The Archaic period, also known as the Preceramic period,Kennett 2012, p. 1. is a period in Mesoamerican chronology that begins around 8000 BCE and ends around 2000 BCE and is generally divided into Early, Middle, and Late Archaic periods.Sharer and Traxler 2006, p. 98. The period is preceded by the Paleoindian (or Lithic) period and followed by the Preclassic period. Scholars have found it difficult to determine exactly when the Paleoindian period ends and the Archaic begins, but it is generally linked with changing climate associated with the transition from the Pleistocene to the Holocene epochs, and absence of extinct Pleistocene animals.Rosenswig 2015, p. 120. It is also generally unclear when the Archaic period ends and the Preclassic period begins, though the appearance of pottery, large-scale agriculture, and villages signal the transition. The Archaic period is traditionally viewed as a long, transitional interval between the hunter-gatherers of the Paleoindian period and the proliferation of agricultural villages in the Preclassic. This period is known for the domestication of major Mesoamerican crops, the development of agriculture, and the beginning of sedentism. The major developments in agriculture and sedentism during this time allowed for the rise of complex societies in the region.Arnold 2012, p. 2.Sharer and Traxler 2006, p. 157. These developments were not uniform throughout Mesoamerica and often differed regionally.Most Archaic sites are not very well preserved or visible, which hampers archaeologists' ability to discover and study Archaic period sites.Rosenswig et al. 2014, p. 308 As a result, not many Archaic sites have been identified, although major sites like Guilá Naquitz and Colha have been explored by archaeologists.Kennett 2012, p. 2. Most known Archaic sites are in the Mesoamerican highlands or along the coasts, though there are sites throughout the region.

Early sedentism

During the Archaic period, Mesoamerican peoples slowly changed from being nomadic hunter-gatherers to semi-sedentary or sedentary foragers and farmers.Sharer and Traxler 2006, p. 154. Based on research at sites on Mexico's gulf coast, central highlands, and coasts, it seems that people began settling in constructed, permanent villages between 3000 and 1800 BCE.Joyce and Henderson 2001, p. 5. These early villages are associated with the construction of perishable structures, use of agriculture, and participation in trade, especially obsidian trade. This change was gradual and differed by region.Rosenswig 2015, p. 118. The earliest examples of this change are in temporary, seasonal shelters, such as Guilá Naquitz. Guilá Naquitz is a rock shelter in the Valley of Oaxaca that was occupied at least six times between 8000 and 6500 BCE by a largely nomadic band.Kennett 2012, p. 4.Rosenswig 2015, p. 125. Another rock shelter, El Gigante rock shelter in the Southern Highlands of Honduras, was occupied seasonally by largely mobile peoples in the Early and Middle Archaic periods.Rosenswig 2015, p. 131. Based on the presence of specific plants, the rock shelter was inhabited during the wet season from July to September, then in the Archaic period, around 4700 BCE, from May to October.

Some of the earliest known villages appear along sea coasts, specifically the Chiapas and Caribbean coasts. It is likely that the abundant sea and lagoon resources could easily support long-term, year-round settlements, leading people to settle first in these areas. Shell mounds in these areas are highly visible, which likely aided in their identification by scholars.Kennett 2012, p. 6. The earliest known coastal shell mound is Cerro de las Conchas, which dates between 5500 and 3500 BCE. Based on the limited diversity in artifacts and faunal remains, Cerro de las Conchas appears to have been a sea resource collection and processing site. While it seems Cerro de las Conchas was only occupied seasonally, it seems likely that inland base camps were occupied year-round. More permanent sites are identified in the archaeological record with greater frequency dating to 3000 BCE and later. The site of Zohapilco on Lake Chalco in the Basin of Mexico has evidence of year-round settlement before a volcanic eruption around 3000 BCE.Rosenswig 2015, p. 127. The site of Colha and nearby swamps, such as Cobweb Swamp and Pulltrouser Swamp, show evidence of permanent settlement by 3000 BCE.Sharer and Traxler 2006, p. 158. Actun Halal, a rock shelter in Belize, was occupied as early as 2400 to 2130 BCE.Lohse 2010, p. 339. Permanent villages are seen even later in the Valley of Oaxaca by 2000 BCE and in the Valley of Tehuacán by 1500 BCE. Based on these findings, it appears that people settled in resource-rich areas, such as along the coasts or by lakes, earlier than in semi-arid and arid environments like the Valleys of Oaxaca and Tehuacán.Rosenswig 2015, p. 128. As agriculture developed, the population increased and settlements expanded into more marginal, less resource-rich areas.Sharer and Traxler 2006, p. 155.

