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.

Periods in North American prehistory
 
Lithic stage before 8500 BC
Archaic period 8000 BC– 1000 BC
Formative stage 1000 BC– AD 500
Woodland period 1000 BC– AD 1000
Classic stageAD 500–1200
Post-Classic stage after 1200
See also

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 5 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
This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.
Paleo Indians (Lithic stage)
(18,000 BCE - 8000 BCE)		 Clovis culture c. 13,500 BCE - 11,000 BCE
Western Fluted Point Tradition c. 11,200 BCE - 9000 BCE, California
Post Pattern c. 11,000 BCE - 7000 BCE, NW California
Folsom tradition c. 9000 BCE - 8000 BCE
Dalton Tradition c. 8500 BCE - 7900 BCE
Archaic period, (Archaic stage)
(8000 BCE - 1000 BCE)		 by Time Period Early Archaic
8000 BCE - 6000 BCE		 Plano cultures 9,000 BCE - 5,000 BCE
Paleo-Arctic Tradition 8000 BCE - 5000 BCE
Maritime Archaic
Red Paint People 3000 BCE - 1000 BCE
Middle Archaic
6000 BCE - 3000 BCE		 Chihuahua tradition c. 6000 BCE - c. 250 CE
Watson Brake and Lower Mississippi Valley sites c. 3500 BCE - 2800 BCE
Late Archaic
3000 BCE - 1000 BC		 Arctic Small Tool tradition 2500 BCE - 800 BCE
Aleutian tradition 2500 BCE - 1800 BCE
Poverty Point culture 2200 BCE - 700 BCE
by Location Great Basin Desert Archaic
Middle Archaic
Late Archaic
Great Lakes Old Copper Complex c. 4000 BCE - c. 1000 BCE
Red Ochre people c. 1000 BCE - 100 BCE
Glacial Kame Culture c. 8000 BCE - 1000 BCE
Great Plains Plains Archaic c. 9500 BCE – 5500 BCE
Mesoamerica Mexican Archaic
Southwest: Southwestern Archaic Traditions Archaic – Early Basketmaker Era c. 7000 BCE - c. 1500 BCE
San Dieguito-Pinto tradition c. 6500 BCE - c. 200 CE
Chihuahua (Southeastern) Tradition c. 6000 BCE - c. 250 CE
Oshara (Northern) Tradition c. 5500 BCE - c. 600 CE
Cochise Tradition 5000 BCE - 200 BCE
California Millingstone Horizon (or Encinitas Tradition) c. 5500 BCE - 1500 BCE
Intermediate Horizon (or Campbell Tradition) c. 1500 BCE - 1000 CE
Southeast Mount Taylor period 5000 BCE - 2000 BCE
Stallings Island (St. Simons) culture 2500 BCE - 1000 BCE
Thoms Creek culture 2500 BCE - 1000 BCE
Poverty Point culture 2200 BCE - 700 BCE
Elliott's Point complex 2000 BCE - 700 BCE
Norwood culture 2000 BCE - 500 BCE
Orange culture 2000 BCE - 500 BCE
Post-archaic period, (incorporating Formative, Classic and post-Classic stages)
(1000 BCE - present)		 in North Norton tradition Choris Stage c. 1000 BCE - 500 BCE
Norton 500 BCE - 800 CE
Ipiutak Stage 1 CE - 800 CE
Dorset culture 500 BCE - 1500 CE
Thule people 200 BCE - 1600 CE
on Great Plains Plains Woodland c. 500 BCE – 1000 CE
Plains Village c. 1000 – 1780 CE
in Southwest
and by Pecos Classification		 Early Basketmaker II Era 1500 BCE - 50 CE
Late Basketmaker II Era 50 CE - 500 CE
Basketmaker III Era 500 CE - 750 CE
Pueblo I Era 750 CE - 900 CE
Pueblo II Era 900 CE - 1150 CE
Pueblo III Era 1150 CE - 1350 CE
Pueblo IV Era 1350 CE - 1600 CE
Pueblo V Era 1600 CE - present
in Southwest
and by peoples		 Ancestral Puebloans (formerly Anasazi) 1 CE - 1300 CE
Hohokam 200 CE - 1450 CE
Fremont 400 CE - 1350 CE
Patayan 700 CE - 1550 CE
Mogollon 700 CE - 1400 CE
in East
and by peoples		 Early Woodland Period
1000 BCE - 1 CE		 Adena culture 1000 BCE - 100 BCE
Deptford culture - Atlantic region 800 BCE - 700 CE
Deptford culture - Gulf region 500 BCE - 200 CE
Middle Woodland Period
1 - 500		 Point Peninsula Complex (a Hopewellian culture) 600 BCE - 700 CE
Laurel Complex (a Hopewellian culture) 300 BCE - 1100 CE
Hopewell culture 200 BCE - 500 CE
Havana Hopewell culture (a Hopewellian culture) 200 BCE to 400 CE
Goodall Focus (a Hopewellian culture) 200 BCE to 500 CE
Saugeen Complex (a Hopewellian culture) 200 BCE to 500 CE
Kansas City Hopewell (a Hopewellian culture) 100 BCE – 700 CE
Armstrong culture (a Hopewellian culture) 1 – 500 CE
Swift Creek culture (a Hopewellian culture) 100 – 800 CE
Santa Rosa-Swift Creek culture (a Hopewellian culture) 100 – 300 CE
Marksville culture (a Hopewellian culture) 100 BCE - 400 CE
Fourche Maline culture 300 BCE to 800 CE
Copena culture (a Hopewellian culture) 1 - 500 CE
Late Woodland Period
500–1000		 Baytown culture 300–700 CE
Plum Bayou culture 400–900 CE
Troyville culture 300–700 CE
Coles Creek culture 700 – 1100 CE
Mississippian culture
900–1500
(ending with European contact)		 Early Mississippian culture 1000 - 1200 CE
Middle Mississippian culture 1200 – 1400 CE
Late Mississippian culture 1400 – 1500 CE
(or European contact)
Fort Ancient (a non-Mississippian culture) 1000 - 1550 CE
Oneota [3] 900 - 1650 CE
in Florida and adjacent parts of Alabama and Georgia, by culture Belle Glade culture 1050 BCE - European contact
Glades culture 550 BCE - European contact
Manasota culture 550 BCE - 800 CE
St. Johns culture 550 BCE - European contact
Caloosahatchee culture 500 BCE - European contact
Weeden Island culture
100–1000 CE		 Weeden Island I, including 100–750 CE
- Cades Pond culture 100–600 CE
- Kolomaki culture 350–750 CE
- McKeithen Weeden Island culture 200–750 CE
Weeden Island II, including 750–1000 CE
- Wakulla culture 750–1000 CE
Alachua culture 600 - European contact
Suwannee Valley culture 750 - European contact
Safety Harbor culture 800 - European contact
Fort Walton culture a Mississippian culture 1000 - European contact
Pensacola culture 1250 - European contact

