ANT 351 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Signify, Shell Jewelry, Cochise Tradition
The Archaic
-A period beginning with the end of the Paleoindian period and ending with the adoption
of agriculture
- Earliest dates for the Archaic are about 8,500 B.C., and the Archaic extends into the first
few centuries A.D. in some places
-1950s – archaeologist Jesse Jennings applied the term “Desert Culture” to Archaic
cultures of the western United States
-Hunters and gatherers culture
-forced to adapt to the major climatic and environmental changes that came at the end
of the Pleistocene
- practiced a generalized subsistence strategy
oPursued all types of wild game and gathered a variety of plant foods
- sometimes lived in rock shelters
-But spent more times in temporary camps
-Cultural change during the Archaic was for the most part very gradual
- Late Archaic stage - earliest farmers in the southern deserts
-Basketmaker II stage - earliest farmers on the Colorado Plateau
-the “Early Agricultural Period”
oa new idea from Southwestern archaeologists incorporating the Basketmaker II
period and the Late Archaic
- the Archaic refers to the post-Paleoindian lifeway that involves hunting and gathering
Environmental context for the archaic
- the Archaic begins with the Holocene
- the Holocene in the Southwest is generally warmer and drier
othe boundaries of vegetation communities moved up in elevation by an average
of about 1,000 feet
-there were also massive animal extinctions at the end of the Pleistocene
oVirtually all of the Pleistocene megafauna died off
-Altithermal – One of the most dramatic episodes of climatic change during the Holocene
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oa period of much warmer and drier condition
o dates from about 5,500 B.C. to 2,900-2,000 B.C.
onot a single, prolonged period of warm, dry conditions, but it featured
fluctuations that were expressed differently in different areas
-between 2,900 and 2,000 B.C., the Altithermal was replaced with a new climatic regime,
one which was generally wetter with warmer, wetter winters
oreached a peak of increased moisture in some areas about 1,500 B.C
-from about 2,000 to 1,000 B.C., climatic conditions were similar to today.
-From 1,000 B.C. to about 1200 A.D., climate seems to have been comparatively cool and
wet.
Spatial divisions of the archaic
-Sub-regional Traditions – the Southwest is divided into several spatial divisions that
might signify broad territories within which people interacted, shared information, and
chose marrying partners
o the west, the San Dieguito-Pinto Tradition, marked by use of projectile points
known as Gypsum and Pinto styles
o the north, the Oshara Tradition, marked by use of Jay, Bajada, and San Jose style
points
o the south, the Cochise Tradition, with Chiricahua, Cortaro, San Pedro,
and Cienega style points
othe southeast, the Chihuahua Tradition, with a variety of point styles that
resemble those from the Oshara and San Dieguito-Pinto traditions
The Archaic Chronological Sequence
- Traditionally, the Archaic is divided into:
oEarly Archaic (8,500 B.C. to 4,000 B.C.)
oMiddle Archaic (4,000 to 2,000 B.C.)
oLate Archaic (2,000 B.C. to as late as A.D. 500 in some areas)
-Cochise Tradition, which has been split into three “phases” that more or less correspond
to the early, middle, and late sequences
oSulphur Spring
oChiricahua
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Document Summary
A period beginning with the end of the paleoindian period and ending with the adoption of agriculture. Earliest dates for the archaic are about 8,500 b. c. , and the archaic extends into the first few centuries a. d. in some places. 1950s archaeologist jesse jennings applied the term desert culture to archaic cultures of the western united states. Cultural change during the archaic was for the most part very gradual. Late archaic stage - earliest farmers in the southern deserts. From 1,000 b. c. to about 1200 a. d. , climate seems to have been comparatively cool and wet. Traditionally, the archaic is divided into: early archaic (8,500 b. c. to 4,000 b. c. , middle archaic (4,000 to 2,000 b. c. , late archaic (2,000 b. c. to as late as a. d. 500 in some areas) Cochise tradition, which has been split into three phases that more or less correspond to the early, middle, and late sequences: sulphur spring, chiricahua, san pedro.
