Oshara tradition

Oshara Tradition
Geographical range	New Mexico, Colorado
Period	Archaic, Southwestern Archaic Traditions
Dates	ca. 5,440 BCE to 460 CE
Type site	Arroyo Cuervo region, New Mexico
Preceded by	Picosa culture
Followed by	Ancient Pueblo People

Oshara Tradition, the northern tradition of the earlier Picosa culture, was a Southwestern Archaic tradition centered in the area now called New Mexico and Colorado. Cynthia Irwin-Williams developed the sequence of Archaic culture for Oshara during her work in the Arroyo Cuervo area of northwestern New Mexico. Irwin contends that the Ancestral Puebloans developed, at least in part, from the Oshara.^[1]

Phases

This sequence defines no fewer than six phases of occupation, each identified by Projectile point forms and other less well defined artifacts.

Jay phase (7,450 to 6,750 years before present)^[nb 1] – Artifacts of hunter-gatherers, distinguished from earlier Paleo-Indians, and evidence suggests that people concentrated on hunting and gathering of locally available game and food, often living near canyon heads.^[3] Artifacts found include crude stone tools for processing food and long, narrow projectile points.^[2]

Bajada phase (6,750 to 5,150 years BP) – Distinguished from the Jay phase by the presence of different projectile points, different hearths, ovens, and more sites.^[3]

San Jose phase (6,750 to 3,750 years BP) – Metates and manos were used to process food. There was an increase in both the size and number of sites during this period. Trash heaps were also now found.^[3]

Armijo phase (3,750 to 2,750 years BP) – Cultivation of maize began during this period which allowed for food surpluses. A new type of site was introduced, a seasonal site for gathering of up to 50 people, believed to be possible due to the stores of cultivated maize.^[3] Irwin-Williams concluded that the Oshara may have been the first Southwestern culture to cultivate crops.^[4] Projectile points were different from the concave, short projectile points of other cultures of the northern Colorado Plateau during this time, the Middle Archaic period. Late in the phase the points were serrated, stemmed blades.^[5]

En Medio phase (2,750 to 1,550 years BP) – During this period there was again an increase in the number of sites, but generally now at the base of cliffs, and the introduction of the use of storage pits for surplus food. It was roughly analogous to the southwestern Basketmaker culture.^[3]

Trujillo phase (starting about 1,550 years BP) – Pottery was introduced during this period.^[3]

Sites

Oshara sites have been found near Denver, the Upper Gunnison River basin,^[6] and the Mesa Verde area of Colorado and in several sites in New Mexico and Arizona.^[7]

References

Notes

^ Gibbon and Ames in Archaeology of Prehistoric Native America: An Encyclopedia claim that the Jay phase began at least as early as 8,000 years before present, or 6,050 B.C.^[2]

Citations

^ Stiger, Mark. (2008). Hunter-Gather Archaeology of the Colorado High Country. Boulder: The University Press of Colorado. p. 28. ISBN 0-87081-612-8.
^ ^a ^b Gibbon, Guy E., and Kenneth M. Ames. (1998). Archaeology of Prehistoric Native America: An Encyclopedia. New York: Taylor and Francis. p. 798. ISBN 0-8153-0725-X.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Stiger, Mark. (2008). Hunter-Gather Archaeology of the Colorado High Country. Boulder: The University Press of Colorado. pp. 28-29. ISBN 0-87081-612-8.
^ Gibbon, Guy E., and Kenneth M. Ames. (1998). Archaeology of Prehistoric Native America: An Encyclopedia. New York: Taylor and Francis. p. 640. ISBN 0-8153-0725-X.
^ Gibbon, Guy E., and Kenneth M. Ames. (1998). Archaeology of Prehistoric Native America: An Encyclopedia. New York: Taylor and Francis. p. 799. ISBN 0-8153-0725-X.
^ Stiger, Mark. (2008). Hunter-Gather Archaeology of the Colorado High Country. Boulder: The University Press of Colorado. pp. 26, 28. ISBN 0-87081-612-8.
^ Gibbon, Guy E., and Kenneth M. Ames. (1998). Archaeology of Prehistoric Native America: An Encyclopedia. New York: Taylor and Francis. p. 15. ISBN 0-8153-0725-X.

