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 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[]

Paleo Indians (Lithic stage) (18,000 BCE - 8000 BCE)		Clovis culture		c. 13,500 BCE - 11,000 BCE
				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	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
		6000 BCE - 3000 BCE	Chihuahua tradition	c. 6000 BCE - c. 250 CE
		6000 BCE - 3000 BCE	Watson Brake and Lower Mississippi Valley sites	c. 3500 BCE - 2800 BCE
		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


		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		c. 9500 BCE – 5500 BCE
		Mesoamerica
		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
		California	(or )	c. 1500 BCE - 1000 CE
		Southeast	Mount Taylor period	5000 BCE - 2000 BCE
			Stallings Island (St. Simons) culture	2500 BCE - 1000 BCE
				2500 BCE - 1000 BCE
			Poverty Point culture	2200 BCE - 700 BCE
				2000 BCE - 700 BCE
			Norwood culture	2000 BCE - 500 BCE
			Orange culture	2000 BCE - 500 BCE
, (incorporating Formative, Classic and post-Classic stages) (1000 BCE - present)	in North	Norton tradition		c. 1000 BCE - 500 BCE
			Norton	500 BCE - 800 CE
				1 CE - 800 CE
		Dorset culture		500 BCE - 1500 CE
		Thule people		200 BCE - 1600 CE
	on Great Plains			c. 500 BCE – 1000 CE
	on Great Plains	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
				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
			-	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 Periods	Lower Yazoo Phases	Lower Yazoo Dates	Tensas/Natchez Phases	Cahokia Phases	Cahokia Dates	Ohio/Miss. River Confluence Phases	Ohio/Miss. Dates
Historic	Russell (Tunica)	1650–1750 CE	Tensas / Natchez	Vacant Quarter	1350 CE - European Contact		1500-1650 CE
Plaquemine Mississippian culture Late Plaquemine/Mississippian Middle Plaquemine/Mississippian Early Plaquemine/Mississippian		1400-1650 CE	Transylvania / Emerald	Vacant Quarter	1350 CE - European Contact		1500-1650 CE
	Lake George	1300-1400 CE	Fitzhugh / Foster		1275-1350 CE		1300-1500 CE
	Winterville	1200-1300 CE	Routh / Anna		1200-1275 CE		1100-1300 CE
Transitional Coles Creek	Crippen Point	1050-1200 CE	/		1050-1200 CE		1100-1300 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		900-1100 CE
	Aden	800-950 CE		Terminal Late Woodland	900–1050 CE		900-1100 CE
		600-800 CE	Sundown	Late Woodland	400–900 CE		600–900 CE 400–600 CE
Baytown/Troyville Baytown 2 Baytown 1		500-600 CE	Marsden
Baytown/Troyville Baytown 2 Baytown 1		400-500 CE
Marksville culture Late Marksville Early Marksville		200-400 CE	Issaquena	Middle Woodland	200 BCE - 400 CE	La Plant Burkett	100 BCE-400 CE 550-100 BCE
Marksville culture Late Marksville Early Marksville	Anderson Landing	0-200 CE	/
Tchefuncte culture		400 BCE-0 CE
	Poverty Point	700- 400 BCE		Early Woodland	700-200 BCE	O'Bryan Ridge	700-550 BCE
-	Poverty Point	1000-700 BCE	-	Late Archaic	1000 - 200 BCE	O'Bryan Ridge	700-550 BCE

Notes[]

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

References[]

^ Gordon R. Willey and Philip Phillips (1957). Method and Theory in American Archaeology. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-89888-9.
^ Gibbon, Guy E; Ames, Kenneth M (1998). Archaeology of prehistoric native America: an encyclopedia. Routledge. pp. 638–639. ISBN 0-8153-0725-X.
^ Willey and Phillips, Op. cit., p. 167
^ (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.
^ Pauketat, Timothy R. (2004). Ancient Cahokia and the Mississippians. Cambridge University Press. p. 6. ISBN 0-521-52066-5.
^ Lewis, R. Barry (1996). Kentucky Archaeology. University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 0-8131-1907-3.

