Cryptic (geology)
The Cryptic era is an informal term for the earliest geologic evolution of the Earth and Moon. It is the oldest (informal) era of the Hadean eon, and it is commonly accepted to have begun close to 4533 million (about 4.533 billion) years ago when the Earth and Moon formed. No samples exist to date the transition between the Cryptic era and the following Basin Groups era for the Moon (see also Pre-Nectarian), though sometimes it is stated that this era ended 4150 million years ago for one or both of these bodies. Neither this time period, nor any other Hadean subdivision, has been officially recognized by the International Commission on Stratigraphy.
Haida argillite carvings
This first phase, named Haida I, existed from about 1820 to 1830. The second phase began in 1830 and was titled the Western Period. This is when argillite carving began to incorporate Western elements and themes. Kaufman refutes the idea that this phase is influenced by European and Euro-American buyers who wanted to purchase Haida carved argillite in Western themes. She also disagrees with the theory Barbeau and Erna Gunther proposed: that Western themed argillite carving was inspired by whalers' scrimshaw. Kaufmann interprets the move toward Western images in the 1830s as the Haida's receptivity to European culture, and the social desire to incorporate the Western mode of life more fully into their own world. Phases one and two are similar in that none of the items carved are sacred; instead all of the argillite carvings produced between 1820 and 1865, the approximate end date for the second period, are utilitarian pieces and completely secular in nature. The third period Haida II, is marked by a return to Haida inspired images, theme and styles and begins five years after the end of the second, in 1870. Although this return to more traditional images has been interpreted as stabilization in Haida society due to the decrease of whalers and traders in the region, Kaufmann believes the substitution was actually caused by the disintegration of social and artistic regulation. Because the Haida population had been decimated due to contact elements such as disease, increased mobility, and missionary influences the traditional rules which regulated the production of culturally important objects and images began to degrade. According to Kaufmann, the proliferation of sacred or respected imagery or objects in a medium such as argillite was in actuality "a loosening within the traditional social structure"