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List of archaeological periods (North America)

North American archaeological periods divides the history of pre-Columbian North America into a number of named successive eras or periods, from the earliest-known human habitation through to the early Colonial period which followed the European colonization of the Americas.

Stage classification

One of the most enduring classifications of archaeological periods and cultures was established in Gordon Willey and Philip Phillips' 1958 book, Method and Theory in American Archaeology. They divided the archaeological record in the Americas into five phases, only three of which applied to North America.[1] The use of these divisions has diminished in most of North America due to the development of local classifications with more elaborate breakdowns of times.[2]

1. The Paleo-Indians stage and/or Lithic stage
2. The Archaic stage
3. Formative stage or Post-archaic stage – at this point, the North American classifications system differs from the rest of the Americas.

For more details on the five major stages, still used in Mesoamerican archaeology, see Mesoamerican chronology and Archaeology of the Americas.

Table of archaeological periods North America

Culture, phase, and chronological table for the Mississippi Valley

See also

Notes

  1. Lower Mississippi, Lower Yazoo, and Tensas/Natchez table taken from "Emerging Patterns of Plum Bayou Culture:Preliminary Investigations of the Toltec Mounds Research Project", by Martha Ann Rolingson, 1982, Pg-66.[6]
  2. Cahokia phases and dates taken from "Ancient Cahokia and the Mississippians", by Pauketat, Timothy R., 2004, Pp-6.[7]
  3. Ohio and Mississippi River Confluence Phases and dates taken from "Kentucky Archaeology", edited by R. Barry Lewis, 1996, Pg - 16.[8]

References

  1. ^ Gordon R. Willey and Philip Phillips (1957). Method and Theory in American Archaeology. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-89888-9.
  2. ^ Gibbon, Guy E; Ames, Kenneth M (1998). Archaeology of prehistoric native America: an encyclopedia. Routledge. pp. 638–639. ISBN 0-8153-0725-X.
  3. ^ "Clovis First". Texas Beyond History. University of Texas. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
  4. ^ Schwartz, Joel. "They're Innocent: Scientists Exonerate Clovis People in 11,000-year-old-mystery". UW News. University of Washington. Retrieved 27 March 2023.
  5. ^ Willey and Phillips, Op. cit., p. 167
  6. ^ Rolingson, Martha Ann (1982). Emerging Patterns of Plum Bayou Culture:Preliminary Investigations of the Toltec Mounds Research Project. Arkansas Archaeological Survey. p. 66. ISBN 1-56349-042-0.
  7. ^ Pauketat, Timothy R. (2004). Ancient Cahokia and the Mississippians. Cambridge University Press. p. 6. ISBN 0-521-52066-5.
  8. ^ Lewis, R. Barry (1996). Kentucky Archaeology. University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 0-8131-1907-3.

Bibliography