Bibliography[]

Milanich, Jerald T. (1995). Florida Indians and the Invasion from Europe. Gainesville, Florida. ISBN 978-0-8130-1360-2.
Milanich, Jerald T. (1990). "State of Florida Office of Cultural and Historical Programs. Florida Historical Contexts" (PDF). Florida Historical Contexts. Retrieved 2006-03-28.
Milanich, Jerald T. & Claudine Payne (ed.) (September 27, 1993). "State of Florida Office of Cultural and Historical Programs. Historic Contexts (in full)" (DOC). Florida Historical Contexts. Retrieved 2006-03-27.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
Milanich, Jerald T. (1998) Florida's Indians from Ancient Times to the Present. University Press of Florida. ISBN 0-8130-1599-5
Milanich, Jerald T. (1994) Archaeology of Precolumbian Florida. University Press of Florida. ISBN 0-8130-1273-2
"National Park Service Southeast Archaeological Center - The Woodland Period (ca. 2000 B.C.- A.D. 1000)". Outline of Prehistory and History. Retrieved 2006-04-03.
Philip Phillips (1970). Archaeological Survey In The Lower Yazoo Basin, Mississippi, 1949-1955(Part One). Published by the Peabody Museum, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 77-80028.

[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] (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.

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v t Pre-Columbian North America
Periods Lithic Archaic Formative Classic Post-Classic
Archaeological cultures	Adena Alachua Ancient Beringian Ancestral Pueblo (Anasazi) Baytown Belle Glade Buttermilk Creek Complex Caborn-Welborn Calf Creek Caloosahatchee Clovis Coles Creek Comondú Deptford Folsom Fort Ancient Fort Walton Fremont Glacial Kame Glades Hohokam Hopewell List of Hopewell sites La Jolla Las Palmas Leon-Jefferson Maritime Archaic Mississippian List of Mississippian sites Mogollon Monongahela Old Cordilleran Oneota Paleo-Arctic Paleo-Indians Patayan Plano Plaquemine Poverty Point Red Ocher Safety Harbor Culture Santa Rosa-Swift Creek St. Johns Steed-Kisker Tchefuncte Troyville Weeden Island
Archaeological sites	Angel Mounds Anzick Clovis burial Bandelier National Monument Bastian Benson Blue Spring Shelter The Bluff Point Stoneworks Brewster Cahokia Candelaria Cave Casa Grande Chaco Canyon Coso Rock Art District Crystal River Archaeological State Park Cuarenta Casas Cueva de la Olla Eaker El Fin del Mundo El Vallecito Effigy Mounds National Monument Etowah Indian Mounds Eva Folsom Site Fort Ancient Fort Center Fort Juelson Four Mounds Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument Glenwood Grimes Point Holly Bluff Site Hopewell Culture National Historical Park Horr's Island Huápoca Key Marco Kimball Village Kincaid Mounds Kolomoki Mounds Lake Jackson Mounds L'Anse aux Meadows Lynch Quarry Site Marksville Marmes Rockshelter Meadowcroft Rockshelter Mesa Verde Moaning Cavern Moorehead Circle Morrison Mounds Moundville Mummy Cave Nodena Site Ocmulgee National Monument Old Stone Fort Orwell Site Paquime Parkin Park Pinson Mounds Portsmouth Earthworks Poverty Point Pueblo Bonito Recapture Canyon Roberts Island complex Rock Eagle Rock Hawk Rosenstock Village Site Russell Cave National Monument Salmon Ruins Serpent Mound Sierra de San Francisco Spiro Mounds SunWatch Taos Pueblo Toltec Mounds Town Creek Indian Mound Turkey River Mounds Upward Sun River site Velda Mound West Oak Forest Earthlodge Windover Winterville Wupatki National Monument
Human remains	Anzick-1 Arlington Springs Man Buhl Woman Kennewick Man La Brea Woman Leanderthal Lady Melbourne Man Minnesota Woman Peñon woman Spirit Cave mummy Vero man
Miscellaneous	Aridoamerica Black drink Ceremonial pipe Chanunpa Chunkey Clovis point Container Revolution Eastern Agricultural Complex Eden point Effigy mound Falcon dancer Folsom point Green Corn Ceremony Horned Serpent Kiva Medicine wheel Metallurgy Mi'kmaq hieroglyphic writing Mound Builders N.A.G.P.R.A. Norse colonization of North America Oasisamerica Piasa Projectile point Southeastern Ceremonial Complex Stickball Three Sisters agriculture Thunderbird Underwater panther Water glyphs
Related Genetic history Pre-Columbian era

