oldest artifacts 11 to 13 feet deep.
Paleoindian peoples are the first well-documented inhabitants of the Americas.
However, the first migrants to the New World perhaps entered North America from Asia at least by 15,000 years ago during the last Ice Age. For several millennia, they may have left behind only limited, scattered traces of their existence. During the Paleoindian period, there is more evidence of small nomadic bands having spread throughout most of the Americas. Though Carbon-14 dates for these cultures are rare, archaeologists believe Clovis existed from about 13,500 to 12,700 years ago and Dalton from about 12,700 to 12,000 years ago. Big Eddy is of fundamental importance to understanding the early occupation of eastern and midcontinental North America.