Copper knife, spearpoints, awls, and spud, from the Late Archaic period, Wisconsin, 3000–1000 BC
In the classification of thearchaeological cultures of North America, theArchaic period inNorth America, taken to last from around 8000 to 1000BC[1] in the sequence ofNorth Americanpre-Columbian cultural stages, is a period defined by thearchaic stage of cultural development. The Archaic stage is characterized bysubsistence economies supported through the exploitation ofnuts,seeds, andshellfish.[2] As its ending is defined by the adoption of sedentaryfarming, this date can vary significantly across the Americas.
The term "Archaic Period" is also as a timespan label elsewhere in the Americas, with different timespans than the North American Archaic.[2]
This classification system was first proposed byGordon Willey andPhilip Phillips in the widely accepted 1958 bookMethod and Theory in American Archaeology.
In the organization of the system, the Archaic period followed theLithic stage and is superseded by theFormative stage.[3]
Numerous local variations have been identified within the cultural rankings. The period has been subdivided by region and then time. For instance, theArchaic Southwest tradition is subdivided into theSan Dieguito–Pinto,Oshara,Cochise andChihuahua cultures.[4]
Since the 1990s, secure dating of multiple Middle Archaic sites in northern Louisiana, Mississippi and Florida has challenged traditional models of development. In these areas, hunter-gatherer societies in theLower Mississippi Valley organized to build monumental earthwork mound complexes as early as 3500 BC (confirmed atWatson Brake), with building continuing over a period of 500 years. Early mound sites such as Frenchman's Bend and Hedgepeth were of this time period; all were constructed by localized societies. Watson Brake is now considered to be the oldest mound complex in the Americas.[5] It precedes that built atPoverty Point by nearly 2,000 years (both are in northern Louisiana). More than 100 sites have been identified as associated with the regionalPoverty Point culture of the Late Archaic period, and it was part of a regional trading network across the Southeast.
Across theSoutheastern Woodlands, starting around 4000 BC, people exploited wetland resources, creating largeshell middens. Middens developed where the people lived along rivers, but there is limited evidence of Archaic peoples along the coastlines prior to 3000 BC. Archaic sites on the coast may have been inundated by rising sea levels (one site in 15 to 20 feet of water offSt. Lucie County, Florida, has been dated to 2800 BC). Starting around 3000 BC, evidence of large-scale exploitation ofoysters appears. During the period 3000 BC to 1000 BC,shell rings, large shell middens that more or less surround open centers, were developed along the coast. These shell rings are numerous in South Carolina and Georgia but are also found scattered around the Florida Peninsula and along the Gulf of Mexico coast as far west as thePearl River. In some places, such asHorr's Island inSouthwest Florida, resources were rich enough to support sizable mound-building communities year-round. Four shell or sandmounds on Horr's Island have been dated to between 2900 and 2300 BC.[6][7]
8000 BC: The lastglacial period ends, causingsea levels to rise and flood theBeringia land bridge, closing the primary migration route from Siberia.
8000 BC: Sufficient rain falls on the American Southwest to support many large mammal species – mammoth,mastodon, and abison species – that soon go extinct.
8000 BC: Hunters in the American Southwest use theatlatl.
7560–7370 BC:Kennewick Man dies along the shore of theColumbia River in Washington State, leaving one of the most complete early Native American skeletons.[8]
7000 BC: Northeastern peoples depend increasingly ondeer,nuts, and wildgrains as the climate warms.
7000 BC: Native Americans inLahontan Basin, Nevadamummify their dead to give them honor and respect, evidencing deep concern about their treatment and condition.
3000 BC: Cultivation of thesunflower andmarsh elder begins in the American South; northeastern natives cultivateamaranth and marsh elder. After harvesting these plants, the people grind their seeds into flour.
3000 BC: TheCochise tradition of the American Southwest begin cultivating a primitive form ofmaize imported from Mesoamerica;common beans andsquash follow later.
3000 BC: Native Americans of the Pacific Northwest begin to exploitshellfish resources.
3000 BC: Fishing in the Northwestern Plateau increases.
The Shield Archaic was a distinct regional tradition which existed during theclimatic optimum, starting around 6,500 years ago. During this warm period, forests advanced northward and temperatures were warmer than they were in the late 20th century. It is associated with the northern frontier and transition area betweenboreal forest and tundra in what is now northernSaskatchewan and theNorthwest Territories, nearLake Athabasca. However, the Late Shield Archaic phase (3,500–4,450BP) has sites as far asManitoba,[9] and archaeologists have investigated suspected Shield Archaic sites as far away asKillarney Provincial Park nearGeorgian Bay inOntario.[15]
The prominent Canadian archaeologist J. V. Wright argued in 1976 that the Shield Archaic had emerged from theNorthern Plano tradition, but this was questioned by Bryan C. Gordon in a 1996 publication.[16] Shield Archaic tools differed in design between "forest" and "tundra" sites.[17] Pushplanes have been found, which would have been used forplaning wood, bone, or antler.[18] Shield Archaic people huntedcaribou, with a focus on water crossings as hunting places.[19]
^Anderson, David G.; Sassaman, Kenneth E. (2012).Recent Developments in Southeastern Archaeology: From Colonization to Complexity. Washington, DC: Society for American Archaeology Press.
^abWilley, Gordon R. (1989). "Gordon Willey". InGlyn Edmund Daniel;Christopher Chippindale (eds.).The Pastmasters: Eleven Modern Pioneers of Archaeology: V. Gordon Childe, Stuart Piggott, Charles Phillips, Christopher Hawkes, Seton Lloyd, Robert J. Braidwood, Gordon R. Willey, C.J. Becker, Sigfried J. De Laet, J. Desmond Clark, D.J. Mulvaney. New York:Thames & Hudson.ISBN0-500-05051-1.OCLC19750309.
^"A Mound Complex in Louisiana at 5400–5000 Years Before the Present" Joe W. Saunders*, Rolfe D. Mandel, Roger T. Saucier, E. Thurman Allen, C. T. Hallmark, Jay K. Johnson, Edwin H. Jackson, Charles M. Allen, Gary L. Stringer, Douglas S. Frink, James K. Feathers, Stephen Williams, Kristen J. Gremillion, Malcolm F. Vidrine, Reca Jones,Science, 19 September 1997: Vol. 277 no. 5333, pp. 1796–1799,doi:10.1126/science.277.5333.1796
^Saunders, Joe W. et al. "Watson Brake, a Middle Archaic Mound Complex in Northeast Louisiana"American Antiquity . Vol. 70, No. 4: 631–668. 2005
^Clark, John E.; Gosser, Dennis (1995). Barnett, William K.; Hoopes, John W. (eds.).Reinventing Mesoamerica's First Pottery. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian. p. 211.ISBN1-56098-516-X.{{cite book}}:|work= ignored (help)
^Sara A. Herr, "The Latest Research on the Earliest Farmers",Archaeology Southwest 23, n. 1 (Winter 2009): 1
^Department of the Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas. (October 2003)."Poverty Point (2000–1000 B.C.)"Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History Essays, The Metropolitan Museum of Art (retrieved 19 June 2011)
Claassen, Cheryl (2010).Feasting with Shellfish in the Southern Ohio Valley: Archaic Sacred Sites and Rituals. Knoxville: U of Tennessee P.ISBN978-1-5723-3733-6.
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