North American archaeological periods divides the history of pre-Columbian North America into a number of named successive eras or periods, from the earliest-known human habitation through to the early Colonial period which followed the European colonization of the Americas.
Stage classification.
One of the most enduring classifications of archaeological periods and cultures was established in Gordon Willey and Philip Phillips' 1958 book, "Method and Theory in American Archaeology". They divided the archaeological record in the Americas into five phases, only three of which applied to North America. The use of these divisions has diminished in most of North America due to the development of local classifications with more elaborate breakdowns of times.
1. The Paleo-Indians stage and/or Lithic stage
2. The Archaic stage
3. Formative stage or Post-archaic stage – at this point, the North American classifications system differs from the rest of the Americas.
For more details on the five major stages, still used in Mesoamerican archaeology, see Mesoamerican chronology and Archaeology of the Americas.
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