There is so far no standardization for dividing up these eras/periods/cultures/whatever.
by 10,000 | Hunters are in all parts of North America, even at Tierra del Fuego. Some fishing and gathering populations are large. The highest average population density north of Mexico is in California where acorn gatherers are so successful that they do not experiment with new techniques. | by 10,000 mxfld |
by 10,000 | ![]() |
drawing: Dantheman9758 10,800 wikSFB, by 10,000 |
c. 10,000 | ![]() |
NOAA |
c. 10,000 | ![]() |
10,000 PW 12, wikLIS 7000 TTPC |
c. 10,000 | CAMELIDS (ancestors of all 7 existing camel families including llamas) begin migrating from Asia to America until 8000. | 10,000 wikCm |
c. 10,000 | ![]() |
drawing: Kiddle 11,000 ielc 10,000 wikCM 11-8000 npsCM |
c. 10,000 | BORAX LAKE in Lake County, north California occupied. Cultural deposits will reach over 3m deep. | 10,000 wikBL |
CONFUSION ALERT! There is another Borax Lake in San Bernardino County, and one in Oregon. |
c. 10,000 | Natives at FOLSOM New Mexico have flint spear heads, and hunt a now extinct buffalo. | 10,000 MCAW 11-8000 wikFNM |
c. 10,000 | MESO-AMERICA: PALEO-INDIAN PERIOD begins until 3500. 1st fully-attested human inhabitants of Mesoamerica are hunter-gatherer groups of the Clovis period. They leave stone points of spears and arrows. | 10,000 shPA, ttco |
c.10,000 | Rock shelters near Tehuacan Mexico begin continuous occupation. | 10,000 mxfld |
c. 10,000 | ![]() |
drawing: Sphena- phinae 10,000 wikMgt |
c. 10,000 | EL INGO, a pre-ceramic site at an altitude of 9,100 feet in Ecuador, shows an OBSIDIAN V workshop and hunting camp site. TOOLS V are similar to Folsom and Clovis points of North America. | 10,000 mxfld |
9700 | YOUNGER DRYAS Period from 10,900 ends, a 1,000-year-interruption in the higher temperatures prevailing since the Last Glacial Maximum. BOREAL Period begins until 7500. Trees that prefer higher temps proliferate. Dates vary by location. | 9700 wikYD 8800 encBrP |
c.9600 | WEAVING V, possibly known from the Paleolithic, evidenced by remnants of 6 finely woven textiles and cordage found in Guitarrero Cave, Peru. See Egypt 9000, Anatolia 7000. |
10-9080 wikWv |
c.9500 | Human BURIAL V first evidenced in the Americas at Upward Sun River site. | 9500 Copilot |
c. 9500 | UPWARD SUN RIVER site in the Tanana River Valley, Alaska is occupied. It contains the oldest human remains discovered on the American side of Beringia: a 3 year old child cremated in a hearth, which is then filled in. The site is then abandoned. Remains of 2 infant girls are in a layer under the cremated child. The 2 girls are covered in red ochre and buried together in a pit burial with grave goods, including 4 decorated antler rods, 2 lithic dart points and bifaces. One of the girls is possibly a 30-week-old fetus; the other is a 6 to 12 week-old infant. | 9500 wikUSRC |
c.9500 | PALEO-INDIAN PERIOD begins in North America until 8000. It includes Folsom and Late Paleo-Indian traditions, primarily hunters of large mammals. | 9500 wikLnd |
c.9500 | OLD CORDILLERAN culture begins in Oregon and Washington until 5500. They originated in Alaska, and migrated to a wide area as far as Idaho and the plateaus of California. Used flaked stone points called "Cascade points". | 10-9000 wikOCC 7800 mxfld |
c.9500 | ![]() |
photo: Ian Poellet 11-7000 wikFRC |
c.9500 | LUZIA WOMAN, 1.5 m tall, in her early 20s, dies in Brazil, and is buried in Vermelha Cave, where her skeleton will be found under more than 12m of mineral deposits and debris. Her skull features resemble those of Indigenous Australians, Melanesians and Negritos of Southeast Asia. Flint tools are found nearby. | 9500 wikLW |
