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ARCHAIC
A. North America
1. Southwest
a) Cochise culture
1) late Cochise has been suggested to have maize at Bat Cave in
western New Mexico by 2000 BC (4000 BP)
a> one author (Berry) has suggested that cultigens cannot be
demonstrated to be earlier than 500 BC (2500 BP)
b) in Southwest, sedentary, horticultural way of life does not
appear until between AD 150-700 (1800 BP)
2. Southeast
a) some cultivation by Late Archaic (4000-1000 BC) (6000-3000
BP)
1) sunflower, marsh elder, amaranths, and chenopodia
3. Northeast
a) mound building and ceramics ca. 1000 BC
B. Archaic
1. Name given to post-Paleoindian occupation in North America
a) refers to people who were neither big-game hunters or
sedentary horticulturalists
b) subsistence often required precise scheduling of activities,
commonly within a seasonal round of movement
c) populations were typically small
2. Desert Culture
a) typical of dry caves of Great Basin and Southwest
b) now known from Oregon through Texas and as far south as the
Guatemalan border
c) sparse population
d) subsistence pattern based on seasonal exploitation of
rabbits, wild plant seeds, and sometimes insects
e) food prepared with simple ground stone tools
f) basketry, matting, and sandals
g) darts tipped with percussion-chipped points
C. Tehuacan
1. Geography
a) Valley in state of Puebla, Mexico
b) chosen as promising area in which to look for origins of
domesticated maize
1) maize appeared too late at sites to north and south
2) problem of preservation in many areas
c) seasonality
1) dry season
2) wet season
d) total of 12 sites excavated
2. Sequence
a) Ajuereado (12,000-9000 BP)
1) dates from >10,000 - 8000 Cal BC
2) known from ca. 20 small sites and components
a> only 10 excavated
3) represents "Early Man" occupation
a> spanned period of the extinction of megafauna
4) settlement
a> peopled lived in small, nomadic "microbands"
1> seasonal camps
a: dry and wet season encampments
b: situated in oasis zone, thorn forest, grasslands, and river
alluvium
2> estimated that 30-40% of time was available for leisure time
a: much time expended in travel
3> no evidence for food storage
5) technology
a> recognized as a distinct culture from Clovis
b> flintknapping
c> some working of wood and bone
d> string made of agave fiber may have been used for making
baskets or bags
6) subsistence
a> development of "broad spectrum" hunting techniques is
apparent
1> estimate that 50-60% of food came from game
a: decreases to 30-40% in next phase
b> lance ambushing of game
1> indicated by chipped stone points
2> horse, antelope, deer, mammoth
c> rabbit drives and small game hunting
1> could be done with simple technology, such as clubs and
rocks
d> some seed collecting and fruit picking
b) El Riego (9000-7000 BP)
1) dates from 8000 - 5800 Cal BC
2) represents early Archaic
3) known from 41 components (25 excavated)
a> most had abundant cultural features and ecofacts (including
coprolites)
b> identified by some 3000 artifacts and 2000 ecofacts
4) settlement
a> people were still living in small bands
1> evidence for burial ceremonialism, infanticide, and female
sacrifice
b> sites clustered in groups, suggesting seasonal
"micro-macroband" pattern
5) technology
a> appearance of grinding stones
1> gouging, pecking, and grinding used
b> manufacture of shell beads
c> knotted cords woven into bags
d> basket weaving
e> skin and leatherworking
6) subsistence
a> main activities very similar to previous phase
b> game population decreased as climate became drier
c> dart stalking still important
d> seasonally scheduled gathering and hunting
1> encampments in various ecozones
2> people were able to exploit vegetable and other foods
without overtaxing the environment
e> seed planting occurs during summers late in phase
1> first evidence for deliberate planting rather than gathering
a: stemmed from desire to increase range of favorite foods
2> evidence for experimentation with squash, peppers, chile,
and perhaps early wild maize
f> fruit pit planting
1> evidence for avocado
g> food storage becomes more important
c) Coxcatlan (7000-5400 BP)
1) dates from 5800 - 4200 Cal BC
2) settlement
a> fewer number of occupations
1> 12 were macrobands
2> all occupied for two or more seasons
b> seasonal macro-microbands (emphasis on macro)
3) technology
a> new type of point with serrations and barbs
b> string making and weaving continues
c> ground stone manos and metates
d> first appearance of ground stone bowls
e> evidence for direct procurement of obsidian, tufa, and other
materials
4) subsistence
a> seasonal scheduling of gathering and hunting
1> dry season was important for hunting
b> planting of potential domesticates in spring and summer
1> sudden occurrence of domesticated plants
a: amaranth, avocado, chile pepper, sapotes, bottle gourd,
moschata squash, and common beans
b: all plants unrelated to any growing wild in Tehuacan
2> first evidence for domestication of maize
a: cobs which resembled hypothetical ancestor of maize
b: much smaller than modern cobs
3> only a tiny proportion of diet came from domestic sources
5) ideology
a> cremations from all seasons of occupation
6) interregional relations
a> some suggestions of sphere for exchange of domesticated
plants
