Archaic

A term used to describe an early stage in the development of civilization. In New World chronology, the period just before the shift from hunting, gathering, and fishing to agricultural cultivation, pottery development, and village settlement. Initially, the term was used to designate a non-ceramic-using, nonagricultural, and nonsedentary way of life. Archaeologists now realize, however, that ceramics, agriculture, and sedentism are all found, in specific settings, within contexts that are clearly Archaic but that these activities are subsidiary to the collection of wild foods. In Old World chronology, the term is applied to certain early periods in the history of some civilizations. In Greece, it describes the rise of civilization from c 750 BC to the Persian invasion in 480 BC. In Egypt, it covers the first two dynasties, c 3200-2800 BC. In Classical archaeology, the term is often used to refer to the period of the 8th-6th centuries BC. The term was coined for certain cultures of the eastern North America woodlands dating from c 8000-1000 BC, but usage has been extended to various unrelated cultures which show a similar level of development but at widely different times. For example, it describes a group of cultures in the Eastern US and Canada which developed from the original migration of man from Asia during the Pleistocene, between 40,000-20,000 BC, whose economy was based on hunting and fishing, shell and plant gathering. Between 8000-1000 BC, a series of technical achievements characterized the tradition, which can be broken into periods: Early Archaic 8000-5000 BC, mixture of Big Game Hunting tradition with early Archaic cultures, also marked by post-glacial climatic change in association with the disappearance of Late Pleistocene big game animals; then Middle Archaic tradition cultures from 5000-2000 BC, and a Late Archaic period 2000-1000 BC. In the New World, the lifestyle lacked horticulture, domesticated animals, and permanent villages.

In general usage, ‘archaic’ means primitive or antiquated, but in archaeology the term is used in a number of specific ways. In American archaeology, the term Archaic has two different usages: ( 1 ) A broad-based way of life with small bands exploiting their environment by means of hunting and gathering in a pattern of seasonal movement linked to the availability of subsistence foods. (2) A long chronological period, the beginning of which is marked by post-glacial climatic change in association with the disappearance of Late Pleistocene big game animals. It is considered to have ended when sedentary agriculture becomes the favoured means of subsistence. There is considerable local variation in the occurrence of these events, which makes dating difficult. In North American archaeology dates usually fall between c8000 and clOOO bc. See Table 9, page 552. In Classical archaeology, the term is used to refer to the period of the 8th-6th centuries bc, preceding the Classical period proper.

A term used to describe an early stage in the development of civilization. In New World chronology, it is the period just before the shift from hunting, gathering, and fishing to agricultural cultivation, pottery development, and village settlement. Initially, the term was used to designate a nonceramic-using, nonagricultural, and nonsedentary way of life. Archaeologists now realize, however, that ceramics, agriculture, and sedentism are all found, in specific settings, within contexts that are clearly archaic but that these activities are subsidiary to the collection of wild foods. In Old World chronology, the term is applied to certain early periods in the history of some civilizations. In Greece, it describes the rise of civilization from c. 750 bc to the Persian invasion in 480 bc In Egypt, it covers the first two dynasties, c. 3200-2800 bc In Classical archaeology, the term is often used to refer to the period of the 8th to 6th centuries bc The term was coined for certain cultures of the eastern North America Woodlands dating from c. 8000 to 1000 bc but usage has been extended to various unrelated cultures that show a similar level of development but at widely different times. For example, it describes a group of cultures in the eastern US and Canada that developed from the original migration of man from Asia during the Pleistocene, between 40,000 and 20,000 bc whose economy was based on hunting, fishing, and shell and plant gathering. Between 8000 and 1000 bc a series of technical achievements characterized the tradition, which can be broken into periods Early Archaic 8000-5000 bc with a mixture of Big Game Hunting tradition with Early Archaic cultures, also marked by postglacial climatic change in association with the disappearance of late Pleistocene big game animals; Middle Archaic tradition cultures from 5000 to 2000 bc and a Late Archaic period 2000-1000 bc In the New World, the lifestyle lacked horticulture, domesticated animals, and permanent villages.