c.9400 | MASTODONS V in central Chile evidenced by their bones. | 9400 mxfld |
c.9250 | ELEPHANTS: butchered elephants have been excavated in North America. | 95-9000 mxfld |
c.9230 | ![]() |
photo: pub dom 9230 wikMrR |
c. 9200 | ![]() |
photo: Blog Amazônia em imagens 9200 wikCPP, ' |
c.9000 | ![]() |
NOAA |
c.9000 | ANIMALS: North American plains still have giant bison, camels, stagmoose, musk-oxen, large cats, mastodons and 3 kinds of mammoths. Most of these are gone within 1,000 years of man's arrival. | 9000 mxfld |
There are no PIGS in the Americas until Columbus, 1493. Copilot
c.9000 | ![]() |
map: The Darth Egg 9000 wikPln |
c.9000 | BASKETS V appear in North America. | 8000 wikAPNA |
c.9000 | Desert Tradition of west North America, is centered in the Great Basin of Nevada between the 2 great mountain chains and occupying parts of Nevada, Wyoming, Idaho, Oregon and California. baskets and milling stones are made. Food includes small seeds, berries, bulrush rhizomes and nuts. | 9000 mxfld |
c.9000 | Lake Mojave area of south California has kite-shaped points, choppers, drills and scrapers. | 9000 mxfld |
c.9000 | EXTINCTIONS: Giant short-faced bears, giant ground sloths, and equids go extinct in North America. | 9000 wikTop |
c.9000 | ![]() |
drawing: ????? 9000 Copilot, sci, wikTop |
c.9000 | LINDENMEIER site in north Colorado, the largest known Paleo-Indian Folsom site, contains artifacts of Paleo-Indians who live and hunt in present Fort Collins area. Artifacts include Λ TOOLS V (spearheads, wedge shaped scrapers), essentially identical to tools of north Paleo-Indians of Alaska. The tools are used for chopping, slicing and skinning hides of bison. Broken pieces of tools indicate that they had been used with great pressure. | 9000 wikLnd |
c.9000 | ![]() |
drawing: Kiddle 9000 kpol 3000 lsci |
c.9000 | HUNTERS spread southward. | 9000 TAWH 16 |
c.9000 | AGRICULTURE V begins in Americas, includes chili peppers, avocados, and BEANS V. | 9000 wikHAg, 5000 ehAm |
c.9000 | ![]() This was a big deal until bones and charcoal radiocarbon dated to 12,800 (average) were found with evidence of human occupation at Monte Verde Chile. |
10,000 PW 12, toah 9000 mxfld |
c.9000 | DNA associated with North American Clovis culture is found in people from Chile, Brazil and Belize from now to 7000. | 9000 lsci |
c.8900 | ![]() |
8675 ±95 | BUHL WOMAN, age 17-21, 1.57m tall, and in general good health, dies over a quarry near Buhl Idaho. Her skeleton shows that she ate mostly bison and elk, with some salmon and other fish. Teeth show: 1. that the meat was cooked, 2. heavy wear caused by sand or grit, consistent with stone grinding or pounding. Defects in tooth enamel and lines of interrupted growth on her femur indicate periodic malnutrition. Her right cheek lay atop a pressure-flaked, pointed Λ OBSIDIAN V tool that shows no sign of wear. | 8675 ±95 wikBhW |
c.8500 | Λ AGRICULTURE V: PERU has tentative evidence of cultivation of grasses, Λ BEANS V, peppers, SQUASH V. | 8500 PW 12 |
c.8225 | ![]() |
photo: Franko Fonseca 8225 wikLBW 8000 wikLHEF |
c.8200 | SAN DIEGUITO complex is an archaeological pattern left by inhabitants of southwest US and northwest Mexico. Artifacts include stone scrapers, large, percussion-flaked bifaces, flaked crescentic stones, Lake Mohave or Silver Lake style projectile points, but no small projectile points or pottery. | 8200 wikSDC |
c.8000 | ![]() |
