The Mississippian was the last period of prehistory, from 1000 AD to Hernando de Soto's exploration. Mississippians grew their gardens and rarely hunted for meat. They were great horticulturalists; they grew their food better than they hunted it. They used chiefdom unlike other natives. Those higher up had larger houses and less work, while the lower classes were warriors and laborers. Religion was taken very seriously. They began using more art, and their goods became valuable. Tattoos, jewelry, earrings, feathers, hairdos, and pins all became fashion. Huge mounds were built for ceremonial and burial purposes. Their settlements could house thousands of people, and often had palisades, or a large fence, and a moat, which was a large ditch that kept most unwanted people out. But then, the European settlements caused ripples. Some groups wanted to be closer to the settlements for trade, but others traveled farther from the settlement to avoid the new people. Prehistory ended for all of the four traditions (Paleo, Archaic, Woodland, Mississippian) when Hernando de Soto made a documentation of the Natives.