The Formative Stage or "Neo-Indian period" is an archaeological

Archaeology

Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...

 term describing a particular developmental level. This stage from 1000 BCE to 500 CE is the third of five stages defined by Gordon Willey

Gordon Willey

Gordon Randolph Willey was an American archaeologist famous for his fieldwork in South and Central America as well as the southeastern United States...

 and Philip Phillips

Philip Phillips (archaeologist)

Philip Phillips was an influential archaeologist in the United States during the 20th century. Although his first graduate work was in architecture, he later received a doctorate from Harvard University under advisor Alfred Marston Tozzer...

' 1958 book Method and Theory in American Archaeology.

Cultures of the Formative Stage are supposed to possess the technologies of pottery, weaving, and developed food production. 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.

Examples of cultures considered to be Formative include the Adena

Adena culture

The Adena culture was a Pre-Columbian Native American culture that existed from 1000 to 200 BC, in a time known as the early Woodland Period. The Adena culture refers to what were probably a number of related Native American societies sharing a burial complex and ceremonial system...

, Olmec

Olmec

The Olmec were the first major Pre-Columbian civilization in Mexico. They lived in the tropical lowlands of south-central Mexico, in the modern-day states of Veracruz and Tabasco....

, Old Copper

Old Copper Complex

Old Copper Complex is a term used for ancient Native North American societies known to have been heavily involved in the utilization of copper for weaponry and tools. It is to be distinguished from the Copper Age , when copper use becomes systematic.The Old Copper Complex of the Western Great Lakes...

, Oasisamerica

Oasisamerica

Oasisamerica was a broad cultural area in pre-Columbian southwestern North America. It extended from modern-day Utah down to southern Chihuahua, and from the coast on the Gulf of California eastward to the Río Bravo river valley...

, Woodland

Woodland period

The Woodland period of North American pre-Columbian cultures was from roughly 1000 BCE to 1000 CE in the eastern part of North America. The term "Woodland Period" was introduced in the 1930s as a generic header for prehistoric sites falling between the Archaic hunter-gatherers and the...

, and Mississippian culture

Mississippian culture

The Mississippian culture was a mound-building Native American culture that flourished in what is now the Midwestern, Eastern, and Southeastern United States from approximately 800 CE to 1500 CE, varying regionally....

s.

Sometimes also referred to as the "Pre-Classic stage". It followed the Archaic stage and was superseded by the Classic stage

Classic stage

The Classic Stage is an archaeological term describing a particular developmental level dating from AD 500 to 1200. This stage is the fourth of five stages defined by Gordon Willey and Philip Phillips' 1958 book Method and Theory in American Archaeology....

.

1. The Lithic stage
   Lithic stage
   In the sequence of North American prehistoric cultural stages first proposed by Gordon Willey and Philip Phillips in 1958, the Lithic stage was the earliest period of human occupation in the Americas, accruing during the Late Pleistocene period, to time before 8,000 B.C....
   
   
2. The Archaic stage
3. The Formative stage
4. The Classic stage
   Classic stage
   The Classic Stage is an archaeological term describing a particular developmental level dating from AD 500 to 1200. This stage is the fourth of five stages defined by Gordon Willey and Philip Phillips' 1958 book Method and Theory in American Archaeology....
   
   
5. The Post-Classic stage
   Post-Classic stage
   The Post-Classic Stage is an archaeological term describing a particular developmental level. This stage is the fifth of five stages defined by Gordon Willey and Philip Phillips' 1958 book Method and Theory in American Archaeology....
   
   

See also

• Archaeology of the Americas
  Archaeology of the Americas
  The archaeology of the Americas is the study of the archaeology of North America , Central America, South America and the Caribbean...
  
  
• :Category:Archaeology of the Americas
• Hopewell tradition
• Fort Ancient
  Fort Ancient
  Fort Ancient is a name for a Native American culture that flourished from 1000-1750 CE among a people who predominantly inhabited land along the Ohio River in areas of modern-day Southern Ohio, Northern Kentucky, Southeastern Indiana and Western West Virginia. They were a maize based agricultural...
  
  
• Mound builder (people)
• List of Mesoamerican pyramids
• List of archaeological periods (Mesoamerica)
• South American Indigenous people
  South American Indigenous people
  The following is a partial list of cultures related to South American Indigenous peoples.-----See also :*Archaeology of the Americas*List of pre-Columbian cultures*Metallurgy in pre-Columbian America*Pre-Columbian South America*Pre-Inca cultures...
  
  
• Southeastern Ceremonial Complex (North America)
  Southeastern Ceremonial Complex
  The Southeastern Ceremonial Complex is the name given to the regional stylistic similarity of artifacts, iconography, ceremonies, and mythology of the Mississippian culture that coincided with their adoption of maize agriculture and chiefdom-level complex social organization from...