NOAA |
c.8000 | ATLATL V is used by hunters in North American Southwest. | 8000 wikAPNA |
c.8000 | MARMES ROCKSHELTER in southeast Washington state, occupied 9230-1200. Has first human remains. People hunt elk and deer using atlatls, also hunt beavers, and gather mussels from the river. Grave goods include beads carved from shells, stone knives, and spear points. | 8000 wikMrR |
c.8000 | ![]() |
painting: Heinrich Harder 10–7000 wikPI 8000 wikHsS 6000 mxfld |
c.8000 | SANDIA CAVE on a steep wall of Las Huertas Canyon, on the north side of the Sandia Mountains near Bernalillo, New Mexico, is occupied. Animal remains may include mammoth, mastodon, sloth, horses, and camels, as well as many mammal and bird species that survived the end of the Pleistocene, but these findings are disputed. | 9-7000 wikSndC |
c.8000 | HISCOCK archaeological site in Byron New York is covered by Lake Tonawanda, formed by runoff from receding glaciers. More than 13 mastodon tusks have been found at the site, plus paleo-Indian artifacts including flint knappings, stone Λ TOOLS V and fluted projectile points, which were bound to sticks and lances for hunting. | 8000 wikHsS 6000 mxfld |
c.8000 | ![]() |
8000 mxfld, wikAPNA 7500 kpol |
c.8000 | Sufficient rain falls on North American Southwest to support many large mammal species – mammoth, mastodon, and a bison species. | 8000 wikAPNA |
by 8000 | North American Indian culture is already divided into 3 patterns: Eastern Woodlands, Desert, West Paleo-Indian. | by 8000 mxfld |
c. 8000 | PALEO-INDIAN PERIOD in North America from 9500 ends. It included Folsom and Late Paleo-Indian traditions, primarily hunters of large mammals. ARCHAIC PERIOD begins until 1000, characterized by big game hunting with fishing, shell and plant gathering. It includes Yuma and McKean traditions. Hunt small game e.g. deer, antelope, rabbits, and shellfish, gather plants including nuts, seeds, and wild plants. People move seasonally to hunting and gathering sites. EARLY ARCHAIC begins until 6000, characterized by sedentary farming. | 10-8000 wiki 8000 PW 13, mxfld, wikAP, wikAPNA, wikHA, wikLAP, wikMC 7000 ttco 6000 wikLnd |
c.8000 | CAMELIDS V, migrating from Asia to America from 10,000, stop. | 8000 wikCm |
c.8000 | Λ BURIALS, often with red ochre, evidenced in North America. | 8000 PW 13 |
c.8000 | Ancestral Pueblos, in New Mexico and Southwest US, begin Archaic–Early Λ BASKETMAKER Era. Pueblo architecture style begins. | 9-7000 wikTop |
c. 8000 | ![]() |
map: Sandom, Faurby, Sandel, Svenning 8000 wikQEE, wikTop |
c.8000 | At least 2 morphologically different Paleo-Indian populations coexist in Mexico. | 8000 wikPI |
c.8000 | Mayan Archaic Period begins until 2000. | 8000 wikMy |
c. 8000 | ![]() |
photo: Ryan Somma 8000 wikLHEF, wikTpx |
c.8000 | Λ AGRICULTURE V: POTATOS V cultivcated in Mesoamerica Λ SQUASH V (pumpkins and zucchini) first cultivated in Mexican highlands. Squash grows ONLY in the Americas until Columbus. |
8000 Copilot, wikHAg pre-5000 mxfld |
c. 8000 | ![]() |
map: TUBS 8000 wikLV |
c. 8000 | CHILE: People wear painted clothing, necklaces, bracelets, carved pendants, and geometrically marked bones, painted green. They eat prickly pear cactus, alder seeds, tomatoes, plants with rhizomes and tubers such as jiquimas, potatoes, ullucu, and possibly manioc and sweet potatoes. There is also refuse of many land mammals such as bucks and roe deer, vixcahas, camelids and rodents, and the remains of fish. Though caves are 60 miles from the ocean, marine mollusks appear, suggesting that they migrated at times to the seashore, probably living in the condensed fog oases called lomas, as the beach land otherwise is dry. | 8000 mxfld |
