In the sequence of North American pre-Columbian cultural stages first proposed by Gordon Willey and Philip Phillips in 1958, the Archaic period was the second period of human occupation in the Americas, from around 8000 BC to 1000 BC although as its ending is defined by the adoption of sedentary farming, this date can vary significantly across the Americas. World map showing North America A satellite composite image of North America. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Gordon Willey (b. ... Philip Phillips was one of the most influential archaeologists of the United States during the 20th century. ... Year 1958 (MCMLVIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... (9th millennium BC – 8th millennium BC – 7th millennium BC – other millennia) Events The south area of Çatalhöyük. ... (Redirected from 1000 BC) Centuries: 12th century BC - 11th century BC - 10th century BC Decades: 1050s BC 1040s BC 1030s BC 1020s BC 1010s BC - 1000s BC - 990s BC 980s BC 970s BC 960s BC 950s BC Events and Trends 1006 BC - David becomes king of the ancient Israelites (traditional...

It followed the Lithic stage and was superseded by the Formative stage. In the sequence of North American prehistoric cultural stages first proposed by Gordon Willey and Philip Phillips in 1958, the Lithic stage was the earliest period of human occupation in the Americas, covering the earliest, Pleistocene period. ... The Formative Stage is an archaeological term describing a particular developmental level. ...

The Archaic stage is characterised by subsistence economies supported through the exploitation of nuts, seeds and shellfish. Numerous local variations have been identified; in the Great Basin and western interior the period has been subdivided into Desert Archaic, Middle Archaic and Late Archaic whilst in south-western North America only a single Southwestern Archaic is recognised. The following is a list of subsistence techniques: Hunting and Gathering, also known as Foraging freeganism involves gathering of discarded food in the context of an urban environment gleaning involves the gathering of food that traditional farmers have left behind in their fields Cultivation Horticulture - plant cultivation, based on the... Hazelnuts from the Common Hazel Chestnut A nut can be either a seed or a fruit. ... A ripe red jalapeño cut open to show the seeds For other uses, see Seed (disambiguation). ... Cooked mussels Shellfish is a term used to describe shelled molluscs and crustaceans used as food. ... Drainage map showing the Great Basin in orange Various Definitions of the Great Basin (NPS) The Great Basin is a large, arid region of the western United States. ...

History of investigations

William A. Ritchie (1932) first used the term "Archaic" in American archeological literature to describe the cultural material, primarily chipped stone tools, from the Lamoka Lake Site in New York. During the Works Progress Administration (WPA) excavations of the 1930s and 1940s, southeastern sites that were recognized as producing lithic materials similar to Lamoka Lake were also classified as Archaic. Today, archeologists use the term to describe a temporal and cultural period, differentiated from the earlier Paleoindian period and more recent periods on the basis of stylistic differences in stone point types, the appearance of other artifacts, and changes in economic orientation. Year 1932 (MCMXXXII) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link will take you to a full 1932 calendar). ... Lamoka Lake is a small crescent-shaped lake in the western part of New York, USA. The lake is located at the border of Steuben County and Schuyler County. ... WPA Graphic The Works Progress Administration (later Work Projects Administration, abbreviated WPA), was created on May 6, 1935 by Presidential order (Congress funded it annually but did not set it up). ... The 1930s (years from 1930–1939) were described as an abrupt shift to more radical and conservative lifestyles, as countries were struggling to find a solution to the Great Depression, also known in Europe as the World Depression. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

Before 1960, the major goal of Archaic period research was to develop a relative chronology. Information derived from excavations at deeply stratified quarry, habitation, and cave sites in the Southeast – such as Russell Cave in Alabama, Indian Knoll in Kentucky, and the Hardaway and Doerschuk sites in North Carolina – was used to develop the following chronology for the Archaic period. 1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1960 calendar). ... The Russell Cave National Monument is a U.S. National Monument, consisting of a small limestone cave in north-eastern Alabama, United States, close to the town of Bridgeport. ... Official language(s) English Capital Montgomery Largest city Birmingham Area  Ranked 30th  - Total 52,419 sq mi (135,765 km²)  - Width 190 miles (306 km)  - Length 330 miles (531 km)  - % water 3. ... Official language(s) English[1] Capital Frankfort Largest city Louisville Area  Ranked 37th  - Total 40,444 sq mi (104,749 km²)  - Width 140 miles (225 km)  - Length 379 miles (610 km)  - % water 1. ... Official language(s) English Capital Raleigh Largest city Charlotte Area  Ranked 28th  - Total 53,865 sq mi (139,509 km²)  - Width 150 miles (240 km)  - Length 560[1] miles (901 km)  - % water 9. ...

