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Paleoindian Archaic Basketmaker II Basketmaker III Pueblo I Pueblo II Pueblo III
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The Archaic Period: 5500 to 1000 B.C.If you fell asleep during the Paleoindian period and woke up in the Archaic period, probably the first thing you would notice is that the climate had gotten a lot warmer and drier. And many of the large animals that you had counted on for your livelihood, including mammoths and mastodons, were no longer around. BIG environmental changes meant having to make some adjustments to your lifestyle. Of course, the change from the Paleoindian period to the Archaic period did not happen overnight. Over a period of many centuries, the environment gradually became more similar to what we are accustomed to today. The warmer and drier conditions contributed to the extinction of the megafauna that had roamed North America during the Paleoindian period. And some scientists believe that intensive hunting may have further hastened the extinction of several species such as mammoths, mastodons, and an ancient form of bison. So how did Archaic peoples adjust to their changing world? Although they continued their nomadic, hunter-gatherer lifestyle, their prey consisted entirely of animals familiar to us today: deer, elk, bighorn sheep, rabbits, and rodents. In addition, Archaic peoples became increasingly dependent on wild plant foods to round out their diet. As human populations increased during the Archaic period, the territories of individual bands became smaller and more clearly defined than was the case during the Paleoindian period. And with groups ranging in smaller areas, unique local traditions began to develop, as reflected in the many different styles of projectile points dating to this period.
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