3rd millennium BCE - 2nd millennium BCE - 1st millennium BCE

The 2nd millennium BCE in North American history provides a timeline of events occurring within the North American continent from 4000 years ago through 1001 BCE in the Gregorian calendar

Gregorian calendar

The Gregorian calendar, also known as the Western calendar, or Christian calendar, is the internationally accepted civil calendar. It was introduced by Pope Gregory XIII, after whom the calendar was named, by a decree signed on 24 February 1582, a papal bull known by its opening words Inter...

. This time period (from 2000–1001 BCE) is known as the Late Archaic. Although this timeline segment may include some European or other world events that profoundly influenced later American life, it focuses on developments within Native American

Indigenous peoples of the Americas

The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...

 communities. The archaeological records supplements indigenous recorded and oral history

Oral history

Oral history is the collection and study of historical information about individuals, families, important events, or everyday life using audiotapes, videotapes, or transcriptions of planned interviews...

.

Because of the inaccuracies inherent in radiocarbon dating and in interpreting other elements of the archaeological record, most dates in this timeline represent approximations that may vary a century or more from source to source. The assumptions implicit in archaeological dating methods also may yield a general bias in the dating in this timeline.

List of events

• 2000-1000 BCE: Poverty Point culture
  Poverty Point culture
  Poverty Point culture is an archaeological culture that corresponds to an ancient group of Indigenous peoples who inhabited the area of the lower Mississippi Valley and surrounding Gulf coast from about 2200 BCE - 700 BCE...
  
   in northeastern Louisiana
  Louisiana
  Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
  
   features stone work, flintknapping, earthenware
  Earthenware
  Earthenware is a common ceramic material, which is used extensively for pottery tableware and decorative objects.-Types of earthenware:Although body formulations vary between countries and even between individual makers, a generic composition is 25% ball clay, 28% kaolin, 32% quartz, and 15%...
  
  , and effigy
  Effigy mound
  Sites in the U.S. of similar history may be found at Indian Mounds ParkAn effigy mound is a raised pile of earth built in the shape of a stylized animal, symbol, religious figure, or human figure. Effigy mounds were only built during the Late Woodland Period .Effigy mounds were constructed in many...
  
  , conical, and platform mound
  Platform mound
  A platform mound is any earthwork or mound intended to support a structure or activity.-Eastern North America:The indigenous peoples of North America built substructure mounds for well over a thousand years starting in the Archaic period and continuing through the Woodland period...
  
  s, as well as pre-planned settlements on concentric earthen ridges

• 1500 BCE: Salishan speakers arrive in Northwestern Plateau region.

• 1500 BCE: Natives of the eastern woodlands begin making pottery
  Pottery
  Pottery is the material from which the potteryware is made, of which major types include earthenware, stoneware and porcelain. The place where such wares are made is also called a pottery . Pottery also refers to the art or craft of the potter or the manufacture of pottery...
  
  , a practice originated in Mesoamerica.

• 1500 BCE–1000 CE: Intermediate Horizon (or Campbell Tradition) emerged among Indigenous peoples of California
  Indigenous peoples of California
  The Indigenous peoples of California are the indigenous inhabitants who have lived or currently live in the geographic area within the current boundaries of California before and after the arrival of Europeans. With over one hundred federally recognized tribes, California has the largest Native...
  
  

• Shell ornaments and copper items at Indian Knoll, Kentucky evidence an extensive trade system over several millennia.

• 1001 BCE: Athapaskan-speaking natives arrive in Alaska and western Canada, possibly from Siberia
  Siberia
  Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
  
  .

• 1001 BCE: Pottery making widespread in the Eastern woodlands.

See also

• Archaic period in the Americas
• List of archaeological periods (North America)