Archaic period in the Americas
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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.
It followed the Lithic stage and was superseded by the Formative stage.
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.
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- Archaic Period, Southeast Archaeological Center. Retrieved on 2004-11-28.
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