Early Archaic (8000 BC to 6000 BC)

The Early Archaic period was defined on the basis of chipped stone projectile point technology and styles. This time period is associated with the final glacial retreat on the North American continent and an environment similar to that found in the Southeast today. (9th millennium BC – 8th millennium BC – 7th millennium BC – other millennia) Events The south area of Çatalhöyük. ... (7th millennium BC – 6th millennium BC – 5th millennium BC – other millennia) Events c. ... World map showing North America A satellite composite image of North America. ...

Excavations at stratified Early Archaic sites near permanent water sources or along rivers have produced corner, basal, and some side-notched points, such as Palmer, Kirk, and LeCroy, which are found throughout the south-eastern United States. Other points, such as St. Albans, Kessell, Big Sandy, and Kanawah, have a limited southeastern geographical distribution. It is this introduction of new point types that differentiates the Early Archaic period from the preceding Late Paleoindian subperiod. Palmer refers to: Palmer, A pilgrim who carried a palm leaf to signify the making of a pilgrimage to the Holy Land // Alexander Mitchell Palmer, (1872–1936), American politician, Attorney General of the US 1919–1921 Amanda Palmer (contemporary), American singer and pianist Arnold Palmer (1929–), American champion golfer Austin... Kirk can mean church in general or the Church of Scotland in particular. ... The Kanawha River in St. ... There are seven communities in the United States named Big Sandy Big Sandy in Chouteau County, Montana Big Sandy in Thayer County, Nebraska Big Sandy in Benton County, Tennessee Big Sandy in Washington County, Tennessee Big Sandy in Upshur County, Texas Big Sandy in McDowell County, West Virginia Big Sandy...

Like the Late Paleoindian subperiod, it was presumed that the Early Archaic culture consisted of small mobile bands exploiting defined territories, but the increase in the number of sites and the recovery of nonlocal cherts tend to support an increase in population resulting in larger numbers of bands that traded resources with each other. The proliferation in point types appeared to also represent the ongoing regional specialization first apparent in the Late Paleoindian subperiod. Paleo-Indians is an English term used to refer to the ancient peoples of America who were present at the end of the last Ice Age. ...

Middle Archaic period (6000 BC to 3000 BC)

The Middle Archaic period in the Southeast is marked by a further intensification of regionalization of prehistoric cultures. A variety of new chipped stone points (for example, Stanly, Morrow Mountain, Levy, Eva, Benton, Cypress Creek, Arrendondo, White Springs, Sykes, and Newnan) and a series of ground stone tools and implements first appear in this period. These tools are used mainly for plant food processing. (7th millennium BC – 6th millennium BC – 5th millennium BC – other millennia) Events c. ... (31st century BC - 30th century BC - 29th century BC - other centuries) (4th millennium BC - 3rd millennium BC - 2nd millennium BC) Events 2925 - 2776 BC - First Dynasty wars in Egypt 2900 BC - Beginning of the Early Dynastic Period I in Mesopotamia. ... This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Look up Levy in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Eva may refer to: // People Eva Amurri (b. ... Benton is the name of a number of places: United Kingdom Benton, Devon, England United States of America Thomas Hart Benton (senator) Benton, Alabama Benton, Arkansas Benton, Illinois Benton, Iowa Benton, Louisiana Benton, Kansas Benton, Kentucky Benton, Louisiana Benton, Maine Benton, Missouri Benton, New Hampshire Benton, New York Benton, Pennsylvania... White Springs is a town located in Hamilton County, Florida, on the Suwannee River. ... Sykes was a long-running BBC television sitcom of the 1960s and 1970s, starring Eric Sykes and Hattie Jacques. ... Newnan is a city located in Coweta County, Georgia. ...

