Paleoindians were the first people to arrive in Kentucky between 12,500 and 11,500 years ago. Very few people lived in Kentucky during the Paleoindian time period, which lasted until about 10,000 years ago. The climate at this time was moister and cooler than it is today. Paleoindians moved around frequently as they followed herds of migrating animals. They gathered wild plants and hunted many kinds of animals, including some that are now extinct, like the mammoth and the mastodon. Most artifacts from this period consist of chipped stone spearpoints and other stone tools. Other cultural remains have since deteriorated or simply did not preserve as well as the stone artifacts.