c.8000 | Wild Λ BEANS V first eaten in Argentina. See Thailand 8000. | 8000 Copilot |
c. 7600 | CASMA / SECHIN V valley in coastal Peru first occupied by humans. | 7600 wikCSc |
c.7500 | BOREAL Period from 9700 ends. Trees that prefer higher temps proliferate. Dates vary by location. | 7500 encBrP |
c.7480 | Old COPPER V Complex in west Great Lakes region begins operating until 1000. One of the oldest known examples of copper extraction. Evidence of deep holes chipped into the rock in Ontario, Manitoba, and around Lake Superior. Widespread copper artifacts, including Λ TOOLS V weapons, and ornaments. Objects are cold-worked into shape. | 7500 wikOCC 7480 wikCpr 4000 wikAPNA |
c.7300 | ![]() |
photo: pub dom 7300 wikCdlM |
c.7280 | ![]() |
photo: Biblio- philesyn77 7300 wikMmC, 7280 wikMmC |
c.7200 | In the mid-west is a sub-culture called "Modoc", with evidence of mano and metate (stone mortar and pestle). Another variation is in the Ozarks, Oklahoma and Mississippi. | 7200 mxfld |
c.7000 | ![]() |
NOAA |
c. 7000 | ![]() ![]() ORNAMENTS: Men and women wear necklaces, bracelets and pendants made of shell, stone, bone and dried berries, sandals made of woven yucca fibers or strips of leaves. The shallow-basined lodgings are considered a precursor to Basketmaker pit-houses. |
cave art J.Q. Jacobs map Arkyan 7000 wikAEBE, wikAP, wikBsm |
c.7000 | ![]() |
7000 mxfld |
c.7000 | Semi-permanent settlements arise in North America. | 7000 PW 13 |
c.7000 | POTTERY V begins in Americas, some in Upper Great Lakes region, some in Ecuador and Colombia. | 9-7000 wikPtr 55-5000 Copilot 3000 TAWH 16 |
American ceramics have been radio-carbon dated to 30-25,000 BP. Earliest pieces are animal and female FIGURINES, hand shaped, and left to dry in the sun to harden. This kind doesn't hold water. | drnd |
c.7000 | Hunters from the Great Basin area migrate south into south Colorado, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Sonora and Chihuahua. One branch is called Cochise (after the county in Arizona). | 7000 mxfld |
c.7000 | ![]() |
photo: Ghedoghedo 7560-7370 wikAPNA, 7-6900 wilKM |
c.7000 | Northeast Americans depend increasingly on deer, nuts, and wild grains as climate warms. | 7000 wikAPNA |
by 7000 | LAKE LAHONTAN in NW Nevada from the retreating glacier, dries out, breaks up into several smaller lakes, around the same time humans appear. | by 7000 wikLL |
c.7000 | MUMMIFICATION is practiced by people in Lahontan Basin, Nevada. | 7000 wikAPNA |
c.7000 | Sulfur Springs Phase of West Paleo-Indians begins until 5000, depended on hunting ancient horses, mammoths, antelope and bison with flaked projectile points. | 7000 mxfld |
c.7000 | Λ AGRICULTURE V: Tehuacan valley shows evidence of crop cultivation. People live in rock shelters and use stone cooking pots. | 7000 PW 13, mxfld |
c.7000 | Λ MAIZE V is domesticated in Americas in the Balsas River valley. | 7000 wikThc |
c.7000 | CASSAVA V (manioc) cultivated in upper Amazon. Its edible starchy root tuber is a major source of carbohydrates. | b7000 PW 13, wikHAg |
c.7000 | CLOVIS lineage, in South America from 9000 ends. This suggests that a continent-wide population replacement happened. Hereafter, there is genetic continuity with people living today. | 7000 lsci |
c.7000 | Varieties of projectile points exist in Venezuela, Chile, Bolivia and Peru. | 7000 PW 13 |
c.7000 | Natives migrating south along the west coast reach Palli Aiki at Strait of Magellan in Chile. | 7000 MCAW |
