During the early part of the period some hunters still used atlatls, but soon bows and arrows predominated. The Indians hunted deer, bear, rabbit, squirrel, raccoon, turkey and duck; fished for gar and drum; and collected mussels. Although the Plaquemine Indians tended gardens of corn, squash, pumpkins and beans, they still collected many wild seeds, roots, nuts and fruits. At approximately the same time as Caddo and Plaquemine Indians were living in Louisiana, Mississippian Culture people in the St. Louis area had developed the largest prehistoric center in the United States. This was a ceremonial, residential, and trading center with a population of 35,000-40,000 people. The Mississippian Culture spread throughout the southeastern United States, and was characterized by huge earthen temple mounds, widespread trading networks, and a ceremonial complex represented by elaborately shaped pottery and stone, bone, shell and copper objects. [Illustration: Plaquemine: a. Clay Pipe; b, Stone Gaming Piece; c, Stone Celt; d-g, Stone Points; h-j, Clay Ornaments (½ actual size)] [Illustration: Mississippian: a, Vessel Rim Sherd; b, Effigy Vessel (⅓ actual size)] As far as we know, no major Mississippian centers developed in Louisiana, although ones were established in Georgia at Etowah and in Alabama at Moundville. There is evidence that sometime between A.D. 1000 and A.D. 1600 small groups of people from the eastern Mississippian centers made their way to Louisiana. They came to the Avery Island area to collect and refine salt, and to other parts of the state to search for other materials. Perhaps through repeated contacts, a few groups of Louisiana Indians learned classic Mississippian techniques of making pottery and other ceremonial objects. Some Indians in the southeastern and northeastern parts of Louisiana may even have established close ties with their eastern neighbors and added Mississippian customs to the Plaquemine Culture. Louisiana groups that may have descended from those Mississippian groups are those who speak the Tunican, Chitimachan, and Muskogean languages. Those who probably descended from Plaquemine Culture Indians are the Taensa and Natchez. EUROPEAN TRAVELERS DESCRIBE INDIANS Early European descriptions of the Natchez and Taensa Indians help us understand their life, and give an idea of the way many of the late prehistoric Indians throughout Louisiana lived. European travelers reported that some Indians lived near the ceremonial centers that had mounds surrounding a central plaza. The two most important buildings, the temple and the chief’s house, were at the center.