Development of agriculture

Increased reliance on domesticated plants and agriculture was gradual. Due to the diverse conditions, such as different soil types, rainfall, and terrain, it likely took thousands of years for people to adapt agricultural methods in Mesoamerica. This change in foodways began after the Younger Dryas when precipitation increased and the environment stabilized in the Holocene. The resources available to nomadic hunter-gatherers were likely changed by the change in climate, which drove peoples to adapt new means of acquiring food. While the change in climate was a catalyst for changes in food production, factors leading people to domesticate plants and develop agriculture is thought to be complex and multiple.Rosenswig 2015, p. 119. Archaic peoples increased their use of domesticated plants, but still relied predominantly on foraging wild plants and hunting wild animals.Kennett 2012, p. 3.Lohse 2010, p. 324.

The earliest forms of horticulture and beginnings of domestication were likely versions of "dooryard horticulture" in which Archaic peoples used small plots nearby residential locations to plant and nurture a variety of plant species.Piperno and Smith 2012, p. 10. As agriculture intensified and domesticated crops grew in importance, Archaic peoples began using slash-and-burn (also known as swidden) agriculture to clear large areas of land further from residential areas. Recovered stone tools, such as chipped stone adzes, appear to have been used to cut down trees and dig, suggesting that Archaic peoples were clearing the forest and cultivating the land.Sharer and Traxler 2006, p. 159. Paleoecological evidence, such as increased charcoal levels, decreased tree pollen levels, and increased maize pollen levels, indicates that maize and other crops were grown by slash-and-burn agriculture as early as 7300 BCE in the Central Balsas region and Caribbean coast of Mexico. Similar evidence of widespread forest clearing is seen starting around 5200 BCE on the Gulf coast and starting around 3500 BCE in the Maya Lowlands. Along the Chiapas coast, charcoal levels increased after 3500 BCE and remained high until 2600 BCE when people began abandoning coastal sites, which has been connected with forest clearing through burning. Across Northern Belize, paleoecological evidence indicates people began cultivating maize and manioc before 3000 BCE, but widespread forest clearance and increased maize cultivation began only after 2400 BCE.Lohse 2010, p. 320. Later in the Archaic period and into the Preclassic, Mesoamerican peoples began adapting different agricultural methods, such as terracing, raised fields, and crop rotation, and using slash-and-burn methods less exclusively.

Domestication

Mesoamerica is one of the world's centers for the independent domestication of plants.Piperno and Smith 2012, p. 2. As people became more sedentary, they became more reliant on particular plants. Specialized and intensive foraging techniques, such as selectively collecting larger seeds to plant and store, were part of the domestication process. Archaic peoples selected plants that could be easily stored and had a genetic makeup they could easily manipulate, such as maize (Zea mays), chili peppers (plants in the Capiscum genus), squash (Cucurbita pepo), and beans (plants in the Plaseolus genus). Cultivation of domesticated plants resulted in an increased and more reliable food supply for Archaic peoples, allowing an increase in population and settlements.

One of the most important crops to be domesticated was maize. Maize was an important domesticate for Mesoamerican people because it was very productive, easy to store, and nutritional. Genetic and molecular research has identified teosinte as the wild ancestor of maize. The domestication of teosinte is considered one of the most important developments in human life in Mexico and Central America. Lohse, Jon C., Molly Morgan, John G. Jones, et al. “Early Maize in the Maya Area.” Latin American Antiquity 33, no. 4 (2022): 677–92. https://www.jstor.org/stable/27362456. In addition, molecular evidence indicates that maize was domesticated once in the Balsas region, then spread to other nearby regions. Some of the earliest identified maize appears in Highland Mexico. Two maize cobs from the Guilá Naquitz rock shelter have been radiocarbon dated to 4300 BCE. Lohse, Jon C., Molly Morgan, John G. Jones, et al. “Early Maize in the Maya Area.” Latin American Antiquity 33, no. 4 (2022): 677–92. https://www.jstor.org/stable/27362456. Maize appears along the Chiapas coast by 3000 BCE, likely spread by trade. Based on the presence of maize pollen in swamps surrounding Colha around 3000 BCE, maize had also spread to Northern Belize by that time.Rosenswig et al. 2014, p. 310. Maize is also identified in the Mirador Basin nearby Nakbe in northern Guatemala by 2600 BCE and at Actun Halal in Central Belize by 2210 BCE.Lohse 2010, p. 318.

Like maize, squash also was domesticated once then spread through trade, but other crops appear to have been domesticated multiple times by different groups of Mesoamerican peoples. Squash (Cucurbita pepo) was domesticated by 8000 BCE based on dated squash remains found in Guilá Naquitz.Piperno and Smith 2012, p. 12. Bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria) also appears to have been domesticated around this time in the same area based on dated remains at the same site. Bottle gourd, however, was not a food source, but rather was used predominantly as a container. Stone tools from the Archaic period found in excavations around Freshwater Creek in Northern Belize were found to have remains of different varieties of maize, squash, beans, manioc (Manihot esculenta) and chili pepper on them, indicating that these plants had been domesticated by this time.Rosenswig et al. 2014, p. 320.

Stone tools