The Middle Archaic appears to involve a very generalized resource exploitation strategy, which included the hunting of a variety of animals and the gathering of wild plants, such as nuts, fruits, berries, and seeds. This period demonstrated the first occurrence of shellfish collecting within river valleys and along the seacoast. At these base camps are found storage pits, remains of house floors, and prepared burials, all indications of increased sedentism at certain sites. Recent radiocarbon samples in Louisiana have provided considerable evidence of a mound-building tradition in Louisiana at least by 3000 BC. There was also a moderate increase in the amount of trade in nonlocal chert materials supposedly due to a continued growth in prehistoric population. Trade networks that focused on specialized resources developed when people began to live in sedentary base camps. Cooked mussels Shellfish is a term used to describe shelled molluscs and crustaceans used as food. ... Carbon-14 is the radioactive isotope of carbon discovered February 27, 1940, by Martin Kamen and Sam Ruben. ... Official language(s) de jure: none de facto: English & French Capital Baton Rouge Largest city New Orleans [1] Area  Ranked 31st  - Total 51,885 sq mi (134,382 km²)  - Width 130 miles (210 km)  - Length 379 miles (610 km)  - % water 16  - Latitude 29°N to 33°N  - Longitude 89°W... Chert Chert (IPA: ) is a fine-grained silica-rich cryptocrystalline sedimentary rock that may contain small fossils. ...

Late Archaic period (3000 BC to 1000 BC)

The Late Archaic period consisted of regional specialization using a generalized subsistence technology to efficiently exploit locally available plant and animal resources. For example, freshwater mussels from the Green River in Kentucky provided the basis for an expanded dietary inventory that included seed crops and native and tropical cultigens, suggesting that this culture was experimenting with horticulture. Late Archaic cultures along the South Atlantic coast developed sedentary settlements based on the utilization of the saltwater oyster beds. The Late Archaic Poverty Point culture in the lower Mississippi River Valley developed large permanent towns with satellite communities. These were linked in a program of trade in exotic nonlocal lithic raw materials as well as in the production and trade of finished goods made from these materials throughout much of the eastern United States. The treatment of burials at the Green River sites, some containing exotic trade materials, may reflect the beginnings of a hierarchy of individuals whose sole responsibility was the establishment and maintenance of these trade networks. (31st century BC - 30th century BC - 29th century BC - other centuries) (4th millennium BC - 3rd millennium BC - 2nd millennium BC) Events 2925 - 2776 BC - First Dynasty wars in Egypt 2900 BC - Beginning of the Early Dynastic Period I in Mesopotamia. ... (Redirected from 1000 BC) Centuries: 12th century BC - 11th century BC - 10th century BC Decades: 1050s BC 1040s BC 1030s BC 1020s BC 1010s BC - 1000s BC - 990s BC 980s BC 970s BC 960s BC 950s BC Events and Trends 1006 BC - David becomes king of the ancient Israelites (traditional... Green River may refer to: // Rivers Canada Green River in New Brunswick. ... Official language(s) English[1] Capital Frankfort Largest city Louisville Area  Ranked 37th  - Total 40,444 sq mi (104,749 km²)  - Width 140 miles (225 km)  - Length 379 miles (610 km)  - % water 1. ... Cultigen is the name for organisms, especially cultivated plants like the edible banana, not known to have a wild or uncultivated counterpart in nature. ... For other uses, see Atlantic (disambiguation) The Atlantic Ocean is Earths second-largest ocean, covering approximately one-fifth of its surface. ... Crassostrea gigas, Marennes-Oléron Crassostrea gigas, Marennes-Oléron Crassostrea gigas, Marennes-Oléron, opened The name oyster is used for a number of different groups of mollusks which grow for the most part in marine or brackish water. ... The Mississippi embayment is a physiographic feature in the south-central United States. ...

At the end of the Late Archaic, fiber-tempered plain and decorated ceramics appeared along the South Atlantic coast during a change known as the container revolution. This ceramic technology spread westward to the coastal plain of Alabama and Mississippi, to the Poverty Point culture area, southward into Florida, and eventually over most of the southeastern United States. The appearance of this new technology has traditionally been viewed as the transitional period between the Archaic hunting and gathering societies and the emergence of settled Woodland period villages and communities, where existence depended on a combination of horticulture and hunting and gathering. Finally, the Archaic saw the beginning of a southeastern mound-building tradition that would be further elaborated on in the succeeding Woodland and Mississippian periods. The Container Revolution is the introduction of pottery into the Eastern Woodlands of North America during the Archaic period. ... Official language(s) English Capital Montgomery Largest city Birmingham Area  Ranked 30th  - Total 52,419 sq mi (135,765 km²)  - Width 190 miles (306 km)  - Length 330 miles (531 km)  - % water 3. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Official language(s) English Capital Tallahassee Largest city Jacksonville Largest metro area Miami Area  Ranked 22nd  - Total 65,795[1] sq mi (170,304[1] km²)  - Width 361 miles (582 km)  - Length 447 miles (721 km)  - % water 17. ... The Mississippian culture was a mound-building Native American culture that flourished in the Midwestern, Eastern, and Southeastern United States from approximately 900 to 1500 CE, varying regionally. ...

