essay

The food-gathering and incipient agriculture stage of prehistoric Middle America

University of Texas Press1Published In 1964 • Pages: 413-426

By: MacNeish, Richard S..

AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
In this review of the archaeological record to date for the entirety of the Mesoamerican Archaic, MacNeish divides the country into four culture regions, concentrating on the ”Mesoamerica“ area reaching from Chiapas northward through Tamaulipas for which there is the best chronological control. The only phases in that area pertaining to the Early Archaic are (south to north): Santa Marta, Ajuereado (the final two millennia only), Abejas, Chalco, Chicoloapan, Tepexpan and Infiernillo. Little distinction can be made between the two Archaic periods in other areas. The author reviews radiocarbon dates, lists diagnostic artifacts, summarizes artifacts found in each major excavation, and provides a short synopsis of the evidence within each artifact category, usually without the possibility of distinguishing Early from Late Archaic.
SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
Culture summary
Diagnostic material attributes
Chronologies and culture sequences
traditionCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
Early Mesoamerican Archaic
HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
2000
RegionThe area the document pertains to
Middle America and the Caribbean
Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
General Middle America and the Caribbean
Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
essay
Evaluation
Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
Archaeologist
Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
4: Excellent Secondary Data
AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
Leon G. Doyon ; 2005
Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
no date
Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
9000-3500 BP (Early and Late Archaic)
Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
Mexico; from the border area of the United States Southwest through Chiapas
NotesAdditional notes
Richard S. MacNeish
Includes bibliographical references (p. 426)
LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
64010316
LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
Excavations (Archaeology)--Mexico/Mexico--Antiquities