In Bulloch County during the late Archaic Period, ca. 3000-1000 BCE, warmer and initially wetter conditions and the rich resources of rivers, creeks, and surrounding woodlands supported larger hunter-gatherer populations and more permanent settlements along the Ogeechee River. Fish, freshwater mussels, game, nuts, fruit, and edible plants provided abundant food, and mussels were consumed in large amounts, leaving shell middens that preserved discarded items and now help archaeologists reconstruct daily life. Using large pine and cypress trees, indigenous people built dugout canoes for long-distance travel, trade, and relationships with others. The period also brought new tools and technologies, including large projectile points or knives, soapstone vessels, and clay pottery, and people along the Savannah and Ogeechee rivers created the first and oldest documented pottery in North America thousands of years before intensive farming was common in Georgia. Fish, turtles, and alligators were trapped at points along the river, and many cultural practices of later indigenous groups in the Southeast had their origins in this period.