Oshara Tradition

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

Oshara Tradition, the northern tradition of the Picosa culture, was a Southwestern Archaic Tradition centered in 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 1
Sites 2
References 3
See also 4

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.^[4]

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.
^ ^a ^b 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.

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	Ancient Pueblo Peoples 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

Pre-Columbian North America

Periods Lithic Archaic Formative Classic Post-Classic

Archaeological cultures	Adena Alachua Ancient Pueblo (Anasazi) Baytown Belle Glade Buttermilk Creek Complex Caborn-Welborn Calf Creek Caloosahatchee Clovis Coles Creek Deptford Folsom Fort Ancient Fort Walton Fremont Glades Glacial Kame Hopewell List of Hopewell sites Hohokam Leon-Jefferson Mississippian List of Mississippian sites Mogollon Monongahela Old Cordilleran Oneota Paleo-Arctic Paleo-Indians Patayan Plano Plaquemine Poverty Point Red Ocher Santa Rosa-Swift Creek St. Johns Steed-Kisker Tchefuncte Tocobaga Troyville

Archaeological sites	Angel Mounds Crystal River Archaeological State Park Bandelier National Monument The Bluff Point Stoneworks Cahokia Chaco Canyon Casa Grande Coso Rock Art District Eaker Effigy Mounds National Monument Etowah Indian Mounds Eva Folsom Site Fort Ancient Fort Center Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument Holly Bluff Site Hopewell Culture National Historical Park Kincaid Mounds Kolomoki Mounds Marksville Meadowcroft Rockshelter Mesa Verde Moorehead Circle Moundville Mummy Cave Nodena Site Ocmulgee National Monument Old Stone Fort Parkin Park Pinson Mounds Portsmouth Earthworks Poverty Point Pueblo Bonito Rock Eagle Rock Hawk Russell Cave National Monument Salmon Ruins Serpent Mound Spiro Mounds SunWatch Taos Pueblo Toltec Mounds Town Creek Indian Mound Winterville Wupatki National Monument

Miscellaneous	Black drink Buhl Woman Ceremonial pipe Chunkey Clovis point Container Revolution Eastern Agricultural Complex Eden point Effigy mound Falcon dancer Folsom point Green Corn Ceremony Horned Serpent Kennewick Man Kiva Metallurgy Mi'kmaq hieroglyphic writing Medicine wheel Mound Builders N.A.G.P.R.A. Stickball Norse colonization of the Americas Piasa Southeastern Ceremonial Complex Three Sisters agriculture Thunderbird Underwater panther

Related Genetic history Indigenous Portal of North America Pre-Columbian era

Oshara Tradition