View source for Formative stage

{{short description|Prehistoric period in the Americas}}
{{Periods in North American history}}
{{multiple image|caption_align=center|header_align=center
 | align = right
 | total_width = 400

 | image1 =
 | width1 = 300 | height1 = 350
 | caption1 = Middle Formative, Olmec style, ''Kneeling lord with incised toad on his head'', 900–500 B.C.

 | image2 =
 | width2 = 500 | height2 = 350
 | caption2 = Late Formative, Xochipala, ''Seated adult and youth'', 400 B.C. – A.D. 200

 | footer_align      = center <!-- left (default), center, right -->
 | footer            = in the [[Princeton University Art Museum]]
}}
Several chronologies in the [[archaeology of the Americas]] include a '''Formative Period''' or '''Formative stage''' etc. It is often sub-divided, for example into "Early", "Middle" and "Late" stages.  

The Formative is the third of five stages defined by [[Gordon Willey]] and [[Philip Phillips (archaeologist)|Philip Phillips]] in their 1958 book ''Method and Theory in American Archaeology''.<ref>{{cite book |author=Willey, Gordon R. |year=1989 |chapter=Gordon Willey |title=The Pastmasters: Eleven Modern Pioneers of Archaeology: V. Gordon Childe, Stuart Piggott, Charles Phillips, Christopher Hawkes, Seton Lloyd, Robert J. Braidwood, Gordon R. Willey, C.J. Becker, Sigfried J. De Laet, J. Desmond Clark, D.J. Mulvaney |editor=[[Glyn Edmund Daniel]] and [[Christopher Chippindale]] |location=New York |publisher=[[Thames & Hudson]] |isbn=0-500-05051-1 |oclc=19750309}}</ref>  Cultures of the Formative Stage are supposed to possess the technologies of [[pottery]], [[weaving]], and developed [[food production]]; normally they are very largely reliant on [[agriculture]]. Social organization is supposed to involve permanent towns and villages, as well as the first ceremonial centers. Ideologically, an early priestly class or [[theocracy]] is often present or in development.<ref>Gordon R. Willey and Philip Phillips (1957). ''Method and Theory in American Archaeology''. University of Chicago Press. {{ISBN|978-0-226-89888-9}}.</ref> 

Sometimes also referred to as the "Pre-Classic stage", it followed the [[Archaic stage]] and was superseded by the [[Classic stage]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Method and Theory in American Archaeology |url=https://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=6136197 |work=[[Gordon Willey]] and [[Philip Phillips (archaeologist)|Philip Phillips]] |publisher=University of Chicago |year=1958 |format= |access-date= |archive-date=2012-06-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120628025551/http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=6136197 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

# The [[Lithic stage]]
# The [[Archaic period (North America)|Archaic stage]]
# The '''Formative stage'''
# The [[Classic stage]]
# The [[Post-Classic stage]]

The dates, and the characteristics of the period called "Formative" vary considerably between different parts of the Americas. The typical broad use of the terms is as follows below.

==North America==
In the classification of [[List of archaeological periods (North America)|North American chronology]], the Formative Stage or  "Neo-Indian period" is a term applied to theoretical North American [[culture]]s that existed between 1000 BC and 500 AD. There are alternative classification systems, and this ranking would overlap what others classify as the [[Woodland period]] cultures.  

The Formative, Classic and post-Classic stages  are sometimes incorporated together as the Post-archaic period, which runs from 1000 BC to the present.  Sites and cultures include: [[Adena culture|Adena]], [[Old Copper Complex|Old Copper]], [[Oasisamerica]], [[Woodland period|Woodland]], [[Fort Ancient]], [[Hopewell tradition]] and [[Mississippian culture]]s.

==Meso-America==
[[File:Zapotec Ceramic Censer, Monte Alban II.jpg|thumb|Zapotec art. ]]
In [[List of archaeological periods (Mesoamerica)|Mesoamerican chronology]] the Preclassic or Formative runs from about 2000 BC to 250 AD, covering all the [[Olmec culture]], and the early stages of the [[Maya culture]] and [[Zapotec civilization]].

==South America==
In the [[periodization of pre-Columbian Peru]] the Formative Period divides into 1) the Initial Period, from 1800 BC&nbsp;– 900 BC  (sites & cultures: [[Chiripa culture|Early Chiripa]], [[Kotosh culture]], [[Cupisnique]], [[Las Haldas]], [[Sechin Alto]]), and 2) the Early Horizon or Formative Period, 900 BC – 200 BC, ([[Chavín culture|Chavín]], [[Chiripa culture|Late Chiripa]],  [[Paracas culture|Paracas]], [[Chankillo]]). 

==See also==
*[[:Category:Archaeology in the Americas]]
*[[Mound Builders]]
*[[Southeastern Ceremonial Complex]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{Commonscatinline|Formative period in the Americas}}

{{Pre-Columbian}}
{{Pre-Columbian North America}}
{{Indigenous peoples of the Americas}}
{{Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Formative Stage}}
[[Category:Formative period in the Americas| ]]
[[Category:1958 introductions]]
[[Category:1950s neologisms]]
[[Category:Archaeological cultures of North America|+3]]
[[Category:Pre-Columbian cultures|+3]]
[[Category:2nd millennium BC]]
[[Category:1st millennium BC]]
[[Category:1st century]]
[[Category:20th-century BC establishments]]
[[Category:5th-century disestablishments]]