Variations over different parts of America

Southern North America

In Mesoamerica, the Mexican Archaic lasted from c. 9500 BC to 2500 BC and it was here that nomadic groups of hunter-gatherers first began to domesticate maize, squash and bottle gourds as the earliest of three (or possibly four) regions to independently develop farming in the Americas. This began as a managed exploitation of wild plants but by the end of the period had become full agrarian food production. Around 2000BC, this technology spread into southern North America where the knowledge of maize farming was able to be adopted as a much quicker transition than the slower original development further south. An alternate theory is that some Mesoamerican farmers colonised northwards themselves, bringing their farms with them. The cultural areas of Mesoamerica Mesoamerica or Meso-America (Spanish: Mesoamérica) was a geographical culture area extending from central Honduras and northwestern Costa Rica on the south, and, in Mexico, from the Soto la Marina River in Tamaulipas and the Rio Fuerte in Sinaloa on the north. ... In anthropology, the hunter-gatherer way of life is that led by certain societies of the Neolithic Era based on the exploitation of wild plants and animals. ... “Corn” redirects here. ... Species - hubbard squash, buttercup squash - cushaw squash C. moschata- butternut squash C. pepo- most pumpkins, acorn squash, summer squash References: ITIS 223652002-11-06 Hortus Third Squashes are four species of the genus Cucurbita, also called pumpkins and marrows depending on variety or the nationality of the speaker. ... The calabash (Lagenaria siceraria) is a vine-based plant that produces a fruit that resembles either a bottle, utencil, or pipe. ...

The site of Las Capas in southern Arizona has revealed irrigation canals dug in the Late Archaic indicating sophisticated methods of water control were being adopted. Terraced fields were also a feature of farming in Mexico's Northern Chihuahua province. Dating to around 1200BC. Hunting and gathering were still an important element in the lives of the inhabitants but they lived in identifiable permanent villages of pit houses associated with storage features and roasting pits. Official language(s) English Capital Phoenix Largest city Phoenix Area  Ranked 6th  - Total 113,998 sq mi (295,254 km²)  - Width 310 miles (500 km)  - Length 400 miles (645 km)  - % water 0. ... Irrigation is the artificial application of water to the soil. ... Terraced vineyards near Lausanne The Incan terraces at Písac are still used today. ... A dugout or dug-out is a shelter dug out of the ground. ...

Eastern North America

In eastern North America, the landscape of pine forest, swamps and lakes in the Archaic provided a diet of hickory nuts, freshwater mussels and gourds to supplement hunting. The use of gourds as fishnet floats may have impelled their planting and cultivation. Simple cultivation may have begun as early as 6000BC independently of advances further south. The first earthworks appear as well as shell middens. Florida's wetlands have preserved vast quantities of organic material from the period such as the human burials at Windover archaeological site, the sinkhole at Little Salt Spring whilst the Archaic camp at the Koster Site in Illinois indicates a kind of seasonal sedentism focusing on cultivated food sources along with river fish and game, hunted with the assistance of some of the earliest domesticated dogs. Other significant sites include Eva and Icehouse Bottom in Tennessee. Species See text Comparison of Carya nuts Ripe hickory nuts ready to fall, Andrews, SC Hickory is a tree of the genus Carya, including 17-19 species of deciduous trees with pinnately compound leaves and large nuts. ... Subclasses Pteriomorpha (marine mussels) Palaeoheterodonta (freshwater mussels) Heterodonta (zebra mussels) The term mussel is used for several families of bivalve molluscs inhabiting lakes, rivers, and creeks, as well as intertidal areas along coastlines worldwide. ... This does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... A midden, also known as kitchen middens, is a dump for domestic waste. ... Official language(s) English Capital Tallahassee Largest city Jacksonville Largest metro area Miami Area  Ranked 22nd  - Total 65,795[1] sq mi (170,304[1] km²)  - Width 361 miles (582 km)  - Length 447 miles (721 km)  - % water 17. ... The Windover archaeological site is an Early Archaic (6000 to 5000 BC) archaeological site found in Titusville, Florida, USA. Windover was a burial area where at least 160 individuals were found underwater. ... Center for American Archeology, or CAA, is an is an independent non-profit 501(c)3 research and education institution nestled along the banks of the Illinois River in scenic Calhoun County in Kampsville, Illinois dedicated to the culture of prehistoric Native Americans. ... Official language(s) English[1] Capital Springfield Largest city Chicago Largest metro area Chicago Area  Ranked 25th  - Total 57,918 sq mi (149,998 km²)  - Width 210 miles (340 km)  - Length 390 miles (629 km)  - % water 4. ... Trinomial name Canis lupus familiaris The dog (Canis lupus familiaris) is a domestic subspecies of the wolf, a mammal of the Canidae family of the order Carnivora. ... Official language(s) English Capital Nashville Largest city Memphis Largest metro area Nashville Area  Ranked 36th  - Total 42,169 sq mi (109,247 km²)  - Width 120 miles (195 km)  - Length 440 miles (710 km)  - % water 2. ...

