Responsible for dynamic era - Archaic Period - from 6000-200 BCE
(Early Archaic=6000-2500 BCE; Middle=2500-1000 BCE; Late=1000-300 BCE)
A. Development of bow and arrow (in Texas appears to have replaced spear
thrower (atlatl) around 700 CE/AD
B. Development of pottery and grinding implements
C. Development of agriculture before 2500 BCE -
believed to have developed in Mexico and moved northward
D. 1500 BCE, corn farmers settled near Presidio in area known as La Junta de los Rios where Rio Grande and Rio Conchose join - believed
to be the oldest continuously cultivated farmland in Texas
E. Cochise people of southern New Mexico - also early farmers of southwest
F. Also artistic development - Rock Art - sites represent before and after archaic developments;
located throughout Southwest - include PICTOGRAPHS and PETROGLYPHS -
show extended period of time, refining of style (Pecos River style about 2000-1000 BCE)
Several distinctive styles in Texas:
Archaic age - several colors, stylized figures and humans
Red Linear of Late Archaic - small dark red, humans as stick figures
Red monochrome of Late Prehistoric - solid human and animal figures
Historic - show European influence
Hueco Tanks near El Paso - completely different culture - Puebloan influences
250 known Rock Art sites in Texas alone, usually on rock walls
range in size form one to 18 feet in height
Some in places that could not be reached without scaffoling of some sort
Black and red most common colors but also white, yellow, orange, brown
Subjects: people, animals, weather, trees, weapons, geometric shapes, historic era Europeans
Purpose unknown although some appear to have religious significance
Include maps, dancing, stories, humorous scenes
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Links for Class Discussion:
Timeline of the Southwest
12,000-10,000 BCE - Sandia people leave earliest evidence of human existence
in New Mexico; "Tepexpan Man" in Mexico and "Midland Minnie" in Texas
Before 11,000-8000 BCE - First immigrants arrive in Texas
11,000-7,000 BCE (estimates vary) - Early hunters period; nomadic foragers, fishing, some seed collection
11,000-10,000 BCE - Diablo Phase, unspecialized foraging tools, Northern Mexico (Tamaulipas)
10,000-9,000 BCE - Clovis hunters roam area in search of mammoth, bison and other game
10,000-500 BCE - Cochise people cultivate corn, squash, beans; earliest evidence of agriculture north of
Mexico in Southwest
9,000-8,000 BCE - Folsom people flouish throughout Southwest at end of last Ice Age
8000-7000 BCE - Burials in Texas; "Midland Minnie" in Williamson County
7400-6700 BCE - Oaxaca Valley of Mexico - bottle gourds, pumpkin
7000 BCE - Tehuacan Ajuereado Phase of Central Highlands of Mexico; bands of 12-15 people;
some big-game hunting
6500-2000 BCE - Archaic (Incipient Farming) Period; gradual development of horticultural
skills, some signs of fixed settlement, possibly some shamanism; extinction of many animals; Desert Cultures develop in U.S. West and
northern Mexico
4000 BCE - People in lower-Pecos River area leave distinctive
Rock Art
1500 BCE - Corn farmers settle near Presidio (La Junta de los Rios -
"meeting of the rivers" - where Mexico's Rio Conchos and Rio Grande join
1500-900 BCE - Early Formative (Pre-Classic) Period; "Neolithic" farming villages;
pottery, looms, ground stone figurines, rule by groups of elders, shamans, chiefs; rain & fertility cults; regional differentiation
1350-1100 BCE - El Arbolillo, Tlatilco, and Zacatenco figurine cults of the Central Highlands
Tlatilco - large, rich village; storage pits, animal and human sculpture; 340+ burials
900-300 BCE - Middle Formative (Pre-Classic) Period -
Olmec civilization; widespread trade; diffusion of Olmec traits; class divisions
La Venta (Tabasco) - greatest Olmec site, Tres Zapotes (Veracruz) contemporaneous with La Venta
300-1 BCE - Teotihuacan Phase I; Central Highlands
300 BCE - 250 CE - Late Formative (Pre-Classic) Period; "urban revolution" -
building of great urban centers in Mesoamerica
1-300 CE - Teotihuacan Phase II - Pyramid of the Sun constructed
1-700 CE - Anasazi Basketmakers elevate weaving to a high art, creating baskets, clothing, sandals, and utensils
150 CE - Volcano destroys Cuicuilco, leaving Teotihuacan unrivaled in the Central Highlands
150-650 CE - Early Classic Period; Teotihuacan Phase III with much influence elsewhere
500-900 CE - Classic period for Monte Alban with major temples built, population estimated at
24,000, 170 underground tombs with frescoes
250-600 CE - Dawn of classic Maya culture
300-1400 CE - Mogollon culture introduces highly artistic pottery and early architecturee in the form of pit houses
1200-1500s CE - Pueblo Indians establish villages along the Rio Grande and its tributaries
800-1500 CE - Farmers/hunters build and occupy the "Buried City" southeast of
Perryton in Ochitree County on the northern edge of the Panhandle as well as other sites
along Canadian River
1400 CE - The Caddo Confederacy establishes a civilization in East Texas based on
agriculture
Online Resources:
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