P Paleo Indians- the earliest ancestors of Indians, who came to the Americas from northeast Asia 12,000 or more years ago Paleolithic- earliest stage of human history pan pipes- a musical instrument consisting of a series of short pipes bound together paraphernalia- set of equipment or materials parsonage- house provided by a church for its pastor pathogens- a specific cause of disease, such as a germ pellagra- a disease caused by a diet without enough niacin and protein periodically- happening again and again at regular times perishables- foods likely to spoil or decay quickly persimmon- a sweet round fruit with orange or yellow skin plagues- a disease causing many deaths Pleistocene- geological epoch that began about 2 million years ago during which humans evolved, a time of ice ages in which glaciers advanced an retreated plummet- to drop sharply and abruptly portentous- related to foreshadowing of a coming event, a prophetic indication or significance predator- an animal that lives by preying, i.e., hunting and eating other animals predecessor- a person who has held a position or office before another person prehistory- related to prehistoric humans before the appearance of written records or histories preying- to hunt and eat animals priesthoods- groups of priests who perform religious activities productivity- the quality of producing lare results or amounts projectile- an object that can be thrown or shot proportion- the relation of one thing to another with regard to size or amount protein- an essential element found in all living cells in animals and plants province- a division of a country pulverize- to beat into small bits punctuations- marked with minute or tiny spots purifying- to make clean pyramids- a large structure that has triangle-shaped sides that meet at a point at the top