c.7000 | ![]() |
photo: pub dom 7000 wikHAg |
by 6700 | ZEA MAIZE domesticated from wild grass in south Mexico. | by 6700 wikHAg 5100 wikHA |
c.6500 | San Dieguito–Pinto tradition and Chihuahua tradition flourish in the Southwest until 200CE. | 6500 wikAPNA |
c.6500 | Λ AGRICULTURE V: Λ POTATOS V domesticated in south Peru and northwest Bolivia. | 8-5000 wikHAg, wikHPt 6500 wikHSA |
c.6500 | ![]() |
photo: Biblio- philesyn77 6500 wikMmC |
c.6500 | POTATOS V, chilies, and Λ BEANS V cultivated in the Amazon Basin. | 6500 wikHSA |
c.6300 | High altitude grains and POTATOS cultivated in Ayacucho Peru. | 6300 PW `3 |
c.6100 | ![]() |
62-6000 wikTop 6000 wikBHK |
c.6000 | ![]() |
NOAA |
c.6000 | PLANO Culture of North America from 9000 ends. | 6000 Copilot, wikPln |
c.6000 | UNANGAS (Aleuts) begin to migrate from an unknown location to Aleutian Islands. | 6000 wikAPNA 2000 britAl |
c.6000 | Temperature rises sharply, associated with drought. Great herds die out including camels. Many areas are denuded and native populations change their living patterns. | 6000 mxfld |
c.6000 | Nomadic hunting bands roam Subarctic Alaska following herds of caribou and other game animals. | 6000 wikAPNA |
c.6000 | Λ COPPER V is mined around Lake Michigan. | 6000 wikCpr |
c.6000 | Ancestors of Penutian-speaking peoples settle in the Northwest Plateau. | 6000 wikAPNA |
c.6000 | Early Archaic Period in Americas from 9000, in North America from 8000, ends. Characterized by sedentary farming. Middle Archaic Period begins until 3000. Identifiable sedentary settlements emerge. |
6000 wikHA, wikLAP |
c.6000 | COTTON V first evidenced in Peru, but not domesticated until 4200. . | 6000 wikHCt |
c.5931 | ![]() |
photo: Albert Ernest Jenks 5931 wikLHEF, wikMnW |
c.5800 | Λ WEAVING first evidenced in North America by the Windover site in Florida. 87 pieces of fabric associated with 37 burials. | 65-4900 wikWv |
c.5700 | ![]() |
photo: Athleticamps 5700 wikAPNA, wikMM 5600 wikFRC |
c.5630 | ![]() |
photo: Biblio- philesyn77 5630 wikMmC |
c.5500 | OLD CORDILLERAN culture in Oregon and Washington from 9500 ends. Used flaked stone points called "Cascade points". | 5700 mxfld 5500 wikOCC |
c.5500 | ![]() |
art: Aledgn 11,000 Copilot 5500 wikDW |
c.5500 | ENCINITAS Tradition (Millingstone Horizon) begins in California until 1500. A subset of the Archaic Period. Sites are at San Luis Obispo County, Santa Barbara County, and Ventura County. | 6500 wikMH 5500 wikLAP |
c.5500 | OSHARA tradition, a Southwest Archaic tradition, arises in north-central New Mexico, the San Juan Basin, the Rio Grande Valley, south Colorado, and southeast Utah until 500CE. | 5500 wikAPNA 5400 wikOst |
c.5500 | WINDOVER BOG BODIES: 168 people, mostly infants, but some to about age 60 are buried in a muck pond on the east coast of Florida. Well-preserved brain tissue has been recovered from 91 skulls. About 100 undisturbed burials have fully articulated bones. Bodies show the effects of disease and healed wounds. Many bones of children show interrupted growth, perhaps due to severe disease or malnutrition. Children and teenagers are buried with more grave goods than are adults. 37 graves contain 86 pieces of woven fabric. Bottle gourds show the earliest evidence for vegetable container storage discovered in North America. | 6-5000 wikWAS |
c.5500 | Λ COTTON V bolls deposited in a cave in Tehuacán Valley, Mexico. | 5500 wikHCt |
c.5400 | Λ CAMELIDS V (llamas, alpacas, guanacos and vicunas) herded in Ayacucho Peru. | 5400 PW 13 |
