Archaic New World (Palaeoindians and Archaic Phase)

Palaeoindians North America

	1. Lanceolate points from 10 Kyr B.P., from a hunting camp used by Mesa Paleoindians in the northern foothills of the Brooks Range, Alaska. Other contemporary Paleoindian sites in Alaska include Tanana Valley, where not only big game such as bison and elk, but also migratory birds and fish were hunted. From these sites also come bone needles and ivory objects. This Northern Palaeoindian Tradition parallels the Palaeoindian tradition to the south..
	2. Skull fragment of the Midland Woman, found in 1953 in sand dunes in Midland, Texas, US. Dated to 11.6 Kyr B.P. Uranium decay was used to date this skull, making it the oldest known bones in the New World.
	3. An ossuary from Indian Neck, Wellfleet Harbor, Cape Code, US., where the bones of 56 men, women, and children were buried in 10-11th c. A.D. It appears to be a ritual burial site for bones after defleshing through natural decomposition elsewhere. Some of the dead were privileged by having their bones also burnt. This site is part of the evidence that suggests that no later than the shift from Middle Woodland to Late Woodland in ca. 900 A.D. horticulture emerged here to supplement quahog gathering and settlements became permanent year-round (I'll provide instructions on how to gather quahogs efficiently and a recipe to cook them for anyone who asks).

Palaeoindians of South America

1. Pre-ceramic burnt clay worked object with fingertip impressions, from Altomayo, southwest coast of Ecuador, 6 Kyr B.P. The origin of New World ceramics has been hotly debated, but this is evidence of an initial experimental phase of ceramic production that anticipates Early Valdina stone and clay figurines, and it supports the view that it pottery was an indigenous New World development.