Archaic Southwest

The Archaic Southwest is a term used to describe the culture of the southwestern United States between 6500 BC and 200 AD (approximately).

The Paleo-Indian tradition before that dates from 10,500 BC to 7500 BC. The Southwestern United States during the Archaic time frame can be identified or defined culturally in two separate ways:

Agriculture, pottery styles and public architecture - People of the southwest had a variety of subsistence strategies, all using their own specific techniques. Crops included beans, maize, and squash.
The absence of Formal Social Stratification, large cities, writing, and major architecture.

Archaic cultural traditions include:

Archaic–Early Basketmaker Era (7000 BC - 1500 BC)
Sand-Dieguito-Pinto (6500 BC - 200 AD)
Oshara (5500 BC - 600 AD)
The Cochise (before 5000 BC - 200 BC)
Chihuahua (6000 BC - 250 AD)
Oasisamerica cultures (3500 BC - 1300 AD).

Many contemporary cultural traditions exist within the southwest, but there are four major ones.

Yuman-speaking Peoples: They inhabit the Colorado River valley, the uplands, and Baja California.
O'odham peoples: They inhabit Southern Arizona, and northern Sonora.
Pueblo Indians: They inhabit areas in Arizona and New Mexico.
Apache and the Navajo peoples: Their ancestral roots trace back to Athabaskan-speaking peoples in Canada. They probably entered the southwest during the 16th century.

References

Fagan, Brian M., "Ancient North America". London: Thames and Hudson, Ltd., 2005

Pre-Columbian North America

Archaeological cultures	North American pre-Columbian chronology – Adena – Alachua – Ancient Pueblo (Anasazi) – Baytown – Belle Glade – Buttermilk Creek Complex – Caborn-Welborn – Calf Creek – Caloosahatchee – Clovis – Coles Creek – Deptford – Folsom – Fort Ancient – Fort Walton – Fremont – Glades – Glacial Kame – Hopewell (List of Hopewell sites) – Hohokam – Leon-Jefferson – Mississippian (List of Mississippian sites) – Mogollon – Monongahela – Old Cordilleran – Oneota – Paleo-Arctic – Paleo-Indians – Patayan – Plano – Plaquemine – Poverty Point – Prehistoric Southwest – Red Ocher – Santa Rosa-Swift Creek – St. Johns – Steed-Kisker – Tchefuncte – Tocobaga – Troyville

Archaeological sites	Angel Mounds – Bandelier National Monument – The Bluff Point Stoneworks – Cahokia – Chaco Canyon – Casa Grande – Coso Rock Art District – Eaker – Effigy Mounds National Monument – Etowah Indian Mounds – Eva – Folsom Site – Fort Ancient – Fort Center – Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument – Holly Bluff Site – Hopewell Culture National Historical Park – Kincaid Mounds – Kolomoki – Manitou Cliff Dwellings – Marksville – Meadowcroft Rockshelter – Mesa Verde – Moorehead Circle – Moundville – Mummy Cave – Nodena Site – Ocmulgee National Monument – Old Stone Fort – Parkin Park – Pinson Mounds – Portsmouth Earthworks – Poverty Point – Pueblo Bonito – Rock Eagle – Rock Hawk – Salmon Ruins – Serpent Mound – Spiro Mounds – SunWatch – Taos Pueblo – Toltec Mounds – Town Creek Indian Mound – Winterville

Miscellaneous	Ballgame – Black drink – Buhl woman – Calumet – Chunkey – Clovis point – Container Revolution – Eastern Agricultural Complex – Eden point – Effigy mound – Falcon dancer – Folsom point – Green Corn Ceremony – Horned Serpent – Kennewick man – Kiva – Metallurgy – Mi'kmaq hieroglyphic writing – Medicine wheel – Mound builders – N.A.G.P.R.A. – Norse colonization of the Americas – Piasa – Pueblo dwellings – Southeastern Ceremonial Complex – Three Sisters agriculture – Thunderbird – Underwater panther

Related: Genetic history · Indigenous Portal of North America · Pre-Columbian era

Archaic Southwest

See also

References