v t Hopewellian peoples
Woodland period List of Hopewell sites Mound Builders List of archaeological periods (North America)
Ohio Hopewell	Beam Farm Benham Mound Cary Village Site Cedar-Bank Works Dunns Pond Mound Ellis Mounds Ety Habitation Site Fort Ancient Fortified Hill Works Great Hopewell Road Hopeton Earthworks Hopewell Culture National Historical Park Indian Mound Cemetery Keiter Mound Marietta Earthworks Moorehead Circle Newark Earthworks Oak Mounds Orators Perin Village Site Pollock Works Portsmouth Earthworks Rocky Fork Enclosures Shawnee Lookout Shriver Circle Earthworks Stubbs Earthworks Tremper Mound and Works Williamson Mound Archeological District
Crab Orchard culture	Carrier Mills Archaeological District Cleiman Mound Hubele Site Mann Site Wilson Site Yankeetown Site
Goodall Focus	Norton Mound Group
Havana Hopewell culture	Albany Mounds State Historic Site Dickson Mounds Duncan Farm Golden Eagle-Toppmeyer Site Kamp Mound Site Mound House site Naples Archeological District Naples Mound 8 Ogden-Fettie Site Rockwell Mound Sinnissippi Mounds Toolesboro Mound Group
Kansas City Hopewell	Cloverdale archaeological site Renner Village Archeological Site Trowbridge Archeological Site
Marksville culture	Crooks Mound Grand Gulf Mound Marksville Prehistoric Indian Site Mott Archaeological Preserve
Miller culture	Bynum Mound and Village Site Ingomar Mound Pharr Mounds Pinson Mounds
Point Peninsula Complex	Lewiston Mound Serpent Mounds Park
Swift Creek culture Santa Rosa-Swift Creek culture	Crystal River Archaeological State Park Etowah Indian Mounds Leake Mounds Kolomoki Mounds Pierce Site Third Gulf Breeze Yent Mound
Other Hopewellian peoples	Armstrong culture Copena culture Fourche Maline culture Laurel Complex Saugeen Complex Old Stone Fort (Tennessee)
Exotic trade items	Copper Galena Mica Fresh water pearls Obsidian Pipestone Sea shells
Related topics Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley Black drink burial mound Ceremonial pipe Effigy mound Hopewell pottery Horned Serpent Eastern Agricultural Complex Underwater panther

v t Late Woodland cultures
Mound Builders List of archaeological periods (North America)
Sites	Baum Site Beattie Park Mound Group Book Site (12 MA 61) Brinsfield I Site Brokaw Site Clampitt Site (12-LR-329) Fisher Site Hoye Site Little Maquoketa River Mounds State Preserve Man Mound Memorial Park Site Nottingham Site Ormond Mound St. Croix River Access Site Sommerheim Park University of Tennessee Agriculture Farm Mound
Cultures	Alachua culture Manahoac Monongahela culture Oliver Phase Suwannee Valley culture Weeden Island culture
Related topics Steuben point Belle Glade culture Extreme weather events of 535–536 Fort Ancient culture Mississippian culture Oneota St. Johns culture

v t Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast
Kwakwaka'wakw	Kwagu'ł Mamalilikala 'Namgis 'Nak'waxda'xw Gwa'sala Gwat'sinux Laich-kwil-tach
Coast Salish	K'omoks Klahoose Sliammon Snuneymuxw Shishalh Squamish Tsleil-Waututh Musqueam Sto:lo Tsawwassen Snuneymuxw Lekwungen (Songhees) WSANEC Noxws'a7aq Klallam Sqaĵət Skokomish (Twana) Dkhw'Duw'Absh Sqwaliʔabš Sʔəhiwʔabš Squaxin Cowlitz Quinault
Nuu-chah-nulth	Ahousaht Ditidaht Hesquiaht Hupacasath Huu-ay-aht Ka;’yu;k’t’h’/Che;k’tles7et’h’ Tla-o-qui-aht Tseshaht Makah
Other nations	Tlingit Nisga'a Gitxsan Haida Tsimshian Haisla Heiltsuk Wuikinuxv Nuxálk Cathlamet Chinook Quileute Chimakum Clatsop Multnomah Klickitat Tillamook
History	British Columbia Treaty Process Gustafsen Lake Standoff Residential Schools Potlatch Ban Indian Act Puget Sound Indian War Battle of Seattle (1856)
Culture	Potlatch Totem pole Northwest Coast art
Politics	Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs Assembly of First Nations First Nations Summit Allied Tribes of British Columbia Native Brotherhood of British Columbia
Language groups	Wakashan languages Coast Salish languages Tsimshianic languages Chimakuan languages Haida language