c.5000 | Native Americans in the Pacific Northwest from Alaska to California develop a fishing economy, with salmon as a staple. Natives of the Northwest Plateau begin to rely on salmon runs. | 5000 wikAPNA |
c.5000 | Old Λ COPPER culture of the Great Lakes area hammers the metal into various Λ TOOLS V, such as knives, axes, awls, and ornaments, such as bracelets, rings, and pendants. | 5000 wikAPNA |
c.5000 | COCHISE Tradition (part of Picosa culture) in southwest US begins until 200. | 5000 wikAPNA, wikLAP, wikCT 3000 mxfld |
c.5000 | Burial mounds are built in east Canada. | 5000 mxfld |
c.5000 | Bottle GOURDS (a type of Λ SQUASH V) cultivated, and used as containers, in eastern North America. | 5000 PW 13 |
c.5000 | Sulfur Springs Phase of West Paleo-Indians from 7000, ends. Depended on hunting horses, mammoths, antelope and bison with flaked projectile points. | 7000 mxfld |
c.5000 | Λ AGRICULTURE V: Tehuacan valley Mexico grows Λ MAIZE V. Probably has little nutritional value at this stage. Other foods include maguey plant, cactus fruits (prickly pear), tree legumes like mesquite, Λ BEANS V, wild grasses, deer and rabbits. Cultivated plants probably are only 5% of the diet, as opposed to 54% from hunting and 41% from collecting wild plants. | 6000 mxfld 5000 PW 13, TTPC, bk |
c.5000 | Λ BEANS V first cultivated in Andes Mountains. | 5000 Copilot |
c.5000 | South America: LATE PRECERAMIC Period begins until 2000. As people become sedentary, populations grow, leading to areas of resource shortage. | 5000 jrnk |
c.5000 | Limited cultivation begins in lower Amazon. | 5000 Pw 13 |
c.4720 | Mount HUDSON VOLCANO in Andes Mts. of south Chile errupts. . Leads to abandonment of group A1 paintings at Cave of the Hands. | 5750 or 2200 wikCdlM, 4770-4675 wikCdlM |
c.4700 | HUACA PRIETA on the coast of Peru becomes an early permanent settlement. | 4700 wikHSA |
c.4600 | LAS VEGAS Culture on coast of Ecuador from 8000 ends. | 4600 wikLV |
c.4500 | SHIELD ARCHAIC tradition begins in North America until 1500. A distinct regional tradition during the climatic optimum. Temperatures are warmer than in the late 20th century; forests advance northward. | 4500 wikAPNA |
c.4200 | Λ COTTON V, used in Peru from 6000, domesticated. | 4200 Pw 13, wikHAg |
c.4000 | Arctic Small Tool tradition begins in Alaska near Bristol Bay, and on the east shores of the Bering Strait in Alaska until 1000. Soon spreads across the arctic part of Canada to Greenland. See 2300. | 4000 mxfld 2500 wikAPNA |
c.4000 | Across the Southeast Woodlands, people start exploiting wetland resources, creating large shell middens where the people live along rivers. | 4000 wikAPNA |
c.4000 | Shell-mound sites occupied on coast of Mexico and Guatemala. | 4000 ehAm |
c.4000 | Λ AGRICULTURE V : Λ BEANS V first grown in Mexico, often together with Λ MAIZE V and Λ SQUASH V. See Europe 2000. | 5000 Copilot 4000 bk |
c.4000 | TOMATOS domesticated in Mesoamerica. | 4000 wikHAg, 500 Copilot |
c.4000 | PEPPERS domesticated in Mesoamerica and South America. | 7000 Copilot 4000 wikHAg |
c.4000 | Λ POTTERY evidenced in Amazon basin. | 4000 Pw 13 |
c.4000 | Peru has domestic llamas as pack animals, grows corn, potatoes, Λ BEANS V, Λ SQUASH V, and COTTOM. | 4000 bk, wikAPNA, 3500 PW 13 |
c. 3600 | CASMA / SECHIN valley in coastal Peru, occupied from 7600, culture begins until 200. | 1800 wikCSc |
c.3500 | CHIRICAHUA phase of Cochise Tradition begins until 1500. Chiricahua Λ TOOLS V have different projectile points and many seed-processing artifacts. | 3500 wikAP, wikCT 1000 mxfld |