1> Cochise culture in Southwest a possible example
2> societies oriented towards marine exploitation on Pacific
and Atlantic coasts
d) Abejas (5400-4300 BP)
1) dates from 4200 - 2900 Cal BC
2) settlement
a> evidence for longer stays in band encampments
b> most evidence comes from macroband camps
1> may represent groups working out of a home base
c> first preceramic pit houses from Mesoamerica
1> pits dug 5-6 m long, 3 m wide, 1 m deep
2> poles cut for tentlike roof frame
3> covered with brush roof
3) technology
a> stone bowls in forms later echoed in pottery
1> evidence that food was boiled in stone bowls
b> two-hand manos and metates
4) subsistence
a> increasing cultivation of plants and domesticates
b> evidence for a variety of maize hybrids, which could only
have come from other areas
c> concentrations of corn in association with digging sticks
suggest that crops may have been grown in organized fields
5) interregional relations
a> Chantuto shellmound occupation on Pacific coast
e) Purron (4300-3500 BP)
1) dates from 2900 - 1800 Cal BC
2) known from only three occupations
a> winter macroband camp and two seasonal camps
3) settlement
a> increased sedentism
b> "hamlet" villages
4) technology
a> earliest pottery in Mesoamerica
5) subsistence
a> agriculture was important, but nature and intensity of
cultivation is still poorly known
b> probably considerable "barranca" agriculture
f) Ajalpan (3500-2800 BP)
1) dates from 1800 - 1000 Cal BC
2) much better known
3) Early Formative phase
4) settlement
a> fully agricultural villages
5) single-season economy with spring and summer agriculture
D. Flannery's model
1. Regulatory mechanisms
a) Seasonality
1) dry season (October-May)
a> leanest time of year
b> fall and winter plants
1> acorns, ceiba pods
2> high percentage of "less tasty" plants
a: maguey, prickly pear, ceiba root
b: "starvation" plants
c> deer hunting at its best at beginnning of season
2) wet season (June-September)
a> rainy season plants
1> mesquite, anaranth, wild avocado, zapotes
b> little deer hunting because of intense gathering
c> small fauna
1> cottontail, opossum, skunk, gopher, black iguana
3) seasonally-restricted nature of resources made it impossible
for groups to remain large all year
a> counteracted trends for population increase
b> populations never grew to point where they could over-reach
wild resources
2. Scheduling
a) there are times of the year when a number of resources are
available simultaneously
b) scheduling desicions are made when there are possible
conflicts about a choice of activities
c) food gathering bands often rely on scouts
d) scheduling is opportunistic mechanism
1) promoted survival in spite of annual variation
2) supported status quo - unspecialized utilization of a wide
range of plants and animals whose availability is erratic
over the long run
e) gives preference to plant species collected
1) animal exploitation curtailed when conflicts existed
3. environmental range tends to be big
4. plant domestication
a) resulted from desire to expand the natural range of plants
b) genetic changes in plants exploited by man caused "deviation
amplifying" kicks
c) since procurement of starvation plants was done by
microbands and procurment of seasonally-limited plants was
done by large macrobands, amplification of rainy-season
planting and harvesting led to amplification of macroband
coalescence.
d) increased permanence of macroband may have been required by
amplified planting and harvesting pattern
E. South America
1. Ecuador
a) Vegas culture
1) known from 31 sites on Santa Elena peninsula
2) Early Las Vegas
a> dates to ca. 9000-7000 BC
3) Late Las Vegas
a> dates to ca. 7000-5500 BC
1> El Riego-Coxcatlan
b> phytolith evidence for maize
4) Valdivia
a> dates to ca. 4000
b) cultigens between 10,000-6000 BP
1) aji
2) quinoa
3) squash
4) gourd
5) oca
6) lima bean
7) common bean
8) guava
9) potato
10) maize
2. Peru
a) highlands
1) best information for domestication comes from dry caves in
highlands
2) Ayacucho Region
a> also excavated by MacNeish
b> Guitarrero Cave
1> common beans ca. 10,600 BP
2> lima beans ca. 9000 BP
c> Pikimachay Cave
1> excavated by MacNeish
2> wet-season living floors ca. 7000-6500 BP
a: gourds, quinoa, squash
3> after 6000 BP
a: potato
b: guinea pigs and llamas by 5500 BP
d> Puente Cave
1> also provided evidence for tame guinea pigs
e> cave deposits in Apurimac indicate camelid herding and
cultivation of maize, squash, beans, fruit, and possible
quinoa by 4000 BP
b) coast
1) maritime economy
a> 20% of all seafood consumed by mankind harvested on Peruvian
coast
b> schools of anchoveta and small fish found near shore
c> Moseley feels this "underwrote" the rise of Peruvian
sedentism and civilization
2) irrigation farming as early as 5000 BP
a> Cotton Preceramic
1> Huaca Prieta
a: dates from 4500-3800 BP
b: one- to two-room houses roofed with timber or whalebone
beams
2> first settlements with social differentiation
3> large pyramids
a: Aspero
b: Piedra Parada
c: El Paraiso
3) domesticates
a> cotton (4500 BP)
b> gourd
c> beans
1> lima
2> kidney
d> sweet potatoes
e> peanut
f> yuca
g> guava
h> avocado
4) general patterns
a> domestication of plants and animals was not a prerequisite
for the adoption of settled life
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