Bibliography

Gibbon, Guy E.; Ames, Kenneth M. (1998). Archaeology of Prehistoric Native America: An Encyclopedia. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-0-8153-0725-9.
Stiger, Mark (15 August 2001). Hunter-Gatherer Archaeology of the Colorado High Country. University Press of Colorado. ISBN 978-0-87081-612-3.

Paleo-Indian	Clovis culture Cody complex Folsom tradition Goshen complex Hell Gap complex Plainview complex Plano cultures
Archaic	Apex complex Basketmaker culture Mount Albion complex Oshara tradition Picosa culture
Post-Archaic	Ancestral Puebloans Apishapa culture Dismal River culture Fremont culture Panhandle culture Sopris phase Tipi ring
Noted archaeologists	Cynthia Irwin-Williams Paul Sidney Martin Waldo Rudolph Wedel Joe Ben Wheat

v t e Pre-Columbian North America
Periods Lithic Archaic Formative Classic Post-Classic
Archaeological cultures	Adena Alachua Ancient Beringian Ancestral Pueblo (Anasazi) Avonlea Baytown Belle Glade Buttermilk Creek complex Caborn-Welborn Cades Pond Calf Creek Caloosahatchee Clovis Coles Creek Comondú Deptford Folsom Fort Ancient Fort Walton Fremont Glacial Kame Glades Hohokam Hopewell List of Hopewell sites La Jolla Las Palmas Maritime Archaic Mississippian List of Mississippian sites Mogollon Monongahela Old Cordilleran Oneota Paleo-Arctic Paleo-Indians Patayan Plano Plaquemine Poverty Point Red Ocher Safety Harbor Santa Rosa-Swift Creek St. Johns Steed-Kisker Suwannee Valley Tchefuncte Troyville Weeden Island
Archaeological sites	Angel Mounds Anzick site Bandelier National Monument Bastian Benson Blue Spring Shelter Bluefish Caves The Bluff Point Stoneworks Brewster Cahokia Candelaria Cave Casa Grande Chaco Canyon Coso Rock Art District Crystal River Cuarenta Casas Cueva de la Olla Cutler Eaker El Fin del Mundo El Vallecito Effigy Mounds Etowah Indian Mounds Eva Folsom Fort Ancient Fort Center Fort Juelson Four Mounds Gila Cliff Dwellings Glenwood Grimes Point Helen Blazes Holly Bluff Hopewell Culture National Historical Park Horr's Island Huápoca Key Marco Kimball Village Kincaid Mounds Kolomoki Mounds Lake Jackson Mounds Lehner Mammoth-Kill Site L'Anse aux Meadows Lynch Quarry Site Marksville Marmes Rockshelter Meadowcroft Rockshelter Mesa Verde Moaning Cavern Moorehead Circle Morrison Mounds Moundville Mummy Cave Nodena site Ocmulgee Mounds Old Stone Fort Orwell site Paquime Painted Bluff Parkin Park Pinson Mounds Plum Bayou Mounds Portsmouth Earthworks Poverty Point Pueblo Bonito Recapture Canyon River Styx Roberts Island Rock Eagle Rock Hawk Rosenstock Village Russell Cave Salmon Ruins Serpent Mound Sierra de San Francisco Shell ring sites Spiro Mounds Stallings Island SunWatch Taos Pueblo Town Creek Indian Mound Turkey River Mounds Upward Sun River Velda Mound West Oak Forest Earthlodge Wickiup Hill Windover Winterville Wupatki
Human remains	Anzick-1 Arlington Springs Man Buhl Woman Kennewick Man La Brea Woman Leanderthal Lady Melbourne Man Minnesota Woman Peñon woman Spirit Cave mummy Vero man
Miscellaneous	Aridoamerica Black drink Ceremonial pipe Chanunpa Chunkey Clovis point Container Revolution Eastern Agricultural Complex Eden point Effigy mound Falcon dancer Folsom point Green Corn Ceremony Horned Serpent Kiva Medicine wheel Metallurgy Mi'kmaq hieroglyphic writing Mound Builders N.A.G.P.R.A. Norse colonization of North America Oasisamerica Piasa Projectile point Southeastern Ceremonial Complex Stickball Three Sisters agriculture Thunderbird Transoceanic contact Underwater panther Water glyphs
Related Genetic history Pre-Columbian era

This page was last edited on 10 April 2024, at 03:09

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Phases

Sites

References

Bibliography

See also