c.3500 | Construction of extensive mound complex built until 3000 at Watson Brake in the floodplain of the Ouachita River near Monroe in north Louisiana. | 1500 wikAPNA |
c.3500 | Hunter-gatherer societies in Lower Mississippi Valley organize to build monumental earthwork mound complexes. Building continues 500 years. | 3500 wikAPNA |
c.3500 | Meso-America: Paleo-Indian period ends. Began 10,000. ARCHAIC PERIOD begins until 2000. | 3500 wikmc |
c. 3500 | ![]() |
map: pub dom 3500 wikHSA, wikPC, wikVC |
c.3500 | LLAMAS and ALPACAS domesticated in the Andes highlands. | 3500 wikHSA |
c.3500 | Peru: Fishing nets and twilled textiles are manufactured. | 3500 PW 13 |
c.3500 | EL PARAISO, a U-shaped site of central coastal Peru is occupied until 1800. Function disputed, possibly an economic or religious center, or both. Has no ceramics during its main occupation period. | 3500 EPP |
c.3195 | METEORS bombard Earth, resulting atmospheric dust-veil as evidenced as cold period in narrow tree rings, and other world events. | 3195 kpol 3123 CWH |
c.3114 | Mythic base date (August 13, 3114) of Maya Long Count Calendar of 1200. | 3114 CWH, kpol |
c.3000 | Λ AGRICULTURE V evidenced in east North America. | 3000 wikHAg |
c.3000 | Cultivation of sunflower and marsh elder begins in North American South; northeast natives cultivate amaranth and marsh elder. After harvesting, the seeds are ground into flour. | 3000 wikAPNA |
c.3000 | TUNDRA from south Maine to north Labrador at the 60th parallel, from 7000, replaced with spruce forests. | 3000 mxfld |
c.3000 | Cochise tradition of the American Southwest begins cultivating a primitive form of Λ MAIZE V imported from Mesoamerica; common Λ BEANS and Λ SQUASH follow later. | 3000 wikAPNA 3-2000 mxfld |
c.3000 | Native Americans of the Pacific Northwest begin to exploit shellfish resources. | 3000 wikAPNA |
c.3000 | Fishing in Northwest Plateau increases. | 3000 wikAPNA |
c.3000 | Until now, few Archaic people live along North American coastlines. But now evidence of large-scale exploitation of oysters begins. Fron now until 1000, shell rings, large shell middens surrounding open centers, develop along the southeast coast. | 3000 wikAPNA |
c.3000 | Natives speaking Algonquian languages arrive in Northeast Woodlands from the south. | 3000 wikAPNA |
c.3000 | Middle Archaic Period in Americas from 6000 ends. Characterized by identifiable sedentary settlements. Late Archaic Period begins until 1000. Includes Arctic Small Tool tradition, Aleutian tradition, Poverty Point culture. |
3000 wikLAP |
c.3000 | Λ COTTON V is grown and processed in Mexico, and Arizona. | 3000 wikHCt |
c. 3000 | Preceramic Period of the Casma/Sechin culture begins in Peru until 1800. Noted for growth of coastal settlements of Huaynuna, with a settlement dated at 2900, and Las Haldas with a settlement is dated at 2200. Both Huaynuna and Las Haldas are more than 12km from the irrigable lands of the Casma River Valley. Fishing is their main means of subsistence. | 1800 wikCSc |
c.3000 | Population in the Central Andes area starts expanding. | 3000 lsci |
c.3000 | Λ AGRICULTURE V : Λ POTATOS V cultivated in Andes mountains. | 3000 TTPC, bk, mxfld |
c.3000 | CARAL founded in the Supe valley on coast of Peru, occupied until 2000. NORTE CHICO (Caral Supe) civilization of north-central coastal Peru begins until 1800. Λ COTTON PRECERAMIC Period begins until 2000.. Domesticated cotton used to produce fine nets to catch anchovy beyond subsistence requirements. Much surplus is used to support construction of monumental architecture, e.g. at El Paraíso and Aspero. Irrigation-based Λ AGRICULTURE. . | 3000 wikCrl, wikCSC, wikHA, wikNC wikPCe 2600 hstC, wikCrl |
