Lower Pecos Rock Art
Episode 4 The Archaic Period: Diversity Begins
Ancient Civilizations of North America
Dr Edwin Barnhart (2018)
Film Review
The historic period immediately following the Paleoindian period is called the Archaic period. In some regions of North America it began around 10,000 years BP (Before Present); some regions still had Archaic period cultures when the first Europeans arrived. It is usually subdivided into three subperiods: Early Archaic (10,000 – 6000 BP), Middle Archaic (6000 – 4000 BP) and Late Archaic (5000-3000 cal yr BP). In most regions the Archaic period ended around 3000 BP, possibly related to climate change resulting in increased rainfall, bigger lakes and rivers and thicker forests.
As mega fauna (which thrived on North American grasslands prior to 10,000 BP), indigenous North Americans relied more on small game and plants for food. At Archaic archeological sites, it’s typical to find grinding stones and baskets for gathering plant-based food (and in some regions cooking it.
Hunters were still using atlacls* to throw darts but some were also using spears (which had thicker shafts). In most regions people migrated seasonally to access different food sources, eg gathering nuts and berries in summer and hunting and fishing during. Archaic cultures lived in bands of 25-30 people. Some built temporary shelters.
Florida
In Florida, early Archaic peoples initially gathered around inland lakes. They fished and ate nuts, made a new kind of projectile point and performed formal burials in the bogs. As population increased, they migrated toward the coast and built seasonal shelters. They left behind large midden** mounds from the shellfish they ate.
Chesapeake Bay
Further north, coastal settlers also experienced a population boom and left behind fish hooks, net weights and projectile points.
Long Island
Here Archaic peoples collected nuts and berries in Long Island’s thick forests and left behind cooking pits, shell middens and quartz stemmed projectile points.
Central Eastern Region (East Coast to Mississippi River)
Here Archaic humans lived in seasonal camps, returning to the same camp generation after generation. They left behind massive middens, which they were beginning to use for burials. Evidence of dog burials has been found in Illinois dating from 8500 BP.
Texas
In Texas, Archaic humans lived in dry rock shelters (some dating to the Paleoindian period), which held up to 100 people. Here dry conditions have preserved some perishable materials (eg wood). In the Lower Pecos region (where the Pecos and Davis River feed into the Rio Grande), archeologists have found cooking hearths, evidence of trash burning, rock middens, grinding stones, sandals, fishing nets, snares, baskets, grass matting, coproliths, painted pebbles, rock art (dating from 9000 BP) and female clay figurines.
Southwest
Here Archaic humans made baskets and sandals, with the dry climate preserving a few examples. They built temporary cone shaped shelters sealed with mud or grass.
Great Plains
Due to changing climate, Bison antiquus returned to the Great Plains around 5,000 BP, and Archaic humans clearly followed them. In addition to an increase in bison jump sites,* Archaic remains reveal a new technology: bison corals constructed at the end of a gully. This enabled hunters to trap bison without killing them and release those they didn’t eat.
West Coast
The West Coast had the best food sources and the longest Archaic period (only ending with the arrival of Europeans). Most West Coast Archaic peoples migrated seasonally between the mountains and the coast. Larger groups had boats and harpoons to hunt sea mammals as well as fish. Some groups became sedentary around 6000 BP with the first houses appearing along the Frasier River Valley (in modern day British Columbia) around 5500 BP. These Archaic setters trapped salmon.
Archaic West Coast humans buried their dead, with 27% of skeletal remains associated with violent death (suggesting they engaged in warfare). They also left behind distinctive notched cogwheel stone art,
*See Clovis Man: North America’s First Culture
**A midden is an old dump for domestic waste which may consist of animal bone, human excrement, botanical material, mollusc shells, potsherds and other artifacts.
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The Most Revolutionary Act 