Editing Archaeology of the Americas (section)

==Chronology==
{{Further|Category:Archaeological sites in the Americas|Category:Pre-Columbian archaeological sites}}
The [[pre-Columbian era]] is the term generally used to encompass all time period subdivisions in the [[history of the Americas]] spanning the time from the original [[Prehistoric migration and settlement of the Americas from Asia|settlement of the Americas]] in the [[Upper Paleolithic]] until the [[European colonization of the Americas]] during the [[early modern period]]. While technically referring to the era before the voyages of [[Christopher Columbus]] from AD 1492 to 1504, in practice the term usually includes the history of [[indigenous peoples of the Americas|American indigenous cultures]] until the 18th or 19th century. In more recent decades, archaeological scholarship has extended to include enslaved Africans and European and Asian migrant populations.

The pre-Columbian archaeological record in the Americas has conventionally been divided into five phases based on an enduring system established by [[Gordon Willey]] and [[Philip Phillips (archaeologist)|Philip Phillips]]'s 1958 book ''Method and Theory in American Archaeology''.<ref name="Method" /> Their chronology differs from [[Prehistory|old world prehistory]] from Europe and Asia which uses the [[three-age system]], with the [[Stone Age]] divided into [[Paleolithic]], [[Mesolithic]], [[Neolithic]], and [[Chalcolithic]], followed by the [[Bronze Age]] and [[Iron Age]], remain in general use.
[[File:Folsom point.png|upright|thumb |[[Folsom point|Folsom projectile point]].<br>[[National Park Service]], {{Circa|1961}}]]

Numerous regional and sub-regional divisions have since been defined to distinguish various cultures through time and space, as later archaeologists recognized that these generalised stages did not adequately correspond to the cultural variation that existed in different locations in the Americas.<ref name=Method>{{cite web |title=Method and Theory in American Archaeology |url=https://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=6136197 |work=[[Gordon Willey]] and [[Philip Phillips (archaeologist)|Philip Phillips]] |publisher=University of Chicago |year=1958 |format= |access-date= |archive-date=2012-06-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120628025551/http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=6136197 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* [[Lithic stage]]
:Defined by the ostensible prevalence of big-game hunting. In most places, this can be dated to before 8000 BCE, starting most probably around 16,500 BCE (see [[Paleo-Indians]]). Examples include the [[Clovis culture]] and [[Folsom tradition]] groups.
* The [[Archaic stage]]
:Defined by the increasingly intensive gathering of wild resources with the decline of the big-game hunting lifestyle. Typically, Archaic cultures can be dated from 8000 to 1000 BCE. Examples include the [[Archaic Southwest]], the [[Arctic small tool tradition]], the [[Poverty Point]] culture, and the [[Chan-Chan]] culture in southern Chile.
* The [[Formative stage]]
:Defined as "village agriculture" based. Most of these can be dated from 1000 BCE to 500 CE. Examples include the [[Dorset culture]], [[Zapotec civilization]], [[Mimbres culture]], [[Olmec]], [[Woodland period|Woodland]], and [[Mississippian culture]]s.
* The [[Classic stage]]
[[File:World in 1000 BCE.png|thumb|right|240px|Simplified map of subsistence methods at 1000&nbsp;BCE
{{legend|#FEFE00|[[Hunter-gatherer]]s}}
{{legend|#00FE00|[[Agriculture|Simple farming societies]]}}
{{legend|#FE7334|Complex farming societies ([[Olmecs]], [[Chorrera culture|Chorrera]])}}
{{legend|#7575ff|[[State (polity)|Ancient advanced states]]}}]]
:Defined as "early civilizations", and typically dating from 500 to 1200 CE. Willey and Phillips considered only cultures from Mesoamerica and Peru to have achieved this level of complexity. Examples include the early [[Maya civilization|Maya]] and the [[Toltec]].
* The [[Post-Classic stage]]
:Defined as "later prehispanic civilizations" and typically dated from 1200 CE until the advent of European colonisation. The late [[Maya civilization|Maya]], the Incan civilization, and the [[Aztec]] cultures were Post-Classic.

Today, for Meso- and Andean South America, the later periods are more often classified using the "Horizon" terminology, with "Early Horizon" typically broadly equating to the Late Formative stage. "Horizons" are periods of cultural stability and political unity, with "Intermediate periods" covering the politically fragmented transition between them. In the [[Andes]], there are three Horizon periods, with two Intermediate periods between them. The Horizons, and their dominant cultures are: Early Horizon, [[Chavín culture|Chavin]]; Middle Horizon, [[Tiwanaku]] and [[Wari culture]]; Late Horizon, [[Inca]].<ref>Essential Humanities. "[http://www.essential-humanities.net/world-history/meso-south-america/ History of Precolonial Meso/South America]". Accessed 9 May 2017. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170625004734/http://www.essential-humanities.net/world-history/meso-south-america/|date=2017-06-25}}.</ref>