Seeds stood in for maize as the main cultivated food source during the Middle and Late Archaic in eastern North America. Selective breeding of sunflower, sumpweed and chenopod plants created larger seeds which would have rendered the specimens unable to reproduce without human assistance. Binomial name Helianthus annuus L. The sunflower (Helianthus annuus) is an annual plant native to the Americas in the family Asteraceae, with a large flowering head (inflorescence). ... Sumpweed, known scientifically as Iva annua var. ... species See text Chenopodium is a genus of about 150 species of flowering plants, known generically as the Goosefoots. ...

Western North America

In Western North America, agriculture did not gain a foothold and peoples of the Great Plains and the Pacific North West continued to develop hunting and gathering techniques. Beneficial plant species were managed where they could provide medicine, plant fibre or building material but crop domestication did not take place. Although this meant that most of the peoples in this region remained as nomads, sedentary populations reliant on fishing and managed plant exploitation did emerge in California and the continent's north west coast. The Great Plains covers much of the central United States, portions of Canada and Mexico. ...

Elsewhere, people were reliant on hunting. On the Great Plains, sites such as the later Head-Smashed-In in Alberta attest to the practice of driving bison over a cliff to kill them. The climate was colder and wetter at the time and killed bison could be preserved in the winter snows and dug out and thawed as needed. Summer species hunted included porcupine, deer and rabbit. Later in the Middle Archaic period the climate warmed and Bison numbers fell, leading humans to find new methods to survive. In the Rocky Mountains, people developed large nets to trap mountain goats and sheep and at Mustang Springs a well was dug to maintain a water supply. In the Later Archaic the weather cooled again and bison numbers recovered. Some groups built bison pounds in which to keep live animals until they were needed for slaughter. Teepees and medicine wheels appeared for the first time. Motto: Fortis et liber(Latin) Strong and free Capital Edmonton Largest city Calgary Official languages English (see below) Government - Lieutenant-Governor Norman Kwong - Premier Ed Stelmach (PC) Federal representation in Canadian Parliament - House seats 28 - Senate seats 6 Confederation September 1, 1905 (split from Northwest Territories) (8th [province]) Area Ranked... Categories: Stub | Buildings and structures | Survival skills ... A medicine wheel at Big Horn Medicine wheels are stone structures built by the natives of North America for various spiritual and ritual purposes. ...

Cultures of the North American Archaic

There existed numerous cultures including: In archaeology, culture refers to either of two separate but allied concepts: An archaeological culture is a pattern of similar artefacts and features found within a specific area over a limited period of time. ...

• The Paleo-arctic tradition
• The Campbell tradition
• The Chincharro culture
• The Cochise culture

The Paleo-Arctic Tradition is the name given by archaeologists to the cultural tradition of the earliest well-documented human occupants of the North American Arctic, which date from the period 8000–5000 BC. The tradition covers Alaska and expands far into the east, west, and the Southwest Yukon Territory. ... The Cochise Tradition (also Cochise Culture) refers to the southern archeological tradition of the four Southwestern Archaic Traditions. ...

External links

• LostWorlds.org | An Interactive Museum of the American Indian

References

• Archaic Period, Southeast Archaeological Center. Retrieved on November 28, 2004.