Culture, phase, and chronological table for the Mississippi Valley
Lower Mississippi PeriodsLower Yazoo PhasesLower Yazoo
Dates		Tensas/Natchez PhasesCahokia PhasesCahokia DatesOhio/Miss. River
Confluence Phases		Ohio/Miss. Dates
Historic Russell (Tunica) 1650–1750 CE Tensas / Natchez Vacant
Quarter		 1350 CE -
European Contact		 Jackson 1500-1650 CE
Plaquemine Mississippian culture
Late Plaquemine/Mississippian
Middle Plaquemine/Mississippian
Early Plaquemine/Mississippian		 Wasp Lake 1400-1650 CE Transylvania / Emerald
Lake George 1300-1400 CE Fitzhugh / Foster Sand Prairie 1275-1350 CE Medley Phase 1300-1500 CE
Winterville 1200-1300 CE Routh / Anna Moorehead 1200-1275 CE Dorena 1100-1300 CE
Transitional Coles Creek Crippen Point 1050-1200 CE Preston / Gordon Lohmann
Sterling		 1050-1200 CE
Coles Creek culture
Late Coles Creek
Middle Coles Creek
Early Coles Creek		 Kings Crossing 950-1050 CE Balmoral Terminal Late
Woodland		 900–1050 CE James Bayou 900-1100 CE
Aden 800-950 CE Ballina
Bayland 600-800 CE Sundown Late
Woodland		 400–900 CE Cane Hills
Berkley		 600–900 CE
400–600 CE
Baytown/Troyville
Baytown 2
Baytown 1		 Deasonville 500-600 CE Marsden
Little Sunflower 400-500 CE Indian Bayou
Marksville culture
Late Marksville
Early Marksville		 Issaquena 200-400 CE Issaquena Middle
Woodland		 200 BCE - 400 CE La Plant
Burkett		 100 BCE-400 CE
550-100 BCE
Anderson
Landing		 0-200 CE Point Lake/
Grand Gulf
Tchefuncte culture Tuscola 400 BCE-0 CE Panther Lake
Jaketown Poverty Point 700- 400 BCE Frasier Early Woodland 700-200 BCE O'Bryan Ridge 700-550 BCE
- 1000-700 BCE - Late Archaic 1000 - 200 BCE

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.[4]
  2. Cahokia phases and dates taken from "Ancient Cahokia and the Mississippians", by Pauketat, Timothy R., 2004, Pp-6.[5]
  3. Ohio and Mississippi River Confluence Phases and dates taken from "Kentucky Archaeology", edited by R. Barry Lewis, 1996, Pg - 16.[6]

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. Willey and Phillips, Op. cit., p. 167
  4. 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.
  5. Pauketat, Timothy R. (2004). Ancient Cahokia and the Mississippians. Cambridge University Press. p. 6. ISBN 0-521-52066-5.
  6. Lewis, R. Barry (1996). Kentucky Archaeology. University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 0-8131-1907-3.

Bibliography
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