by 3000 | Farmers are probably well established on Ecuadorian coast and river plains. | by 3000 TAWH 16 |
c.3000 | Chavin de Huantar Peru, is occupied until 400. See 1200. | 1200 wikCdH |
c.2888 | People of the Stallings culture on the Savannah River begin making pottery, at a time when pottery making is spreading in South America, but had not reached Meso America. | 2888 wikAPNA |
c.2850 | Venezuela and adjacent areas show evidence of manioc and sweet potato cultivation. | 3-2700 mxfld |
c.2800 | Ceramics of the Monagrillo complex are present in small settlements around Parita Bay in central Panama, an area of rich coastal resources. Technologically conservative. | 2800 ehAm |
by 2800 | Peruvians gather protein-rich shell fish off the beaches. | by 2800 mxfld |
by 2700 | Mesoamericans rely on Λ MAIZE, and live mostly in villages. Temple mounds and classes start to appear. | by 2700 wikHA |
![]() photo: Kyle Thayer |
c.2600 | PYRAMIDS built of adobe by the Moche at Caral in Peru. Largest, known as Piramide Mayor, is nearly 100 feet tall, with a base as big as 4 football fields. | 2700 bk 2600 Copilot, hstC |
c.2500 | GREENLAND V entered by Independence I people from North America. Last evidence of Independence I is 1730. | 2500 wikAPNA |
c.2500 | Cochise tradition of American Southwest becomes skilled at farming. | 2500 wikAPNA |
c.2500 | ALEUTIAN TRADITION begins in Alaska until 1800. Artifacts of chopped stone, unlike the more common slate Λ TOOLS V. Objects made by core & flake method, bifacially carved projectile points. People lived in semi-subterranean winter houses of driftwood, whale bone, and peat. They used kayaks, Λ ATLATLS and harpoons to kill sea mammals. | 1800 wikAP, wikAPNA, wikAT |
c.2500 | POVERTY POINT V in Louisiana: Late Archaic mound-builder construction begins until 1000. | 2500 wikMB |
by 2500 | Peruvians sail far out in the ocean for larger fish. | by 2500 mxfld |
c.2475 | Λ POTATOS and sweet potatos cultivated in South America. | 2475 TTPC |
2470±150 | Λ MUMMY CAVE: Layer 30 is occupied. | 2470 ± 150 wikMmC |
c.2400 | Λ GREENLAND entered by Saqqaq people from Siberia, who live there until 400. | 2400 wikAPNA |
c.2400 | INDPENDENCE I Culture living north of Independence Fjord in Greenland begins until 1300. | 1300 wikSqC 1000 wikI1C |
c.2300 | Arctic Small Tool tradition, in Alaska near Bristol Bay, and on the east shores of the Bering Strait in Alaska from 4000, migrates to Ellesmere Island in northeast Canada, less than 800 miles from the North Pole, crossing over the mountains in a great notch, today known as Sverdrup Pass, to the upper end of Baffin Bay, which usually has open water in the summer. | 2300 mxfld |
c.2300 | Tlapacoya (aka Zohapilco), a significant island community on Lake Chalco in the Basin of Mexico, has the earliest yet identified ceramic FIGURINE in Mesoamerica. | 2300 |
c.2300 | Pre-OLMEC civilization in Grijalva River delta produces much pottery. | 2300 wikPC |
4.2 kiloyear event begins from 2200 to 2150?. A volcanic eruption causes marked increase in aridity and wind circulation, induces degradation of land-use conditions.
![]() Global distribution of 4.2 kiloyear event. Hatched areas get wet conditions or flooding. Dotted areas get drought or dust storms. |
map: Jianjun Wang 2200 wik4.2, wikAE, wikAkE, wikOKE |
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map: Joe Roe |
Americas 2000-1001
V